~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A Shot in the Dark~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter One
Paradise Lost
Their words still echoed in his mind. With a razored edge they sliced into his once tender soul, now made hard with the scar tissue from many such attacks. He thought he had dulled himself to the pain, but he was wrong.
Darkness, slowly descending to shroud what little good will remained in his frozen heart. There were some, a very few, who treated him with kindness...but even they were suspect. Were they really being kind, or simply mocking him with their supposedly good intentions?
He pushed those thoughts from his mind, intent upon his task. Each magazine was filled with bullets. Each bullet had a name. He'd thought this through, considered it. He knew what he had to do...the only thing he could do.
Revenge. Sweet. Bitter. Wrotten. Cold. Revenge.
They would regret the day they ever mocked him, belittled him, judged him. They would spend the rest of their miserable lives tortured by the nightmares he would leave forever seared into their young minds. No one was safe. No one was to be spared. He wanted blood. He would have it.
***
"Hello, Wade." Barbara murmured with a half smile, never bothering to raise her eyes from the test she was busy correcting.
"How did you know it was me?"
She glanced at him above her glasses. "Lucky guess." She'd heard him coming. She knew the sound of his footsteps, the way he tread upon the school's linoleum, the way he distributed his weight on the uneven floor. She'd learned the trick from a Sherlock Holmes story...and still delighted in using it whenever she could.
"I wanted to talk to you about something."
Barbara laid aside her red pen and looked up at him, head cocked. "What about?" Was this going to be another attempt at a date, at deepening their relationship? Couldn't he understand? He was handsome...sweet...but they were from two entirely different worlds. She could never tell him the truth about her nightly activities, and the day would come when her muffin cap excuse would cease to be good enough. Men were never a concrete feature in Barbara's life. They came and went with the tide, and she had come to accept it with as much faith and understanding as a lonely woman could.
"You know Chad Foster, right?"
She nodded. "Chad Foster? Quiet. Introverted. A little 'geeky.' Star pupil, the kind of student about which every teacher dreams. He's a senior with an incredible genius. Unfortunately, most of the students don't appreciate that like we teachers. Why do you ask?"
Wade shrugged. "He got into a fight the other day. It was nothing serious...It wasn't even his fault. Half the school said the other kid started it. It's just that...afterwards, he seemed pretty quiet. Wouldn't say a word. Probably embarrased. But, you know, I am the guidance counselor. It's my job to make sure the kids stay sane through high school."
"I don't envy you." Barbara smiled, but sensed some worry behind Wade's eyes. "Somthing else?"
He shook his head. "No. It's nothing. Just do me a favor, be careful around Chad."
"I assure you, Wade, I can take care of myself just fine."
***
Sixth Period. Barbara tried not to grimace. This was the class she dreaded more than any other. In the privacy of the teacher's lounge, they were known as the Bad Asses...the students with behavioral problems. They were the students that disrupted every class, bullied every weak or intelligent student. They were the students that made every teacher's life a living Hell. Of course, in the beginning, she had found the Bad Asses a challenge. Now, having learned the hard way that she was no Michelle Pfiffer...she was happy just to hold their attention long enough to assign the homework. Not that they would do it.
A light knock on her door took her attention from the nearest trouble maker. Lucky for him. She'd been ready to assign a detention. "Dinah, do you need something?"
"Yeah." She answered, glancing warily at the rows of rough looking students. "Um...I forgot that the English field trip was today. I mean, it's a trip to a slaughter house because of that Jungle book. Well, not the Jungle Book, but the book The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. You know, the one I had to read for English?"
Barbara chuckled. "I'm familiar with it."
"Yeah, well, um...the field trip's today and I totally forgot to turn in the permission slip that you were supposed to sign. I'm sorry to interrupt your class and all, but could you?" Dinah tucked a lock of blonde hair behind her ear and smiled at her guardian hopefully.
"I already did. Mr. Hughes told me you were the only one without a permission slip on file. I filled one out for him yesterday afternoon. If you'd gone to class first, you probably would have found that out."
"Oh...I'm sorry."
"It's all right." Barbara smiled. "Have fun..." Her voice trail off as a slight s caught her attention from the hallway. She froze, eyes trained on the open door and the empty corridor which lay beyond. Silence. And then...
A series of gunshots thundered through the school building, followed by screams of pain, fear, and confusion. Barbara reacted with the reflexes, not of a veteran crime fighter, but of a teacher caring only for the well being of her students. She pushed Dinah out of the way and slammed the door to her room shut, throwing the bolt and pulling down the blind to cover the door. Her hand shot out to dim the lights. "On the floor." She commanded. "Underneath your desks. Nobody make a sound. If we're lucky, he won't know we're in here."
They'd had drills for this sort of thing. Worried parents, fearing this sort of tragedy might befall their own children, had demanded some sort of preparation. The school had thought it silly. It would never happen at New Gotham High School. Never. But, it had.
The gunshots were drawing closer. Students still in the hallway, and those who had escaped the classrooms of unprepared teachers were falling victim to the gunman like skeet. Barbara drew in a deep breath. Each shot was shattering the psyche of her students. This venue of learning, this sanctuary would no longer feel safe to them. The hallways, the classrooms, the blood would be bleached away, but the ghosts would forever haunt them. Dinah huddled beneath an unoccupied desk, trying to look unafraid, but Barbara could see the fear in her eyes.
The door knob rattled.
Barbara held her breath as if even that slight noise might alert the gunman to their presence. One of her students screamed, and Barbara closed her eyes in frustration. She knew what would come next.
The gunshot blew the door knob off the locked door, and the gunman stepped inside.
"Good afternoon, Miss Gordon. I know this is normally your class, but since I'm the one with the firepower, I decided I'd teach the lesson today."
