1. That Time I Died

'How did this happen? Everything was normal up until an hour ago...'

' Just how many people are hurt? Is someone dead? Am I going to die? _______________________________________________________________________

It was a normal day for her, wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, you know, a normal day for a high schooler. But nobody knew what was coming that afternoon. Roxane Delphox or Roxy as her friends called her, was the kind of girl that no one would notice. Her black hair and sea-green eyes were nothing that stood out, she didn't mind though, she liked being in the shadows. Her kind-introverted personality was something only her specific group of friends knew about. She was often asked to help different clubs, but she never turned them down, even if she wanted to. It was how she was, she guessed.

That day, the last period was study hall. Roxy had nothing to do so she was asked to help the literature club. She obliged, not willingly but still made her way to the literature club. That's when a disaster struck. A few minutes after she entered the club, she could clearly hear gunfire. All her survival instincts were telling her to run away, but she heard children screaming and then realized how close the literature club was to the school's primary section. She didn't know what came over her but she grabbed a pair of sharp scissors and ran out the door, as close as she could to the screaming. What she saw outside made her heart stop.

There were dozens of men dressed in military suits, firing bullets at students and she couldn't believe her eyes. ' How can someone be so cruel? They're kids for crying out loud! They're barely 11 years old!'. She saw a couple of kids who were trying to hide behind some boxes, quite unsuccessfully. As Roxy made her way over to them she saw a man training a gun on them. As if her body moved on her own, she quickly stabbed the scissors in her hand into the man's jugular vein on his neck causing him to bleed and fall. Man, she was glad that she paid attention in biology class. Roxy quickly grabbed the children, who hung on to her quite willingly, and took them towards the literature club.

As she was running away from the boxes, Roxy heard someone fire a bullet and a split second later she felt as if someone tore a piece of flesh from her leg. Horrified, she felt a stream of blood flowing down her leg. That confirmed her suspicions. The guy she had struck down earlier was able to move enough to fire a bullet that had grazed her calf. 'Shit! It hurts so bad, but I can't stop or else I'll die.....'

'I need to hurry, these guys will catch up.... Damnit! Why aren't I fast enough!'

Roxy made it into the dark clubroom and closed the door behind her. After locking the door, her knees gave away and she collapsed on the floor with the kids on her. "Miss, are you okay?", the small girl asked Roxy.

"I'm fine, a little hurt, but I'll live. What about you? Are you both unhurt?"

"W-we both are f-fine, b-but my s-sister is still out there-" the boy who Roxy rescued with the girl, broke down, bawling his eyes out.

"Sshh! Quit down, please stop crying, they'll hear us." 'Oh boy, I wish he would listen to me...'

The boy immediately calmed down after that. "Okay, tell me where did you last see your sister?"

" She was in the box behind which we were hiding." Roxy exhaled her breath and then nodded. "I'll go get her. You both go behind that cabinet and hide there. Don't come out till I tell you to okay?" Both the kids nodded their heads and proceeded to hide.

Roxy slowly opened the door, and after confirming that the coast was clear, she retraced her steps and reached the box. When she was opening the box she heard a whimper.

"Sshh! Please be quiet or else we'll get caught. I'll take you to your brother."

Roxy comforted the sobbing girl and held her close to her chest. As they were making it back to the room, Roxy heard someone approach. She whispered to the sobbing girl, "Listen to me carefully, someone is coming from behind and if it's one of those bad men, they'll shoot me. If that happens, I want you to hold your breath and play dead okay? That way they may not shoot you." The little girl shook her head vigorously.

It happened as Roxy predicted. It was a terrorist. He shot Roxy as soon as he saw her standing. Roxy felt as if someone stabbed her in the back.

'Ouch! That hurts! It feels so cold but I'm sweating like crazy. I want it to stop. I'm losing too much blood, I wish I could just pull it in..... Don't notice us. Please think we're dead and walk away...'

After shooting Roxy, the terrorist went to Roxy's body gave it a kick, and then walked away. She mentally breathed a sigh of relief as she heard this. She tried moving but winced at the jab of pain that she felt in her back. she looked at the little girl and was glad to find her safe.

" Miss, you know I can walk on my own now," Roxy looked at her and could see the determination and gratitude shining through the girl's eyes. She nodded at the little girl wearily, too tired and in pain to speak.

'Shit my back is killing me. The bullet is too close to the spine for my comfort. I don't want to be paralysed for the rest of my life. I can't run out of energy now. I can't collapse her or all will be for nothing.....'

'God I'm losing strength. I don't think I can walk anymore... It would have been awesome if I could control the elements like an elemental fox from that anime, I would simply use the wind to carry myself... That's impossible though'

Roxy lost her balance and fell to the ground.

"Miss-" "I'm fine. Now listen to me, go straight down the hallway and go to the third left room. You'll find your brother and his friend there and-"

"Miss, I can't leave you here, what if-"

" No go without me, I'll only slow you down. If we get caught again, we wouldn't be so lucky this time." The little girl looked conflicted as she did what Roxy told her. Roxy could feel her consciousness fading away...

'How did this happen? Everything was normal up until an hour ago...'

'Just how many people are hurt? Is someone dead? Am I going to die?

' Ahh... Human life is so fragile... We're not super strong or super fast... A little push and that's it. The End. Fin. Man, it's such a pain to be a human...'

'Well... in any case..... I'm... glad... I was able to..... save those 3 kids.

Roxy slowly closed her eyes as she felt herself sinking into darkness...