I knew this day was going to be a disaster. On my drive to school, the snow was piling on top of my windows, blocking my vision of the road. Aggravated, I switched on the windshield wipers only to find out that they didn’t work. I panicked and swerved to the side of the road. I had only a five minute drive until I made it to school and I was already almost late. I couldn’t afford to be late today because I had a history exam that I had been studying for all night, so I opened the car door, feeling the cold wintery air envelope around me. I walked to the front of my car and began wiping the snow off of my window, ignoring the chill it left on my hands. Then I quickly jumped back into my car and sped the rest of the way to school.
I walked through the doors of the school just as the bell rang. Bodies around me began shuffling to their classes and I dove into the crowd, inching my way to my locker. I threw myself toward my locker when I finally saw it and threw my coat and backpack in, only grabbing a pencil to bring with me to my exam.  I scurried down the hallway and threw myself into my first hour room. Everyone’s eyes turned toward me and my face flushed as I headed for my seat. The teacher, Mrs. Winston, glanced up from the exam instructions she was reading to the class, just to give me a glare, before returning her attention to the material.
‘That’s so strange,” I thought to myself, “I could have sworn the bell hadn’t rung yet.”
Finally Mrs. Winston finished her reading and began to pass the papers out. She ungracefully tossed mine onto my desk and I took the paper into hands. My eyes scanned the first question and I knew the answer immediately. Maybe studying all night really paid off. I began to quickly fill in the answers and before I knew it I was on the essay section. I began to think of ways to “relate history to my own life” and I scratched it down onto the paper. I was halfway done with the last paragraph when the alarm blared from its speaker, scaring me half to death.
“We are now in a Total Lockdown. This is not a drill. There is an active shooter in the premises. We are now in a Total Lockdown. This is not a drill.”
My stomach dropped. The room fell completely silent as students searched each other’s faces for the same panic that they were feeling. Then suddenly as if one que, everyone started moving at once, pushing and shoving each other under desks. I felt a firm hand on my back, driving me under the desk I was at. I scrambled under and tucked my legs against my chest as tight as I could. The low whispers and shuffling of others stopped when we were all situated under our desks, and was replaced by an eerie silence that enfolded around us. The lights had been turned off in the mayhem so it was hard to see, but next to me I could see the face of a girl. Her body jerked with silent sobs and tears were streaming down her cheeks. I wanted to reach out to console her but I resisted myself, knowing it was ignorant to let any part of me be shown.
The silent minutes that went by seemed to drag on like hours. It was like I could hear everything. So when the chilling lurch of the door handle could be heard, my breath caught in my throat. A bright line of light shown across the floor and began to grow as the door heaved open. My body went numb with fear and I sat there on the floor, shivering, not wanting to accept that this was it. I could hear the soft thud of his feet as he sauntered into the room. I could only see up to his elbows from where I was hidden under my desk, but I could tell that he held his weapon rigidly against his chest. He began to amble about the room until he made a tight turn and faced my direction.
‘He knows I am here. He saw me.’ Was all I could think as I watched him pick his way through the desks, heading directly for the one I was under. He finally stood directly in front of my desk and his shiny, black boots were only inches from touching me. He began to crouch down and he slowly nudged my chair from in front of me. My eyes drifted slowly from the floor, to his weapon, to his face. I let out a bloodcurdling scream as I saw that his face was…
“Wake up!” I threw my head up and searched the room. I heard mumbling and giggles, and I felt a cold sweat dripping down my back.
“I can’t believe you, falling asleep, during MY exam.” Mrs. Winston roared in my ear.
I feverishly glanced around the room, still petrified out of my mind, and I finally averted my eyes to Mrs. Winston who was grumbling about giving me a zero.
“I’m-I’m sorry.” I stammered out and I felt my cheeks redden, since everyone’s eyes were on me.
Mrs. Winston let out one last complaint about me and returned my paper, allowing me a second chance. Finally my nerves calmed down and everyone stopped staring at me. So I began my exam. Halfway through, I was stumped on a difficult question. I sighed and glanced around, hoping something would spark my memory for the answer. My eyes drifted to the floor and a shiny pair of black boots caught my attention.
With horror, my eyes drifted from the boots to the face of the same killer that traumatized my dream, sitting right next to me.