Chapter One
Paradise Lost
Their words still echoed in his mind. With a razored edge they sliced into his once tender soul, now made hard with the scar tissue from many such attacks. He thought he had dulled himself to the pain, but he was wrong.
Darkness, slowly descending to shroud what little good will remained in his frozen heart. There were some, a very few, who treated him with kindness...but even they were suspect. Were they really being kind, or simply mocking him with their supposedly good intentions?
He pushed those thoughts from his mind, intent upon his task. Each magazine was filled with bullets. Each bullet had a name. He'd thought this through, considered it. He knew what he had to do...the only thing he could do.
Revenge. Sweet. Bitter. Wrotten. Cold. Revenge.
They would regret the day they ever mocked him, belittled him, judged him. They would spend the rest of their miserable lives tortured by the nightmares he would leave forever seared into their young minds. No one was safe. No one was to be spared. He wanted blood. He would have it.
***
"Hello, Wade." Barbara murmured with a half smile, never bothering to raise her eyes from the test she was busy correcting.
"How did you know it was me?"
She glanced at him above her glasses. "Lucky guess." She'd heard him coming. She knew the sound of his footsteps, the way he tread upon the school's linoleum, the way he distributed his weight on the uneven floor. She'd learned the trick from a Sherlock Holmes story...and still delighted in using it whenever she could.
"I wanted to talk to you about something."
Barbara laid aside her red pen and looked up at him, head cocked. "What about?" Was this going to be another attempt at a date, at deepening their relationship? Couldn't he understand? He was handsome...sweet...but they were from two entirely different worlds. She could never tell him the truth about her nightly activities, and the day would come when her muffin cap excuse would cease to be good enough. Men were never a concrete feature in Barbara's life. They came and went with the tide, and she had come to accept it with as much faith and understanding as a lonely woman could.
"You know Chad Foster, right?"
She nodded. "Chad Foster? Quiet. Introverted. A little 'geeky.' Star pupil, the kind of student about which every teacher dreams. He's a senior with an incredible genius. Unfortunately, most of the students don't appreciate that like we teachers. Why do you ask?"
Wade shrugged. "He got into a fight the other day. It was nothing serious...It wasn't even his fault. Half the school said the other kid started it. It's just that...afterwards, he seemed pretty quiet. Wouldn't say a word. Probably embarrased. But, you know, I am the guidance counselor. It's my job to make sure the kids stay sane through high school."
"I don't envy you." Barbara smiled, but sensed some worry behind Wade's eyes. "Somthing else?"
He shook his head. "No. It's nothing. Just do me a favor, be careful around Chad."
"I assure you, Wade, I can take care of myself just fine."
***
Sixth Period. Barbara tried not to grimace. This was the class she dreaded more than any other. In the privacy of the teacher's lounge, they were known as the Bad Asses...the students with behavioral problems. They were the students that disrupted every class, bullied every weak or intelligent student. They were the students that made every teacher's life a living Hell. Of course, in the beginning, she had found the Bad Asses a challenge. Now, having learned the hard way that she was no Michelle Pfiffer...she was happy just to hold their attention long enough to assign the homework. Not that they would do it.
A light knock on her door took her attention from the nearest trouble maker. Lucky for him. She'd been ready to assign a detention. "Dinah, do you need something?"
"Yeah." She answered, glancing warily at the rows of rough looking students. "Um...I forgot that the English field trip was today. I mean, it's a trip to a slaughter house because of that Jungle book. Well, not the Jungle Book, but the book The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. You know, the one I had to read for English?"
Barbara chuckled. "I'm familiar with it."
"Yeah, well, um...the field trip's today and I totally forgot to turn in the permission slip that you were supposed to sign. I'm sorry to interrupt your class and all, but could you?" Dinah tucked a lock of blonde hair behind her ear and smiled at her guardian hopefully.
"I already did. Mr. Hughes told me you were the only one without a permission slip on file. I filled one out for him yesterday afternoon. If you'd gone to class first, you probably would have found that out."
"Oh...I'm sorry."
"It's all right." Barbara smiled. "Have fun..." Her voice trail off as a slight s caught her attention from the hallway. She froze, eyes trained on the open door and the empty corridor which lay beyond. Silence. And then...
A series of gunshots thundered through the school building, followed by screams of pain, fear, and confusion. Barbara reacted with the reflexes, not of a veteran crime fighter, but of a teacher caring only for the well being of her students. She pushed Dinah out of the way and slammed the door to her room shut, throwing the bolt and pulling down the blind to cover the door. Her hand shot out to dim the lights. "On the floor." She commanded. "Underneath your desks. Nobody make a sound. If we're lucky, he won't know we're in here."
They'd had drills for this sort of thing. Worried parents, fearing this sort of tragedy might befall their own children, had demanded some sort of preparation. The school had thought it silly. It would never happen at New Gotham High School. Never. But, it had.
The gunshots were drawing closer. Students still in the hallway, and those who had escaped the classrooms of unprepared teachers were falling victim to the gunman like skeet. Barbara drew in a deep breath. Each shot was shattering the psyche of her students. This venue of learning, this sanctuary would no longer feel safe to them. The hallways, the classrooms, the blood would be bleached away, but the ghosts would forever haunt them. Dinah huddled beneath an unoccupied desk, trying to look unafraid, but Barbara could see the fear in her eyes.
The door knob rattled.
Barbara held her breath as if even that slight noise might alert the gunman to their presence. One of her students screamed, and Barbara closed her eyes in frustration. She knew what would come next.
The gunshot blew the door knob off the locked door, and the gunman stepped inside.
"Good afternoon, Miss Gordon. I know this is normally your class, but since I'm the one with the firepower, I decided I'd teach the lesson today."