Crumbling
I pace back and forth in front of the school gate, in a state of mid-panic. (Is this for real? Am I really trapped in here by an invisible wall? IS THIS FOR REAL?!) I practically scream inside my head. After a few minutes of just going in circles I decide to calm down and think straight. “Relax Jack… Relax.” I mumble to myself bringing a hand over my chest. (First let’s check if anyone is still in the school. There is no way April left. I would have seen her.) I think logically as I walk back into the school. (I really don’t want to go back inside…) My gut basically calls out to me but I can’t afford to sit this one out. As soon as I turn the corner I see a familiar face walking down the stairs. “MAX!” I call out to her and wave. “Jack! Thank God you’re here!” She runs straight at me and envelopes me in a hug. “Woah hey there…” I say as I’m caught completely off guard. “Why are you here? I thought you would already be home by now...” I ask her as she’s clinging to me not looking like she’s going to let go. “I was about to ask you the same thing! The talk with Mrs. Henderson took more time than I expected and I thought you would have already left! But in the off-chance you didn’t I couldn’t just leave without you so I searched the school! But when I was convinced you weren’t here I tried to leave but I couldn’t!! I couldn’t walk out the school gate! I constantly bump into something that’s not even there!” Max explains in lightning speed having separated slightly looking at me with glistening eyes. “Hey hey. It’s okay I’m here so we’ll figure this out ‘kay?” I finally wrap my arms around her trying to comfort her to the best of my abilities. I refrained from doing so earlier thinking it would be awkward but that’s clearly not the case. (Surprisingly, it feels kinda… warm… and nice. Maybe I needed to see a familiar face like hers too and this is the relief washing over me.) “Yeah… We’ll figure this out.” Max finally replies separating from me sniffing and wiping her eyes with her sleeve. “Thanks I’m all better now. I’m so glad you’re here." She continues, this time flashing me a bright smile. (That’s the Max I want to see…) “Likewise partner!” I say returning the smile. “So did you hit that invisible wall too? And how come you’re still here I thought you left!” She finally remembers her unanswered questions and basically throws them at me.
We walk up the stairs towards the student council room as I explain to her exactly what happened. “Oh so you lost your phone and then had to play the knight in shining armor… That’s why you forgot about little ole me!” Max says with a playful and cocky smirk as I explain what happened. “Yeah because every knight in shining armor knocks down the girl because he was thinking about his dumb childhood friend…” I protest as I look to the side. “Hey! Thank God there’s more people here!!” A boy and a girl walk up to us clearly looking relieved they’re not alone in the school. They must be from our class but I’m not quite sure… “Oh it’s Liam and Chloe. You guys trapped in here too?” (Max to the rescue…) Max says as she straightens and tries to play it cool, although she was panicking just a short while ago. “Yeah we were… uhm talking and time kinda flew by. When we realized that no one else was in the school we thought we should leave but we just couldn’t!” Chloe explains to the best of her abilities. (She said they were talking… must have been a pretty intense talking session…) “So I’m guessing you haven’t found anyone else right?” I cut straight to the point as I ask. “No we haven’t…” Liam comes out and replies looking a tad bit disappointed. “You’re… Jack right?” Liam asks furrowing his eyebrows. “Yep that’s me.” I try to sound aloof. (At least he remembered by name.) He’s kinda tall, a little bit taller than me, and brawny and has short brown hair. (He must be on the school’s football team or something.) Everybody in class pretty much remembers their classmates’ name but mine probably is at the bottom of everyone’s list, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t knew mine. (And I’m guessing Chloe is his girlfriend? Since they were “talking” and stuff.) She’s a lot shorter than him and has long blonde hair and a slim figure. Yeah they totally look like a potential couple. A douche and a happy-go-lucky girl. “It would be better to stick together and try to find a way out of here, right?” Max suggests giving everyone a reassuring smile. “Sounds good to me.” Chloe replies while I and Liam nod.
