School Kidnapping

Date: 10/2/2020

I was in the bathroom at the time the announcement came over the loudspeaker asking us to, "Act as if there is an armed and violent individual in the midst and the find a a nearest classroom." As everyone in the school spoke both ASL, English being the second language; I knew the announcement had played on the video board in my art classroom a few hallways away. Welp, my classroom certainly wasn't the closest one where I was. Shit. I scrambled between rooms trying to find the nearest classroom. After a few locked doors, closets, and open spaces (darn this accessible school), I finally found a classroom; inside, a gym class with only a few other people and it were just starting to make moves towards seeking safety. I think I vaguely knew one or two of them, but I definitely wasn't friends with any of them. I asked if I could join them, and they said yes. In my hurry, I'd neglected to note that there weren't exactly an abundance of hiding spots. The only furniture in the room were a few bookcases, a weight stand against the wall, one long table, and a couple of chairs. We all try to hide behind/under the table. The since I was the first one scrambling for a spot, I scored a spot crouching underneath the chair on the other side of the table. I felt like it was the safest spot in the room; but I could still see the door clearly. I was scared that we weren't going to make it out of here alive. The teacher, bless their heart, tried to calm me down. I asked the room if they thought there was a real shooter here or not. One of the students said no. Someone else said that it was kind of fishy that they'd said to "act" like it was a violent individual and not said anything about it true. My eyes trained on the door took in someone appear on the other side the door. My heart pounded as they peered inside. I was so scared. My eyes darted down as I tried to make myself as small as possible. If I can't see them, they can't see me, right? They entered the classroom - there were three of them - their voices quick as they continued a discussion of their plans. They were going to take one of us. The unfortunate chosen one would up being the girl hiding beside me. She looked like a popular girl- blonde hair, nails done... As she stood up I noted her long boots- almost like cowboy boots- the kind that were very popular the early 2000s. She definitely had a 2000s chic vibe. One of the men took her by the arm and whisked her out of the room, while another one sat down and assumed a repose of alert relaxation. The third man pointed to the other two remaining students and told them they you were free to go. It was inferred by the room that the teacher was also permitted to leave. However, to my relief, he held more morality than fear. He told the man, "We're not leaving without her." I've got to admit, I was utterly frightened! I certainly didn't want to be left alone with this man. I knew what I wasn't in the same amount of danger as the person taken, but I couldn't think of a good reason why the others were free to go and I wasn't. Out of the room's occupants, I had been the only one clearly terrified- and boy was I terrified. The man glanced at the teacher, then over to the students, who had paused to catch his reaction. He shrugged and said I could go too. Relief washed into the cortisol in my system, but didn't dismiss it. My eyes glued to the man and my aura glued to the teacher guiding me, we left. Exiting into the hallway, I witnessed someone else being taken by the men: Harriet. Jaiden and a few of their other classmates spilled out into the hallway just as they were being taken away. We held a subconscience conversation between the three of us, wordlessly wrestled over the concept of one of us taking their place. I was clearly a wreck, trembling in my loose tank top and shorts. They said something along the lines of, "It's okay, I'm already preparing to just toss this in the ol' trauma bin." After they'd left, the rest of us stood and the hallway, feeling spiritually raw and unsure of what to do next. Eventually authority told us to go outside and congregate in our designated safe spots. I now stuck to Jaiden's side as we left the building to greet the dead of night. My light pajamas were far too thin for the chill. We walked the long walk to our designated meeting space. Jaiden saw me shivering and offered me her long sweater. Hi gladly took it as we took our place on the grass- I was f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g. More and more people talk their spots and looked around, most of them chatting, all seemingly certain this had just been a drill. I looked around, watched them all and shivered in Jaiden's sweater, appreciating its warmth. Oh my lord- was it- it was! A worn-out Harriet was walking towards us! I jolted up off the grass and coaxed my body out from underneath the sweater so I could give it to them- they needed this small comfort more than I, that's for sure. Jaiden caught spotted them and also stood in braced concern. I held the sweater out for them, but they were still quite a few feet away. They gave me a puzzled one-up-down acknowledgement of my clothing, clearly noting that they were waaay too light for the elements. But they took it and put it on. They looked spent as hell.