If there was one thing that always scared me in life, it was the fear of death. The fear of investing all this time into having a good life, meeting new people and making new friends, trying to reach your ambitions and just like that - nothing. Nothing exists to you anymore. You're dead. Everything you've ever worked for - worthless. I was never one to believe in an afterlife anyway. To me, I imagined that when you died, that was it. Nothing else. Nothing. It was like sleeping without the dreams. You didn't realize you were doing it, you didn't realize anything. Everything was just a whole pile of absolutely nothing. No darkness, no light.

Nothing.

I guess in that way, my fear wasn't really dying - it was the nothingness that I believed followed it. I always tried to avoid any situations I found life threatening and dangerous because I simply didn't want to die. The thought of dying tried to cloud my everyday thoughts in the simplest ways. Whenever I breathed I'd try not to wonder 'What if this was my last breath?' and whenever I said goodbye to someone I'd try not to wonder 'Will this be the last time I see them?'. I avoided the thought of dying because I didn't want to die. I knew it would happen at some stage in my life, all I could hope was that when it came, I was ready for it. In that moment, I wasn't.

"We need to hurry this up if I want to make it back for the prom queen announcement," Tasha said, looking towards Violet. "Put some clothes or whatever on the floor around her, we don't want to make a mess." she urged.

Violet nodded, obeying her orders, opening the cupboard behind her, looking for rags.

"Once this is over, I need to go back to the auditorium so I'm counting on you to take the body and dump it somewhere. As far away as possible." Tasha continued.

"Wait," Violet popped her head out of the cupboard. "So I have to miss out on the rest of prom?" she whined.

"Yes!" Tasha snapped.

Violet, stuck her head back in the cupboard, obviously scared by Tasha's fierceness.

They talked about me like I wasn't in the room, or had already died, referring to me as 'the body'. I felt disgusted by them yet frightened at the same time but focused on looking around the room frantically trying to think of an escape. I could feel my breathing increase. Was I really about to die?

Tasha, who was still playing with the gun and twirling it with a bored expression, turned to look at me and noticed my frightened face. She grinned walking back over to me.

"Oh don't worry sweetie, we're not killing you yet. First, I'm going to need some answers." She reached me, leaning forward and using the gun to twirl a lock of my hair. I froze in fear at the proximity of me and the weapon that would end my life in a few minutes.

Before she could continue to explain, I heard my ringtone blare from my phone and I turned looked at my clutch. Tasha spun around, looking in the same direction as me. She tilted her head in confusion and walked back over to the teachers desk, pulling the device out of the small bag.

"Well, who would be calling at this hour?" she laughed playfully, before accepting the call. She pressed the phone up to her ear.

"Rebecca's phone," she answered, smiling.

I listened in anticipation, urging to know who it was, my heart racing.

"Oh, I'm sorry, she isn't available right now," she replied, glancing over at me tied up. Tasha bit her lip as she continued listening to the response from the other end. She rested herself up on the desk, casually sitting on it, letting her legs swing. "She's just busy," she stated plainly.

I felt fear rush over me, knowing there could be horrible consequences to what I was about to do. I screamed out as loud as I could, "Help!" I shrieked as loud as I could, "Help me! I'm tied up in a classroom-" before I could say any more, Violet had rushed over to me and placed her hand over my mouth. Without hesitation, I bit it as hard as I could on her skin.

"Ow fuck!" Violet released her grip, shaking her hand in pain. She quickly reached over to the desk next to me where a roll of duct tape sat that I hadn't noticed before.

"Help!" I continued yelling while I still could, "Room A3.4-" I was cut off by the strip of duct tape Violet had begun to place on my mouth before walking back over to the cupboards at the front of the room as casual as she could ever be.

"What?" Tasha asked innocently, her ear still pressed to the phone, "I didn't hear anything." she grinned. I continued trying to yell but only muffled screams escaped. I began to hyperventilate in panic.

"Huh, well we have our own plans set in store for your friend here, Eric." she continued, twirling a lock of her hair.

I felt my heart stop with fear and hope at the mention of his name. It was Eric on the other line. I didn't know whether him knowing any information of what was currently happening to me would increase my chances of being saved. Tasha would kill me before they turned up, I knew it. I realized that my screaming might be the last thing he ever heard from me. I suddenly thought about Debby who would've still been in the auditorium, waiting for my return. And my mother - who I had yelled at the last time we talked. I suddenly felt my eyes flood with a pool of tears. No. It couldn't end like this. I didn't get to tell her I loved her. I didn't get to hug her goodbye and feel her warm embrace. No. I felt a tear fall down my face, followed by a few others. I didn't mean anything I said to her. I was just angry. I loved her. I loved Debby and Kevin. I couldn't leave them all. Not like this.

