Edmond was happily chatting with Samantha and Eli while the girls were dancing together closer to the center of the floor when it all happened. The black lights were turned off abruptly and for a second the room was black. Some people started to panic while other could care less and some took advantage of the darkness and placed their hands on some body parts.
Then the crystal chandeliers were turned on and people were relieved to see the soft golden lights illuminate the room. Olivia started to sweat she grabbed Blair and Laila's hands since they were the closest to her. The announcer started calling everyone's attention "Sorry ladies and gentleman we are having some technical difficulty. Just give us a moment and everything should be up an running in a second." he said calmly.
Some people started moving off the dance floor back to their tables while others took it as a sign they should start calling it a night. Olivia let go of her Blair and Laila's hands and sighed in relief. "Heh... It was just a dream." she said under her breath. Blair turned around and looked at her "What was a dream?" she asked. Olivia shook her head "Nothing."
CRASH! BANG! CRASH! BANG! CRASH! BANG! Everyone was looking around the room confused by the sounds. "Did they start the fireworks early?" someone shouted while some people ran to the windows and others started running away from the windows. "The windows just shattered!" another shouted.
Olivia felt a cold chill run down her body and froze to her spot while people ran past her. She hunched over a little and crossed her arms over her abdomen protectively, her eyes become wide as she dazed out. Her friends swept away with the crowd.
Eli looked over at her and knew something was wrong, as he started to take a few steps towards her. He heard Samantha scream. "Edmond!" Eli looked over and saw Edmond back into Samantha, he had turned to face the window and brought up his arms in an 'x' formation, blocking his heart. "Take cover!" he shouted back at Samantha and soon enough other's started screaming.
"Blood! There is blood everywhere!"
"Someone help my husband has been shot!"
"My husband is a doctor! Move out of the way!"
Eli turned to race towards Olivia, he kept her in his sights, she was only a few feet away from him but she was vulnerable as she stood there frightened and glued onto the dance floor. He felt his heart race as he pushed against the screaming crowd that was trying to move away from her.
Olivia couldn't pull herself together. More gun shots were fired and people were starting to topple over the injured. She started to breath hard, her anxiety was getting the better of her, she needed to get her mind back to the situation at hand. She urged herself to snap out of her fear, she pulled her pained face upwards as she heard more screams.
She refused to expose her abdomen and kept it well protected with her arms, sweat started to roll down her body as she looked around for a way out. She took in a sharp breathe and tried her best not to throw up from the smell of iron and sweat that was assaulting her nose, people around her were dropping to the floor like flies and she couldn't understand why.
When she turned and saw Eli she felt relieved and tried to move towards him. She felt something slice across her shoulder blades, she let a small cry from the pain and felt something wet starting to rolling down her back. A older male was behind her and he let out a pained scream. Olivia looked for a split second and saw a bright red flower start to blossom onto his white shirt.
She felt the blood drain from her face as she watched him fall onto his knees. He reached out to her with one bloody hand and she turned her face away, she needed to think about the small life in her but she couldn't go against her nature. She bit her lower lip and rushed over to the older male back to his feet, she wrapped his arm around her shoulder and took heavy steps forward.
She looked around and people were still running around screaming as shots were still being fired. She spied the emergency door but there was a small pile of bodies propping the door open then she spotted her Nana Tina trying to get people to hide behind a make shift table barrier. She started move towards them, wincing as she half carried the older male with her.
An older lady was trying to run past them to try and reach the barrier when they heard another gun shot and she dropped to the ground. They both looked at the woman and seen a small pool of blood start to form around her head. Olivia's body temperature dropped, she looked behind her and noticed the bodies that laid on the floor were close to where she was standing, she gulped and then looked back to the man. "It's me..." she said under her breathe.
She grabbed another person's arm as they tried to run past. "Take him with you!" she ordered. She recognized the young man as Cole Carter from Tekula Academy. He tried to shake her off but she tightened her grip. "Take him! They are after me you'll be safe as long as I move away!" she shouted. Cole stood there wide eyed and Olivia couldn't wait for him any longer she pulled Cole closer towards them and forced the man on him.
She turned quickly and started running towards the stairs as she place one hand over her abdomen. There was another shot fired and she felt the same stinging sensation across her right hand. She swallowed hard, she didn't want to look at her hand and just kept running. She almost slipped in the pool of blood that formed in the center of the floor but she was determined to not to stop.
