Page 1 of I've Found Her Part 2: I’ll Never Lose Her Again

Chapter 1

Chloe.

For goodness sake! I am going to be so late. A great best friend I am. I will end up arriving just as Bella and Damien do, spoiling the surprise for Damien. Truth be told, I don’t actually think the party will be much of a surprise. Not much gets past Damien. He is probably just going along with it all to please Bella. He’s a good one. He looks after her and makes her happy which in turn makes me happy.

I don’t usually work on a Saturday, but seeing as I am new to my job role, I felt I couldn’t say no when my manager asked me to cover a shift.

I have just moved to London and started working at a youth centre as a counsellor. The session needing to be covered is an information, advice, and guidance session around drug supply and use. Most of the young people attending do so as part of a rehabilitation order. Needless to say, the majority don’t actually want to be here.

It was all going smoothly until an argument broke out with a group of boys. “You’re a F**king grass!” A largely built 16-year-old screams into another’s face. “Lads! Calm down or get out of my session!” They hear me, pause for a moment, but then carry on. They become even more aggressive, and a couple of others join in. Trying to push them apart I get hit and thrown about, caught in the brawl. I have a radio, so I push the SOS button, but no one arrives. Typical. I have no choice, but to leave the room and go and find some help. I get to the staff room to find Jason and Paul sitting watching the football. “Did you not hear my SOS on the radio?!”

“Yeah, but we thought you sat on it by mistake.” Idiots these men.

“Well, no actually, I have a full-on brawl happening in my session and I need both of you right now.” We all quickly make our way down the corridor towards my room. We are metres away from the door and I realise it seems extremely quiet. I hear a man’s voice that I don’t recognise. The door is now closed. We all look through the narrow window in the door. All my group is stood huddled together, apart from 4 of them. The 4 who were fighting when I left are lined up. There’s a man who does not work here with his back to the door. The man is talking quietly, but I can hear anger and aggression in his voice. The group looks scared. The man turns slightly, and I see why. He’s holding a gun at them. “Call the police. Quick.” I whisper, Paul quietly runs back to the staffroom. “What the hell do we do Jason?” We both duck down as the gunman starts to move.

“Let’s go back to the staff room and wait for the police” Seriously, he’s such a wimp.

“I’m not leaving the kids Jason.” I try and think of a plan. I run different scenarios through my head. Shall I go in there and tell him to get out? Shall I bang on the door and then run off? Shall I tell him we’ve rung the police? All these options don’t seem that great and they have a high chance of me, or someone else getting shot. I lift my head up to take another look. He’s still walking around the room. I decide I’ll get my phone out and video him. If I can’t help, at least I will have some evidence. Jason is twitching about, sitting on the floor biting his nails. He’s making me more nervous. “Jason why don’t you go and see how Paul is getting on ringing the police.”

“Alright yeah.” He gets up and scuttles off. I hope I never need to rely on one of those two for help. The gun man’s voice is getting louder, and angrier. I can hear the kids trying to control their fear, but unable to hold in their screams whenever the guy raises his voice even more, or makes a sudden movement. I am wracking my brain trying to think of how I can help and get this man away from them. I hear the sirens in the distance. At last.

Hopefully this will now deter him.

No such luck.

There’s humour in his voice. Maybe he is calming down.

*BANG *BANG *BANG. Oh god no.

The screams are harrowing.

I peek through the window. The man is now making his way to the door. The door I am hiding behind. I look around for somewhere to hide. There’s a cleaning cupboard opposite. On all fours I quickly make my way across the hall. I shut the door just as I hear the other one open. I hide there and watch him leave through the gaps in the door. I get a good look at his face. Pure evil.

As soon as he’s gone, I run to the front door and lock it, I then go to my group. I try not to be affected by the blood bath of a scene in front me.

“He’s gone, help is on its way, everything is going to be ok.” There are cries of relief and panic as they realise what has just happened. My stomach is in knots as I realise one of the boys, Tyler, is lay on the floor extremely still, another 2 of the boys are rolling around in a pool of blood.

“Someone go grab as many coats, cloths and towels as you can. Anything to stop the bleeding.” A few of them return with clothing garments.

“I need help wrapping the boy’s legs, and then we will all go into the games room.” I need to get everyone out of this room.

“I did Jason’s first aid course last week so I can help.”

“Me too” say a couple of the kids.

“Great, come help me. The rest of you go to the games room.”

Two of the boys have gunshot wounds to their legs. We wrap them up as best we can to stop the bleeding. They’re in agony. We carry them out and get them settled on the sofas. “But Chloe, what about Tyler?” Leaving Tyler lying on that floor is the hardest thing I have ever done. I am no doctor, but I know there is nothing anyone can do for him. He wasn’t shot in the leg.

“I’m sorry hun. There’s nothing we can do for him now.”

I get everyone settled just as the police arrive. One of the cops starts firing questions at me. I am trying to console heartbroken teenagers who have just been hit by the realisation of what they have witnessed. “I don’t know his name, and I have never seen him before.” Seriously does he need to ask me questions now? “Can I speak to you later, I really need to help these kids.”

“And you are?” says the arrogant cop.

“Busy!” I shout to him as I turn and catch one of the girls who has just passed out.

“Miss, I haven’t finished speaking to you yet.”

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