"Oh," Tasha raised her eyebrows, still on the phone, looking amused. "Well, I'd like to see you try because she'll be dead before you can even find me or work out who I am."

She listened to his response, with a bored look on her face, "Look, as fun as this has been, I've got a murder to commit. Nice meeting you," she pressed a button on my phone, hanging up on him.

"Slight change of plans Vi," Tasha began, placing my phone on top of my clutch. "After this murder, I'm going to get my prom queen crown and then you and I are out of here. Forget about dumping the body or the rags, we'll just leave it here for those clowns to deal with. We're getting out of this town. We'll change our names and continue selling these drugs somewhere else. How does LA sound?" she grinned.

"Perfect," Violet grinned back, standing up and abandoning the open cupboards.

They couldn't be serious.

Tasha hopped back off the desk, smoothing out her dress as she did. She started walking over to me, looking at me directly in the eye. "But before we shoot you, let's have a little fun," she leaned forward and ripped the piece of duct tape off my mouth. I pursed my lips trying to avoid making a noise as I felt the quick sting of its removal. I wanted to try and be brave, but I knew there was probably no use as I could feel how wet my face was from the tears.

"Let's play a game," she began as I let the fresh air in my mouth and lungs, slightly relieved. "You're going to tell me everything these bozos know about us, so I know how careful we need to be." I watched her walk back over the to the duffel bag, placing the gun down, and grinning widely at the bags contents before pulling out a sharp bladed knife. I felt my heart race in fear at the sight of it.

"Now, the aim of the game is pretty simple," she walked back over to me, holding the blade loosely in her hand. "give us answers and I won't stab you," the knife suddenly wandered close to me as I felt Tasha slowly glide the blade against my cheek, leaving a small cut. I felt the blood trickle down, as I clenched my jaw in anger.

"So, are we a suspect to the FBI on this case?" she asked casually.

I looked at her in disgust, gritting my teeth. I didn't want to tell her anything. "Fuck. You."

She shrugged in defense, "Fine, have it your way,"

Before I had time to react, Tasha brought the knife above her head and then drove it down into my thigh and pulled it out swiftly. I yelped in pain as the feeling hit me, making me feel weak. It stung and It felt like someone had just set my leg on fire as the pain ripped through me.

"Go ahead, scream as loud as you want!" Tasha yelled, a crazed look in her eyes, "No one can hear you! Everyone's in the gym!"

I bit my lip, whimpering, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of seeing my pain, but I couldn't hide the excruciating feeling that was expressed on my face and pulsing through my veins.

"Let's try this again," she sighed, growing impatient. "Is either me or Violet a suspect on the case you're working on?" she asked.

I felt myself begin to cry as I looked down and watched the wound on my leg quickly get covered by a pool of blood. "Please," I cried, "I don't know," I answered, not thinking straight enough to even remember her question.

"Mmm," I watched her look at me with sympathy through my teary eyes. "Wrong answer."

I screamed loud, hurting my already pounding head as I felt the pain of her stab the knife down on my other thigh. The pain was unbearable as I cried out in pain. "Pl-Please, stop!" I began sobbing uncontrollably through the pain, "You're insane!"

"Hey Tash," Violet yelled over my screams and cries.

Tasha looked up at her standing by the classroom window, leaving the knife still in my thigh. "What?" she growled, irritated by the interruption.

"A van just pulled up outside the school," Violet replied with a worried expression.

Tasha's angry face disappeared and turned into a slight frown as she walked away from me, to where Violet was standing. "Is it them?" she asked.

"I don't know," Violet responded.

"We need to have a look outside, quickly," Tasha ordered, running to the door with Violet following and running past her. Tasha turned around, holding the door and looking over to me. "If you could be a sweetheart and just wait here, that would be great," she grinned, enjoying taunting me, shutting the door as she left me alone in the room.

I screamed and cried out as loud as I could, wishing that someone would hear me and discover where I was being held. I wanted Eric to burst through the door and take me out of the building - I wanted anyone to do that. However, chances of that happening were looking pretty slim. I was on my own whether I liked it or not. There was only one person I could depend on, and only one thought that crossed my mind in that moment:

Having a hero is great, but sometimes you need to be your own.

I looked down at the knife that was still stuck in my thigh. The pain continued growing as I screamed, looking for an escape. My blood continued flowing, surrounding the knife.

The knife.

