24/7

I sighed as I looked at the extremely difficult test lying on my desk. My brain was getting a full-blown work out. My head was throbbing and my hand was in pain from writing so many numbers. It was the hardest test I've had this year, and I had just finished. I started to bubble in my answers when I got the strange sensation of spiders crawling up my back. My heart started racing and I braced myself for the overwhelming feeling of paranoia to rush through my body.

He was back.

I thought it was just a every once in a while thing! It had only been a few days and I had only told Zaire and Aurora about it. Zaire left for a six month long vacation yesterday, so I will only have Aurora to talk to about it. I looked in the corner of my eye over to the classroom window. I took a breath when I didn't think I saw anything. I finished bubbling in my answers and, annoyed with my paranoia, snatched the test off of my desk. I stood up and slowly walked to the front of the classroom to turn it in to my teacher, Mrs.Halloway. I lied it on her desk and spun on my heel to go back to my seat, but my steps were caught short by the amount of eyes that were staring at me. I gulped and wrapped my hoodie around me. I looked down at the floor and walked swiftly back to my desk. I slid into my desk and took a deep breath. I told myself that maybe they were just looking at the board. That seemed to calm my nerves a bit. 

A few minutes later, the paranoia was still there. I closed my eyes for a moment and then looked out the window. At first, I didn't see anything. Then I looked further into the distance. My heart started pounding when I saw a silhouette of a man off in the woods.  I couldn't see his face, but I could see his smile. His teeth were the brightest white I have ever seen and the evil hidden within the smile made you want to hurl. 

I knew it was him. I don't know how I knew it was him, but I did. I gasped when my eyes wandered down to his hands. His shadowed hands were curled around a gun. 

Just as I noticed the gun, a small figure came walking up behind him. My heart nearly exploded when I realized the figure was my friend Zaire. The smiley-face guys teeth parted ways and I realized that he was laughing as he lifted the gun to Zaire's head. Zaire looked at me and... smiled. She smiled and looked up at the sky as if she had been waiting for that moment her entire life. 

The words "Tell and Die" ran through my head. I didn't care, though. This was Zaire! I stood up out of my desk and pointed at the window and screamed, "NO! STOP HIM!". 

Mrs.Halloway stood from her seat and looked outside. I glanced at her to see her expression when she saw the man, but when her expression was but confused, I looked back outside. There was no one there. No smiley-face man, no Zaire. Just trees and the elementary school playground. 

Mrs.Halloway looked at me with a concerned look on her face and said, "What did you see, sweetheart?" 

Tears stung my eyes, and I tried to tell her, but the words stuck in my throat.

I whispered, "Call the police."