In Your Arms

by Becky Andrews

  “Hey, can you meet me at school?”

  “Sam? Right now? I thought you were grounded?”

  “Yes, right now.”

  “What’s wrong, Sam? What happened?”

  “Josh has Alex. I can’t explain more, but he said if we involved the cops, he would kill her. I have to go, I’m here,” she said then hung up the phone.

  Sam stopped her car and slowly stepped out, shutting the door behind her. She walked up to the east wing of the school and opened the doors. It was dark and silent, except for faint crying she could hear in the distance.

  “Baker, you finally decided to show up.” Josh’s offhanded comment scared Sam to the point where she stopped dead in her tracks. He was behind her, and Sam quickly turned around.

  “I’ve been waiting for you to show up,” Josh said, walking toward her.

  “Where’s Alex?” Sam said.

  “Right through there.” He pointed with his gun to a classroom.

  Sam walked through the door and found Alex tied to one of the chairs.

  “Are you okay, Alex?” Sam cried, running over toward her and kneeling down.

  “Go ahead, untie her,” Josh said.

  Sam untied Alex and helped her out of the chair. “What do you want, Josh?” Sam asked boldly.

  “Well, let’s wait for your boyfriend to show up and then the party will really start. But first, let’s make our way to the hallway,” he said, motioning for them to walk. “Don’t worry, I won’t shoot. I’m not that cold.”

  Sam and Alex walked into the hallway, not sure what was in store for them. As Josh followed closely behind them, Sam stayed close to Alex.

  “I’ll distract him, and you run for help,” Sam whispered to her friend.

  “What do we have here?” Josh said. “Is someone trying to plan something? Look, Baker, it won’t work. Whatever it is you’re trying to plan.”

  Sam saw a fire extinguisher ahead and knew how she was going to create a diversion. “Josh, you wouldn’t know if a book hit you, much less if I was planning something.”

  “Ha ha, very clever, Baker. I see why Phillip is so in love with you. And that, by the way, was sarcasm. He's a blind fool.”

  “Josh, you aren’t supposed to point out if something is sarcastic.” Sam wasn’t sure what she was doing, but making Josh more upset seemed to be what was happening.

  “You know, Baker, it’s going to be so much more peaceful around here when you’re gone.”

  They had reached the extinguisher, and Sam looked to Alex. “Now!” Sam yelled as she grabbed the extinguisher and immediately began to spray it just as she heard Alex scream.

  “Stop!” Josh yelled as he fired his gun.

  “Sam, please!” Alex yelled.

  As Sam set the fire extinguisher on the ground and the air began to clear, Sam saw Josh holding Alex with his gun directed at her.

  “Now I thought I made myself clear when I said no funny business. Instead of saving your friend, Baker, you’ve just killed her,” Josh said as he pushed Alex into the trophy case on the wall. Josh was strong and Alex was nothing compared to him.

  Sam picked up the fire extinguisher and started to spray Josh once more. “Alex run!”

  Josh regained his balance and knocked the extinguisher out of Sam's hands. “Watch this, Baker.” In one swift motion, he turned and fired his gun.

  Alex dropped to the ground.

  “Alex!” Sam screamed as she ran toward her friend.

  “Stop! Don't move!” Josh yelled, holding up the gun. “Now that wasn’t too hard. All I have left are you and Phillip.”

  “Please,” she cried, unable to say anything else.

  “Oh, stop crying! So she’s dead, get over it!”

  “You’re crazy!” Sam yelled.

  “I’m crazy? Is that something you really say to someone who holds your life in his hands, Baker? I’m shocked. Didn’t your parents teach you any manners?”

  “Yeah, but I don’t apply the same courtesy to psychopaths.”

  “Ouch, that really hurt,” Josh mocked.

  “You know you can’t get away with this.”

  “Get away? Oh, I don’t plan on getting away with this.”

  “You want to get caught?” she asked, confused.

  “That’s the whole point, Baker.”

  “Then why don’t you just let me go?” He wasn’t making any sense at all.

  “You see, I can’t do that. I’d lose my credible defense.”

  “What?”

