Never The Same

Chapter Seven

I don't remember waking up, and I don't remember coming here. But somehow, I found myself at school. It was strange, and there were people around. Not people I knew though. Just people who acted normal. There shouldn't be anything wrong, but there was.

The first bell rang and I walked to my homeroom. I happened to be the last one there. I looked for someone I knew, but I didn't see anyone who recognized me. They were all girls wearing gray dresses. I looked down to see myself wearing a red dress. And when the teacher came in, she was wearing gray too.

I looked around and saw all of these unfamiliar faces. My hands were shaking and I started sweating. My vision blurred and I saw pieces of normal school days. It wasn't the same.

To be honest, I was freaked out. I backed up out of the room. I was still wearing Emma's necklace. Many of the girls followed me and the second bell rang. More girls in gray came out. I tried to run, but I soon realized I was in heels. Red heels.

I took them off and ran to the elevator. The floor was cold. I pushed the button for the first floor. When I got off, I ran to the doors and tried to open them, but there was no exit. I looked for another way out. And there wasn't one.

I went to the bathroom next. I heard someone crying. I didn't think that was normal, especially here in this so called school. So, I went to check it out. I felt better when I saw someone who felt this wasn't normal either.

"Hello," I whispered.

"No, don't come near me," the girl shouted with fear.

I walked toward her voice. And I saw her in the corner crying. She had brown hair, about shoulder length, that covered her face. I crouched down beside her and pushed the hair behind her ear. Tears were streaming from her eyes, and she refused to look at me.

"Hey Brooke, I want you to listen to me. Everything's going to be alright."

She didn't say anything back to me. She didn't nod or shake her head either. She kept crying, and I kept talking to her. And eventually she stopped.

"How do you know," she whispered so quietly, I could barely hear her.

"Sometimes I just know things and I can't explain how or why I know them. I just do."

There was a girl in red, crying in the corner. She had her knees up to her chest, and her head was buried. She looked kind of young. I couldn't really tell though.

"Hey, I'm in red too," I say to her.

"Why is this happening to us?"

"Honestly, I don't know. What's your name?"

"Caroline."

"I'm Ellie. We're going to find a way out of here, okay?"

"How? I've already checked all of the exits."

"We will find a way."

We walk out of the bathroom and she takes off her heels. There was no one around. The bell rang a while ago. Caroline and I go up the stairs to the second floor.

"I'm scared," Caroline whispers.

"Me too, but now is our time to be strong. We have to stop crying. It's time to fight."

"Okay."

Brooke stood up and dried her tears. I found out that her boyfriend pretended not to know her in front of all of his senior friends. I guess she really liked him. But that was it for them. We went up to the third floor, to room 234. That's where we did the announcements.

"Okay, where's Carter? We're on in three minutes." I was the camera person.

"I don't know, I haven't seen him," one guy says. He worked on the technology.

"Brooke, you might be a loner today. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, I should be fine."

Carter busts through the door, thirty seconds before air time, shouting, "I'm here, I'm here."

"Get seated, we are on in ten, nine..."

I didn't see the rest of the flashback. Instead, I saw pieces of other ones. Things I remembered from not long ago, and even some images I created.

"Asher didn't kill Brooke, Carter did." Room 234. The announcements. Carter? No way out. Blocked doors. School? Asher? No. The color red. Carter. It's him. Where is he? Security cameras. Security room?

My head was dizzy, I had blink a few times, and breathe deeply. Everything seemed like it was spinning. A world that I can't leave. A world that I never really entered.

"Carter? Do you know anyone by that name?"

"No," Caroline pauses. "Maybe, it sounds familiar."

"How about Asher?"

"Yeah, he was my half brother."

"We need to get out of here."

"Why is Asher here?"

"If he's not already here, then he'll be here soon."

"How do we leave?"

"There is no way out," a voice says from over the speakers. It was Carter. "Enjoy your long stay here. There's no rush to leave. Is there? I didn't think so."

"Take off your shoes," I say.

"Why?"

"It's easier to run without them. Let's go."

We run to the announcement room. There's a sign on the door. Nice Try, But Try Again. I push down on the handle, just enough to know that it was locked.

"Where now," Caroline asks.

"It's locked, which means two things."

"He's either in there, or there's something in there he doesn't want us to find."

"Right. Do you have a bobby pin in your hair?"

She nods her head and we both take out one from our hair. I bend mine out, so it's straight, but then I bend back a tiny bit to point up. I slowly and gently put it into the lock. I press up against the lock to find what pressure point there was.

"So, that means you're Katie's half sister too," I say.

"Yeah, but we didn't grow up together."

"What do you mean?"

"My mom left their dad for another man. And well, they had me. Katie and Asher weren't supposed to know, and neither was I, but we found out anyway. They really couldn't keep it from us. But then something happened with Asher. And my mom and dad brought me to New York. I ended up here two days ago."

The lock wasn't working and I started getting frustrated. But I didn't want to make any sound, just in case someone was behind the other door.

"I know what Asher did," she says and her eyes started to water.

"Don't cry. I know too."

She gave me a look, as if she were asking me a question. I nodded my head and looked at her. And she understood what I meant and she stopped crying.

"He's not violent," Caroline whispers. "It's just when the people he loves leave him, he doesn't like it and he doesn't understand that they don't feel a certain way."

"I know."

I unlock the door and open it slowly. Caroline walks up behind me and we enter the room. Carter is in front of us and holding out a gun. We put our hands up in the air.

"Shut the door," he says and we listen.