IMPERFECT AIM
” Shut up. We aren’t going to do that.” I shouted at him while Ryder tapped in his phone. I heard the ring and soon a girl attended the call.
” Are you still in school, Anna? Meet me in the backstage of the hall.” Ryder ordered.
” What? You haven’t talked with me for ages. Now why are you…” the girl is in the call sounded angry.
” I wouldn’t call you unless it’s necessary. Just come here. I will explain everything.” Ryder tried to keep himself calm.
” He called her. Now, let us go to get the first aid. I’m not going to let his hand bleed.” I shouted at Patrick when Ryder hung his phone.
Before he could reply, Pearl spoke. ” I know where the first aid is,” she said and got the first aid in the same room. Time passes as I helped Ryder wrapping a bandage on his hand and waited for Emma’s friend Anna. I almost lost hope in her. What if she doesn’t come here? with that one thought, a blonde girl came through the door casually. But when her eyes looked into the surroundings, her feet got frozen. She got afraid to move.
” Come here, Anna. I hope you remember this guy.” Ryder said.
” Yeah, He’s Patrick. So, what? I got to go. Tell whatever you want to say.” She said, standing many feet away from us.
” You should be the one who needs to say the truth. You are Emma’s close friend. You know whatever she does before she died. I want you to tell some truth.”
” Is this about Emma? I don’t know what you are talking about but I know nothing. I got to go. Something’s wrong here.” She stammered on her feet and turned towards the door but a guy blocked her path.
” You can’t get out of here unless you tell the truth. Come here, Anna. I will make it quick.” Ryder almost pleaded. She gets more and more afraid when she’s looking at Patrick’s guys and the knife in his hands.
” Okay, Make it quick,” she replied. Ryder started to remember about the past. He mentioned all the things he told me. Finally, he left her with a single question. Admit that Emma’s the one who cost her whole life and Patrick’s house. Ryder and I don’t want to look for proof. But Patrick might kill any students here if we didn’t do whatever he said. Now, all the solution lies on Anna’s shoulder. She needs to tell the truth.
” Stop staring at me. I can’t control my heartbeat level. I’m not the only close friend to Emma. There are many others. Why don’t you ask them and leave me?” she spoke boldly for once.
” Don’t play some stupid games now. I don’t have time to call others.” Ryder lost his patience.
” Anna, just admit the truth. You can get out of here without any harm.” I silently whispered to her. There’s an uncertainty in her eyes when she looked at me. I can’t gain her trust in one minute but I can bring some fear in her.
” If not, Patrick won’t hesitate to kill you. It only takes a few steps for him to reach you and that’s it. Do you want to die here? All others would get out of here alive except you. Do you want that? If not, open your mouth and say the truth.” I whispered so no one would hear me.
” What are you saying to her?” Patrick asked me with questioning eyes.
” I know that you know him a long time ago. He almost killed me. He won’t hesitate to do that to you.” I warned and turned towards Patrick.
” I don’t need your permission to talk with her. Hear her out.” I told him and had an unshakable belief in Anna. I can sense her fear the moment she entered the door. That’s why I was forced by myself to warn her. That will make her blabber the truth.
” One second,” she muttered and opened her phone.
” I don’t have that much time. If someone enters this room right now, I would kill you all. I don’t care about my reputation which I don’t have. And I’m not afraid of going to jail. Make it quick.” Patrick warned as his one hand stays in his pocket hidden. He didn’t come here with a single knife but a gun too. I shifted my eyes away from him before he gets any doubt. Patrick’s guys already took all our phones. I hope Pearl called the Police. I couldn’t ask her now. I brought her more time and distracted Patrick for some minutes.
” Take this. If this is what you are looking for. Emma, I and some others planned to do a dangerous prank years ago. Emma’s the one who decided to do it in Patrick’s house when he’s away. That costed her life. But she wasn’t alone in this. Her friends and I involved in this too. You can see the proof in my Instagram account. We posted a story where we talked about this prank.” Anna admitted and handed her phone to Ryder. Before Ryder could see it, Patrick forcefully took the phone to look for himself. I can’t see what’s going on in his mind. But Patrick’s hold on his knife gets tighter with every second.
” Can I go?” Anna requested but nobody replied. The whole hall was silent. Suddenly, there’s a continuous knock on the door.
” Don’t open it,” Patrick ordered his guys. I stood behind Ryder and next to Pearl.
” Did you..” I left the question to hang in the air. But my best friend understood it.
” I did,” she nervously whispered back. Hearing her answer, I can tell that the person on the other side of the door would be teachers or Police. Or both.
” This isn’t true. I don’t believe it. You are the one who betrayed me, not Emma. I know she loves prank but she never goes to this level.” Patrick tried to convince himself and dropped the knife on the floor. But still one of his hand is in his pocket.
” This is your way to blocking the truth, Patrick. You have been blaming me and going psychotic.” Ryder told. The bang on the door gets louder every minute.
” Please, I want to leave,” Anna pleaded. By the second, Patrick took a gun out of his pant pocket as I suspected. He didn’t give any warning but his hand moved towards the direction where Ryder is standing. Ryder is defenceless. We all are. The knocking on the door increased. The door may break down at any minute. Everything seemed to happen fastly. My mind is running out of the idea. But when I looked at Pearl, I remembered about the gun with us. I moved towards the bunch of clothes and took the gun with shivering hands. I may not know how to use it, but if I didn’t try to use it, Patrick might kill Ryder with a perfect shoot. Patrick may dodge from my aim but a try is worth it for a distraction.
All that I could hear in my head is…
I don’t want to lose Ryder
I don’t want to lose Ryder
I don’t want to lose Ryder
I aimed the gun at Patrick when he aimed his gun at Ryder at the same time. Before he could notice me with a gun, I pulled the trigger with an aim at his heart. I shut my eyes tightly when I heard the sound. There’s only one bullet sound. It should be me. I opened my eyes to find Patrick on the ground clutching his stomach. My aim missed but it harmed him for sure. Patrick’s shirt is stained in blood and his hands too.
” Emily….” Ryder called me as looking at me speechless. The next second the door broke down. Some deputy in uniforms entered with guns. My legs are shaking. I can’t believe I was the one who did this. The gun feels so cold in my hands.
” Emily, why did you do that? Where did you get this? Drop it down.” Ryder got hold of me and wrapped his arms around me. I could return the embrace. But my hands aren’t moving even when the police officers are standing next to us.
” I have to save you. Are you okay? He didn’t shot you, right? ” I asked Ryder with chattering teeth. I know that there’s only one bullet left in a gun but I’m afraid.
” No. He didn’t, Emily. I’m fine. I don’t want you to do this. It would have caused your life if he dodged the bullet.” Ryder told me and I dropped the gun at the moment and buried my head on his chest. I don’t want to look at the officers who might be taking Patrick to the hospital. I don’t want to answer their questions once it’s all over. There’s a lot of voices in this hall but I ignored them all except Ryder’s voice.
” You are alright, Emily. Everything’s alright.” Ryder said, stroking my hair with his injured hand.