  “Thanks to you, the cops know I killed Chris. Soon, they’ll find out I killed Billy and I’ll go to jail. But not when I finish killing you and your boyfriend.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense. You’ve killed three people already. No jury in their right mind will declare you not guilty,” she said, sobbing.

  “Yes, they will, because they’ll see that the steroids made me do it. I wasn’t in the right state of mind when I killed them. I was hyped up on steroids. And with five deaths to my name they’ll know it was the steroids.”

  “Josh, you really are crazy.”

  “And you need to learn when to shut your mouth,” Josh said, slapping her across the face. Sam stumbled backward.

  “You know what your problem is, Baker?” he asked, holding on to her cheeks with one hand as the other one focused the gun on her temple. “You’re weak. You have to run to someone for help. You can’t do anything yourself.” Josh pushed her away with all his power, causing Sam to fall to the ground. Josh laughed as Sam struggled to get up. She noticed a shadow behind Josh. Phillip! It had to be.

  “Is that a faint glimmer of hope I detect?” Josh asked. “Has your boyfriend finally decided to show up?”

  Sam knew she’d blown it. Why did she have to get so excited? Now she had doomed both her and Phillip, if it really was him hiding in the shadows.

  “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Josh chanted. “You can’t hide forever,” Josh cried out to the open space. There was no reply. “Come out now, or your girlfriend is dead,” he said, quickly grabbing Sam around the shoulders and holding the gun up to her head.

  Phillip slowly emerged from the dark. “I’m here. Don’t shoot her!”

  “Aw, how sweet, you really do care for her.”

  “Let her go, you can have me instead.”

  “No, I think I’ll kill you both,” he said, pushing Sam at Phillip. Phillip caught Sam as she stumbled toward him.

  “You okay?” Phillip asked her.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” she said, turning around to face Josh.

  “Look at you two,” Josh said, walking toward them. “Get over there!” he yelled at Sam. “I can’t have you to together now, can I?” As Sam moved away from Phillip, Josh began to walk toward her. “You think you’re tough, Baker. Nothing is going to save you from this,” Josh said, hitting Sam on her head with the butt of the gun.

  Sam fell to the ground, blinking against the excruciating pain. Phillip began to walk toward her. “Stop! Leave her,” Josh said, holding the gun up to Phillip.

  “What do you want, Josh?” Phillip asked.

  “Get up!” Josh yelled at Sam. “Get up now, or I’ll shoot your boyfriend.”

  Sam slowly rose to her feet, unsure what Josh was planning. Her head was throbbing and her strength was limited. Josh walked over to Sam, still holding the gun on Phillip. As he came closer to Sam, he directed the gun at her.

  “Josh, what do you want?” Phillip asked again as Josh grabbed Sam’s cheeks with his free hand.

  “I just want to see the look on your face,” Josh said, pulling Sam toward him and pressing his lips firmly on hers.

  Phillip lunged at Josh, who had Sam in his grip and a gun to her head. He wasn’t fast enough. Josh pushed Sam to the ground then turned around just in time to fire his gun a couple of times.

  Phillip dropped to his knees and clasped the wounds on his abdomen, a look of utter shock in his beautiful blue eyes.

  “No!” Sam screamed as
Phillip looked toward her just before he fell to the ground. Sam crawled over to Phillip. “Please, no!” Sam screamed as Phillip’s eyes fluttered shut. “Oh god, no!”

  “Oh, come now, Baker, stop crying over spilt milk or should I say lost loves.”

  Sam looked up at Josh, tears still streaming from her eyes. “What do you want?!” Sam screamed, standing up. “First Alex, now Phillip, next me, right?! What are you waiting for? Shoot me!” Sam screamed hysterically

  “Calm down, Baker, I’m not going to shoot you. I’ve got something a little bit more fun in store for you. It’s too easy if I just shoot you. I want something a little more challenging.”

  “So you’re going to kill me with your bare hands?” Sam said.

  “Something like that. So I guess I won’t need this,” he said, tossing the gun behind him. Sam heard the clash of the gun hitting the floor and took off in the opposite direction. She knew she couldn’t run faster than Josh, but if he was chasing her, he couldn’t run and get the gun either.