“Am I the only one who’s got no signal in here?” Chloe says while holding up her phone, as we walk down the hallway of the second floor “Nah me neither.” Max says while checking her own device. “No signal.” I say as I stuff my phone back in my pocket. “Great.” Liam voices following up with a sigh. “So did you try the principal’s office?” I ask the two newfound members of our little rescue team. “Yeah we did but the door was locked and even after knocking and pounding there was no response.” Liam explains while scratching his chin. “He must have left before us then…” Max states the obvious as she tries to think. “If the principal left then who the hell locks the school up?” I ask, since the incidents didn’t quite add up. “We in the football team mostly practice until late so when the principal needs to leave early, a security guard comes by at night and locks everything up. Not to mention that he guards the place up till morning as well. But today we didn’t have any practice so everybody left beforehand.” Liam basically explains to me gesturing his hands around. “So what if we wait for the security guard to come? I mean won’t he realize he can’t get inside the school and call for help?” Max suggests cocking her head to the side. “That’s a solid idea. But we can’t just stand here for 7 hours.” I reply to her. “Yeah I’ve got stuff I wanna do! I can’t waste my day here!” Chloe joins in, albeit somewhat illogically. “That’s not what I meant actually…” I reply once again this time with a perplexed expression. “Hey look isn’t that the new transfer student?” Liam calls out while pointing at a slim figure with long black hair standing at the end of the hallway, looking outside the window. Yeah, that’s definitely her. “Uhm… Anette?” I say calling out to her while walking towards her direction. “Oh… Jack?” She voices while snapping out of her trance. (She seems pretty out of it all day...) “Yeah it’s me. You good? You seemed kinda lost there.” I ask slightly grabbing her arm in a comforting kind of way. “Oh yeah. I’m good I was just sensing things…” She looks down at her feet with a slight red tint covering her cheeks. (Did she just blush? Oh my I must be really cool then.) “Why are you touching her like a creep?” Max gives me a disapproving look as she asks. (SHUT UP DON’T RUIN MY COOL MOMENT!) I basically yell inside my head. “Did you say you sensed things? Uhm… Anette?” Chloe looks at her with a disapproving look of a different nature. “Yes, the darkness in this school is growing. I feel it. We’re most likely in grave danger.” As soon as I hear those words I feel a lump in my throat and my stomach basically flips over. I want to snap at her for saying things like that right now but that would only make things worse. “What? Darkness? Danger? What is she on about?” Liam throws question after question looking completely creeped out. “Hey, Calm down Liam.” Chloe tries to reassure him while placing a hand on his back. “Calm down?? An invisible force’s literally trapped us inside the school and this creepy looking transfer student that just happened to transfer at the same day of this whole incident has the audacity to talk about darkness and danger?! If she is not suspicious then I don’t know who is!” Liam basically snaps at her as he raises his voice as loud as possible. Anette looks down at her feet clearly feeling mistreated. There’s logic behind his reasoning but there are some things that don’t make sense, making his outburst completely unfair for her. “Hey why don’t you chill out man? She didn’t trap us here and it’s obviously not her fault!” For some reason that really pissed me off and I decide to stand up for her. “If she really wanted to trap us here then why trap herself as well? And why try to warn us about the danger if she means us harm?” I continue defending her this time posing questions to Liam that break down any validity behind his accusations. “Uhm… I don’t know… maybe you’ve got a point.” He says defeated unable to find an answer to my questions. “Thanks.” She sheepishly spells out still looking down while tugging on my sleeve for a few seconds. I turn to look at her, to see that a smile has formed on her lips. I instinctively smile for a few seconds in return before Max speaks up. “Okay Anette we figured we should team up with everyone still remaining inside the school. So if you’d like to join us you’d be more than welcome!” Max enthusiastically explains while grabbing hold of Anette’s hand. That’s Max for you, easily makes friends with everyone. “So is there anything you’d like to tell us about this sixth sense of yours?” Chloe inquired without opposing to the idea of her joining us, although I feel Liam’s slight disapproval. “It’s something I had since I was pretty young actually. I can sense supernatural forces… but also danger and misfortune, like accidents about to happen to people or people who have ill intent.” Anette explains to the best of her ability. “So if you can sense these things can’t you warn people about it and possibly prevent it?” Liam asks looking curious, thankfully he doesn’t look as angry as before. “I try to but most of the times people don’t believe me and when what I warn them about actually happens they treat me as if I’m responsible…” She replies with her voice having a bit of bitterness at the end as it trails off. “So you can warn us before something bad happens? That’s actually pretty cool. Not to mention useful.” I come right out and say what’s on my mind. “Oh… that’s the first time someone has complimented me on my abilities so I’m not quite sure how to react but… thanks!” She says looking down at her feet again with a smile and her checks slightly red again. “Okay then shall we go check the student council room?” Max proposes and we all agree. Everyone but Liam that is. “Oh shoot! I forgot something back in class can I go grab that real quick?” He asks apologetically. “Wait. We’ll all go. Right?” Chloe looks at Max with a pleading look. (Wow, someone’s not giving her hubby enough space.) "Sure…” Max says with a furrowed brow and a smile. (Talk about a weird combination.)