Her dress was soaking up the blood on the floor, making it heavier to run with. As she made it to the first step she heard another bang. Her heel was shot off her shoe, she grabbed onto the hand rail to steady herself and she ran up the stairs. The shots had finally stopped firing as she made it half way up the steps but the people below were still panicking, screaming and crying as they held onto their loved ones.
She didn't want to stop running up the stairs, she needed to reach the top to make sure that she was no longer in range. She was heaving by the time she made it to the top of the stairs. She sat down on the top step, her adrenaline was finally depleted and she could no longer stand. She dropped to her knees and sat down.
Her mind was starting to process everything as she kicked off her shoes and watched them tumble down the stairs leaving little splatters of blood in their tracks. Why hadn't the police arrived yet? she wondered as turned her head to the right she saw that people were trying to push their way towards the giant doors but no one was actually moving forward. Where they blocked in she wondered.
"Olivia." a familiar voice called out. Olivia quickly looked down and saw Eli starting to climb the stairs towards her as he clutched onto his bleeding arm. Soon the screams started up again, Olivia looked past Eli and saw what had happened. Three broad males walked through the broken windows, guns raised and started shooting anyone that was close by.
Olivia started to lift herself up off the ground, fear was etched into her face as she watched from above a man with tossed back red hair aimed his gun at Nana Tina. "NANA TINA!!!" she screeched at the top of her lungs. Eli ran the rest of the steps as she watched her Papa Bernie run in front of her Nana Tina. There was a loud bang, the sound resonated in her heart as she watched her Papa Bernie's body fall towards the ground.
"BERNARD!" she heard her Nana Tina scream as Eli pulled her into his embrace. "Nooo-ooo!" she yelled with every fiber of her being. Edmond was already fighting one of the men as was able to kill him with only a fork and butter knife. He had already been shot four times trying to protect Samantha and was able to hide her in a safe place before the men came into the room.
He heard Olivia's screams and turned to wear he last saw his original master. He was able to jump onto the tables and run past the second armed man, he jumped off the table and on top of the man that tried to kill Clementina. He stabbed the man's jugular with the butter knife and left it in place. The red head hollered in pain as Edmond toppled him down to the ground.
Blood was dripping from both of Edmond's forearms, his eyes glowing a murderous copper color as he laid on top of the man. He looked him straight in the eye before he raised his arm in the air and brought it back down with a swift whoosh. He merciless stabbed his eye with the fork and forcefully yanked out the man's eye. Edmond threw the fork with the eyeball aside and placed one large hand on the man's face, he held him down as he grabbed the butter knife with the other hand and with all his strength he pulled it towards the man's chest in one swoop.
Edmond didn't admire his handiwork and got up from the dead man's body, he turned to look at his master. Clementina had brought his body over her lap and started rocking his head back in forth as she cried. Bernard Steel had taken the bullet in the back of his head and was dead.
Edmond turned to see if he could find the last shooter that entered the building but hadn't spotted him. His vision started to blur as he heard the police sirens in the distance. Soon the main doors were opened, people were crying from relief as they exited the building. Olivia couldn't stop crying as Eli tightened his embrace. "It's my fault! It's all my fault!" she said hysterically. Eli could only hold to her silently until she calmed down.
Everyone was being inspected before they left and the one's in critical condition were rushed and air lifted to near by hospitals. Eli supported Olivia as they walked down the steps and made their way to the front door. They both searched the crowd for their families and quickly found the Delmiras, after they were looked over they tried calling Avery, Laila and Loreley but their was no answer.
They asked a police officer if they had seen anyone else from the Steel family but the officer shook his head. "Olivia?" a faint voice called, Olivia turned and spotted Laila as she barely walked towards them, she held her hand to her side. Eli yelled for a paramedic as the officer rushed to stop Laila from falling down. Laila looked at Olivia and she handed her the white princess clutch now with a bloody hand print on it.
Laila looked up at Olivia, her face was deathly pale she tried to say something but Olivia grabbed her hand and urged her to conserve her energy. Laila shook her head and was determined to say what she needed to say. Sweat was starting to roll down her face and she started to breathe heavily. The paramedics had just reached them with an oxygen mask and gurney. Laila fought to keep the mask off as they tried laying her on the gurney.
One of the paramedics took out a syringe and gave her a shot of tranquilizer to stop her from fighting. Laila started to blink slowly "Loreley... dad... gone." was all she said before she passed out.