  Josh swore and took off running after Sam. Sam ran into the doors, hoping to make a quick escape but they were locked, trapping Sam at the end of the hallway.

  “Well, Baker?” Josh said, catching up to her. “I guess you’re stuck here with me.”

  Tears began to roll down her cheeks again as the realization came to her. She would have to try and fight him off. The guy who had killed four people, the guy hyped up on steroids, ready to make her victim number five.

  “You know, Baker, I thought it was pretty great back there.”

  “What are you talking about?” she sobbed.

  “Well, killing Phillip was great, but to see his face after I kissed you, that was just freakin’ awesome! You must really be kicking yourself, the last thing your boyfriend sees is you kissing another guy. You fucking cunt! You fucking slut!”

  “Shut up!” Sam screamed.

  “What? Am I making it worse?”

  Sam’s eyes welled up with tears as she looked at Josh's laughing face. Suddenly time seemed to slow down as she felt an inner wave of bravery release inside of her.

  Josh lunged at Sam and she threw her leg up to kick him but Josh took hold of it and pulled her down. Sam landed on her back, but quickly jumped back up. She looked Josh in the eyes and tried to punch him, but Josh was too strong. He took hold of her hand and twisted her arm behind her back. As he did so, he shoved her up against a wall—slamming her body against it a couple of times. He let go and Sam fell to the floor. He looked down at her and sunk to his knees, turning Sam so she was lying on her back then began to choke her.

  Sam couldn’t breathe. She tried to gasp for air but nothing came. She knew she didn’t have much time before everything went dark. Her mere shoves and punches didn’t do much damage to him as he continued to choke her.

  “Don’t try and fight it, Sam. It’ll be over soon.”

  Sam didn’t want to think about it. All she wanted was to be back at home, eating the dinner her mother had prepared. Sam stopped hitting him and realized what to do. Thankfully she hadn’t trimmed her nails that week, so as Sam reached up, she dug her nails into his face in one deep hard stroke.

  Josh screamed and let go of Sam to tend to his new wounds. She scrambled to her feet before he had a chance to take her back down. As Josh came toward her, she hit him in the nose. Josh screamed out in pain as he touched the blood that was streaming down.

  “You just broke my nose, bitch!” Josh yelled as he came toward Sam again. He had been disorientated and as he neared her, trying to push her to the ground, she did the only thing she could think of. She stamped on his foot then kneed him in the groin.

  Josh bent down, writhing in pain as Sam walked up to him. “Josh,” she said. He looked up at her, but didn’t stand up straight. “You never should have messed with me or my friends, or my family, for that matter. I can’t believe you killed my best friend. That you killed Phillip, your best friend, my boyfriend, the love of my life.”

  “Things change, Sam. You of all people should know that.”

  Of course she did. Sam and Tracy had been friends up until Tracy decided she wanted to be the center of attention and turned into a heartless teenager.

  “What made you hate him so badly to kill him in cold blood?” she asked angrily.

  “The steroids.”

  “I want the truth!” she said, stomping on his foot again.

  “I told you. They’re messing up my mind,” Josh whined.

  Sam couldn’t take it anymore. She felt the anger rise and before she knew it, she lunged at Josh. She managed to get him on the ground, jumping on his back. She grabbed a fist full of his hair and began to hit his face against the floor.

  “This is for Chris,” she said, slamming his face down into the ground. “This is for Billy.” Again synchronized with the hit. “This, this is for Alex!” she screamed. “And this, this one is for Phillip.” Before she could slam him down again, he managed to push Sam off. She toppled to the ground.

  “You’ll regret you ever did that,” Josh said as he pinned her to the floor. “This is going to teach you a lesson, Baker. You never should have messed with me.” He grabbed her hair. “You want to know how it feels?” he asked as he began to slam her head into the ground. Sam just prayed it would stop as tears continued to stream down her face.

  “Let go of her, Josh,” a female voice said calmly.

  Sam opened her eyes and saw Alex holding the gun to Josh’s head. Josh let go of Sam’s hair. “Now get off and move back toward the wall,” Alex said.

