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"Why?" Vanessa muttered, slamming her hand down on the cafeteria table, where Xander Omega sat with an innocent look on his face. "Why'd you kiss me?"

Xander shrugged nonchalantly. "It was a dare."

Vanessa groaned, sitting herself down before him, "Well, you'd better not do it again or I'm gonna have to kill you. I swear to god–"

Xander laughed, cutting her off, "Okay, okay, darling!" He smirked at Vanessa's pissed expression and continued to crack up.

Soon enough, their friends joined them at the table, all of their eyebrows raised. "So, are the two of you dating now or what?" One of them asked, a sly smirk dancing on his face.

"No! What? Just shut up, Dhruv!" Vanessa muttered, slapping the said boy's hand with a huff, while Xander gave her a wicked grin.

"Well... maybe–" Xander stopped, interrupted by a loud sound.

Everyone stopped dead in their tracks.

"Wha..." Xander trailed off, the sound finally registering in his head. His eyes widened.

No.

It couldn't be.

The cafeteria stayed silent. Everyone knew that sound. Almost all of them had heard it before. But at school?

Xander's hands were shaking. Please, no.

Then they heard it again, and he knew for sure.

A gunshot.

Xander grabbed onto his seat, whipping his head around to find the source of the sound, sweat gathering at his forehead. He gulped, praying that he was wrong. That he was just imagining it to be like the occasional sounds he heard from the woods near his house where people went hunting.

But even he knew that life was never that kind.

"Well, well, well," A voice called out, coming from the entrance of the cafeteria.

Xander looked up, his constricted pupils landing on a tall lean man. The man was wearing a hoodie so his features were barely visible, but what caught Xander's (and everybody else's) attention was what he was dragging behind him as he entered the area.

Or who.

"Xander..." Vanessa choked out, her hands gripping onto his. Her eyes were brimming with tears as she stared at the bloody body the shooter dragged into the cafeteria.

"I found this little one heading to the toilet a while ago. What a cutie," The man chuckled, dropping the little girl's limp hand, and the hordes of students watched in horror as her lifeless body dropped onto the rough cement floor.

The cafeteria had rid of all existing chatter and sickening tension hung in the air as the students tried to calm themselves down. But all they could do was stare at the little girl's small frame in despair and try not to let their eyes flick to the gun that had contained the bullet that had pierced her body, which the man held so confidently.

Trying to focus on anything but the lifeless body, Xander peeked a glance at Vanessa, panic engulfing him upon seeing her bloodshot eyes. "N-Nessa?"

She glanced up at him, her eyes spilling with tears. "I kno-knew her, Xander. She was a family friend..." She let out a sob. "Her name was L-Lily... And now.. n-now..." Vanessa couldn't continue. Her body was shaking with tears as she tried to keep her cries quiet and not to attract the shooter's attention. "S-she's only 10, Xander... Ten."

Xander held onto his best friend, hoping that somehow he could comfort her. He glanced up at the psychotic killer, his body raking with fear. His eyes kept going back to the gun in the man's arm. Please. Please, leave. Don't shoot.

I want to live.

Xander couldn't concentrate. All he could think of was how the poor girl suffered. How the bullet killed her.

And how that man could do the very same to any of the students in the cafeteria, including him.

The shooter stood at the entrance of the cafeteria. All eyes were on him. The man brandished his gun in his hand, a sly smirk on his face, "Now which one of you peasants wanna be next?"

All of a sudden, a boy charged at him, shouting, "YOU BLOODY SON OF A-"

Xander let out an involuntary gasp as the man shot the poor righteous boy right in the head.

"I HATE THIS F*CKING SCHOOL!" The shooter screamed, taking a deep breath and attempting to calm down as sweat dripped down his forehead. He hated that the stupid boy has interrupted his lovely show.

But the man let out a small laugh as soon as heard the horrified cries from his fellow juniors.

Who has the power now, huh?

"Now, now, let's all just calm down, now shall we?" The shooter grinned, obviously feeling much better now that the students seemed to have learnt their lesson not to piss him off, "One wrong move, and I'll send a bullet through your skull."

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