The knife had to be a solution. I had access to a weapon. I knew it was a crazy idea that didn't have a high chance of working, but I had to try it.

I bent over to where the knife was and whimpered as I put the handle in between my teeth, clenching it with all my might, I closed my eyes tightly as I pulled as hard as I could. After a moment's struggle, I felt the knife release from my thigh as I tried to not scream out loud and drop it. Tears streamed from my face as I tried to cope with the pain.

My thighs felt like they were on fire and like they'd been ripped off apart from my own body. I twisted my head slowly, shaking at the pain. I only had one shot at this and I needed to focus. I tried to move my hands as close as I could to the same direction on my mouth. I slowly opened my mouth, releasing the knife and letting it fall.

I felt its weight fall into my hand and let out a deep shaky breath as tears still continued to fall down my face. I had a slim chance. I carefully got a better grip of the blade and then began trying to cut the tape that restricted me from moving my arms as fast as I could. Tasha and Violet would be back any second and I was running out of time.

My wrists burned as I pressed down, using all my might to try and cut through the thick tape. Please, please, please, I continued chanting in my head. I stopped, startled when the door opened again.

Suddenly, the two girls strutted back in the room and I held the knife frozen in my hand with a tight grip, trying to disguise that I had it.

"Get rid of the evidence," Tasha mumbled to Violet who nodded in response, quickly following her orders.

"Well, it looks like your crew is here," Tasha began as Violet raced around her, grabbing all their things and my clutch, placing it in the black duffel bag. "so it appears, we're going to have to cut this short,"

I watched her walk over to the desk as I continued trying to cut through the tape while her back was turned. I felt my hands separate from each other as the tape finally broke. I stayed completely still, waiting for an opportunity to act.

I froze as she turned back around, holding the gun in her hands, not playing around with is this time. "Nice knowing you," she said simply, walking forward and bringing the gun to the side of my head, placing it right against my temple.

I felt myself stop breathing at is cold touch.

Now.

As fast as I could, I reached my arm up, holding the knife and tried to slash Tasha with all my strength.

"Ow!" she screamed in pain loudly, releasing the gun as blood flowed down the huge cut on her arm.

I watched it land in front of me and acted quickly, using the heels of my tied legs to kick it as far away as I could. I watched it glide across the floor.

When I looked up, I saw Violet lunging towards me and quickly tried to uncut my legs from the tape. As she reached forward, I released my legs and pushed back at her with all my force, knocking her onto the floor.

I stood up as quickly as I could, almost falling down again from the unbearable pain soaring from my thighs. I stumbled back as Tasha charged at me. She grabbed me by the shoulder with a tight force and let her fist collide with my jaw.

Her force knocked me back as I fell on a desk behind me, dropping the knife. I looked down at it but knew I had no chance at bending down and grabbing it due to how useless my legs were. I sat back up and used all my strength to stand. I felt light headed and dizzy as I tried to regain balance before Tasha tried to strike at me again. Without thinking, I blocked her punches and grabbed a hold of her arms, trying to twist them back as far as I could. I closed my eyes, knowing my next move would hurt as I kicked Tasha as hard as I could, knocking her to the ground.

Before I had a chance to recover, Violet was up and swinging at me again. I wrestled my arms with hers trying to overpower her. She raised her knee and drove it into my thigh. I yelped in pain as I tried to resist falling over. I grabbed her arms with my hands twisting them back before using one of my hands to grab her hair, I dragged her over to the desk behind me that I stumbled on a few seconds earlier.

"This is for giving me a bruised stomach for a week bitch," I growled as I smashed her head down on the desk again and again for as many seconds as I could. By the time I pulled her head back up, her nose was bleeding and I pushed her back towards Tasha, who was trying to attack me again, knocking them both over.

While I had a free moment, I quickly looked over to where the gun was on the over side of them room, limping as I tried to reach it. I could hear Tasha getting back up by the sound of her deep breaths. "Don't grab that gun bitch!" she yelled.

I collapsed on the ground as I reached it, grabbing it lightly in my weak hands. I had no strength to get up so I held it out, aimed at her. "Stay back," I warned, taking deep breaths trying to get through the pain.

Tasha looked at me in horror and froze in shock but turned her head at the sound of the classroom door bursting open loudly.

The light from outside in the hallway blinded my eyes as I saw more than ten figures enter the room, surrounding us, presumably holding torches and weapons.

I began blinking slowly as I felt myself passing out.

"RUA put your hands in the air and freeze!" One of them yelled as I saw more figures move close to me.

I started to blink more slowly before giving up and letting myself completely collapse in relief.

I was safe.