  “Alex?” Sam couldn’t believe it. She wasn’t dead. “I thought—”

  “Sam, you really think some girly push into a glass display case could kill me?”

  She had some pretty big gashes on her arms and legs, leaving a big pool of blood where she had been on the floor, but that didn’t seem to stop Alex.

  “But you ran, and he shot you. You went down.” Sam couldn't believe it.

  “Well, he obviously missed! And, missy, you try and stay on your feet when you've lost all that blood.” Alex smiled as she pointed to the pool of red on the floor.

  “Phillip,” Sam said. “Josh shot him.”

  “He’s not dead, Sam. He passed out from the pain. I called the police, they should be here any minute.”

  Sam got to her feet and stumbled down the hallway to where Phillip was lying on the floor.

  “Hey, handsome,” she sniffled.

  Phillip smiled faintly. “Hey, beautiful.”

  Sam wiped away her tears. “You finally came up with one I liked.”

  “Well, I had a little bit of time to think,” he replied breathlessly.

  Sam laughed nervously. She wasn’t sure whether to cry or to smile.

  Phillip reached up and touched her cheek. “I love you.”

  “What did you say?” she whispered.

  “You heard me, beautiful. I love you.”

  Sam smiled at him. She couldn’t believe what he had just told her. Her heart leaped wildly at the words.

  “So does that smile mean you love me too?” he asked.

  Sam laughed. “Of course. I love you, Phillip,” she said then bent down and kissed him gently on the lips. As she looked down at him, all she wanted was to know that he would be all right.

  “I’m going to be fine, Sam. Don’t worry,” Phillip said.

  Tears began to roll down her cheeks as she placed her head on his chest. She didn’t want to leave him. She didn’t want him to leave her.

  Seconds later, Sam heard doors opening, followed by heavy footsteps. Policemen flooded the halls as they apprehended Josh and relieved Alex of her post. There was a stretcher and before Sam realized it, they were carting them all away, taking them to the nearest hospital in separate ambulances.

  * * *

  “Don’t worry, Sam. He’ll be fine,” Alex said as the nurse continued to stitch up the gashes on her face.

  “I know. I’m just scared,” Sam said.

 
; “You know, you look awful,” Alex said with a grin.

  Sam smiled back. “You don’t look so hot yourself.”

  “Excuse me?” Officer Fields said, walking into the room.

  Sam looked up. “Yes? You want to ask us questions, right?”

  “No, I want to apologize for not preventing this.”

  “It’s okay, Officer Fields. All that matters is that you have him now.”

  “And he will never hurt you again. He’s going to be put away for a long time, as long as I can count on your testimonies.”

  “Definitely,” Alex said.

  “I called your parents, they should be here any minute,” she said as she made her way to the door.

  “Thank you, Officer Fields,” Sam said.

  Officer Fields smiled at Sam before leaving the room.

  It wasn’t long before their parents showed up, voicing their concerns and questions. They had already been informed about what had happened by Officer Fields.

  “I’m fine, Mom. I’m just tired,” Sam said as her mother fussed over her.

  “Okay, honey. The doctors want both you and Alex to stay overnight,” her mother said, “but we’ll be back in the morning to come get you.”

  “I thought they would never leave,” Alex said when their parents left the room. “So what did the doctors say about your MRI?”

  “They said it looked normal but wanted to keep me tonight, and in the morning they would take another one. What did they say about you?”

  “Just some minor cuts on my arms and legs. They said I was lucky that the glass in my neck didn’t puncture my artery. They haven’t told you anything about Phillip yet?”

  “Not yet. They just say he’s still in surgery.”

  “Okay, you two,” the nurse said, walking into the room. “Get comfortable because it’s already eleven. You’ve had a busy night and need your rest.”

  * * *

  “Hey, handsome,” Sam whispered as Phillip opened his eyes. “They said you had come back from surgery.”

  “Hey, beautiful. I’m glad to see you.”

  Sam smiled at him. “How do you feel?”

  “About as bad as you look,” he teased.

  “They aren’t that bad,” Sam said, talking about the bruises and stitches on her face. “I don’t have as many stitches as Alex.”