As I tried to run my legs shook beneath me. From behind I heard terrified screams and a series of bangs before I turned and headed down a long dark alley way. I stumbled in the darkness without the faintest idea where I would find myself. The alley went on for what seemed like an age till eventually I emerged into the light produced by the street lamps. I turned expecting Helen to be there right behind me, but I was all alone. And then it hit me, was it her who screamed. ‘Oh God’ I thought. ‘how could I leave anyone in that situation let alone my best friend. And now she may be dead. If she is I should have died with her she must have been so scared. Without a second thought I turned on my heels and headed back down that dark alley way right back towards the scene of the crime. My Hands where sweating profusely and I was shaking all over and felt incredibly like throwing up in the gutter.
I emerged from the darkness to see the horror before me, bodies all over the street. Inside the club kept pumping the people inside apparently unaware of the horror that had been going on outside. The man responsible wasn’t around he’d fled. People in the near by restaurants had fled or hidden under tables. A few brave ones had sacrificed their lives for others by attempting to disarm the culprit. I searched with my eyes for Helen. I heard a series of emergency sirens which made the sickness die down a little bit. Then I saw her, she was bleeding profusely, he got her in the stomach. I bolted to her compressing the bleeding while the paramedics assessed how critical each victim was. She was so helpless and so scared. I didn’t know what I would do if she died. I didn’t know if I could live with myself. She was like the sister I never had without her a large chunk of me would die to. She looked up at me through her stunning green eyes and slowly opened her mouth. “tell mum and dad I love…” she drifted off her last word failed to be spoken, her head slumpt to one side. I collapsed on the ground tears streaming down my pail complexion. “She’s not dead” I yelled which got the attention of the paramedics who rushed over immediately to be sure there was no pulse. One of them placed a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry he said “it’s a tragedy that shouldn’t have happened.”
I had until now been blessed with the fact that I hadn’t known anyone close enough to go to their funeral. I knew the day would come but I had expected it to be my grandparents or a family friend someone who was older not someone my age and my best friend. The funeral was as nice as a funeral could be.
(more to come)
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