As we walk down the stairs of the 2nd floor Anette seems to be lagging behind, (maybe because of her ability...) while Liam on the other hand is speeding up. (Heck, he really doesn’t like her.) I try to catch up to him, hoping to soothe his nerves. (I know I’m not the most social person in the world but I at least got to try since the situation calls for it.) “Hey relax man.” I come right out and say in what I hope is a reassuring tone. “Look dude, I know I sound paranoid but a ton of shit happened today so I’m kinda on edge.” He explains as we walk further down the hallway, ahead of everyone else. “It’s okay I get it just try not to snap on anyone like before. At least to someone who doesn’t deserve it" I say while sounding kind of patronizing. “Maybe you’re right.” He replies back to me as we stand in front of the door and he puts his hand on the knob, swinging it open. “NO DON’T!” We hear Anette’s scream as it barely has time to register with me, and we cross the threshold. Beneath our feet the floor of the classroom crumbles and cracks as I soon find myself staring at a black pit underneath my legs sucking me under. (Am I going to die just like that??)
o
We walk up the stairs towards the student council room as I explain to her exactly what happened. “Oh so you lost your phone and then had to play the knight in shining armor… That’s why you forgot about little ole me!” Max says with a playful and cocky smirk as I explain what happened. “Yeah because every knight in shining armor knocks down the girl because he was thinking about his dumb childhood friend…” I protest as I look to the side. “Hey! Thank God there’s more people here!!” A boy and a girl walk up to us clearly looking relieved they’re not alone in the school. They must be from our class but I’m not quite sure… “Oh it’s Liam and Chloe. You guys trapped in here too?” (Max to the rescue…) Max says as she straightens and tries to play it cool, although she was panicking just a short while ago. “Yeah we were… uhm talking and time kinda flew by. When we realized that no one else was in the school we thought we should leave but we just couldn’t!” Chloe explains to the best of her abilities. (She said they were talking… must have been a pretty intense talking session…) “So I’m guessing you haven’t found anyone else right?” I cut straight to the point as I ask. “No we haven’t…” Liam comes out and replies looking a tad bit disappointed. “You’re… Jack right?” Liam asks furrowing his eyebrows. “Yep that’s me.” I try to sound aloof. (At least he remembered by name.) He’s kinda tall, a little bit taller than me, and brawny and has short brown hair. (He must be on the school’s football team or something.) Everybody in class pretty much remembers their classmates’ name but mine probably is at the bottom of everyone’s list, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t knew mine. (And I’m guessing Chloe is his girlfriend? Since they were “talking” and stuff.) She’s a lot shorter than him and has long blonde hair and a slim figure. Yeah they totally look like a potential couple. A douche and a happy-go-lucky girl. “It would be better to stick together and try to find a way out of here, right?” Max suggests giving everyone a reassuring smile. “Sounds good to me.” Chloe replies while I and Liam nod.
“Am I the only one who’s got no signal in here?” Chloe says while holding up her phone, as we walk down the hallway of the second floor “Nah me neither.” Max says while checking her own device. “No signal.” I say as I stuff my phone back in my pocket. “Great.” Liam voices following up with a sigh. “So did you try the principal’s office?” I ask the two newfound members of our little rescue team. “Yeah we did but the door was locked and even after knocking and pounding there was no response.” Liam explains while scratching his chin. “He must have left before us then…” Max states the obvious as she tries to think. “If the principal left then who the hell locks the school up?” I ask, since the incidents didn’t quite add up. “We in the football team mostly practice until late so when the principal needs to leave early, a security guard comes by at night and locks everything up. Not to mention that he guards the place up till morning as well. But today we didn’t have any practice so everybody left beforehand.” Liam basically explains to me gesturing his hands around. “So what if we wait for the security guard to come? I mean won’t he realize he can’t get inside the school and call for help?” Max suggests cocking her head to the side. “That’s a solid idea. But we can’t just stand here for 7 hours.” I reply to her. “Yeah I’ve got stuff I wanna do! I can’t waste my day here!” Chloe joins in, albeit somewhat illogically. “That’s not what I meant actually…” I reply once again this time with a perplexed expression. “Hey look isn’t that the new transfer student?” Liam calls out while pointing at a slim figure with long black hair standing at the end of the hallway, looking outside the window. Yeah, that’s definitely her. “Uhm… Anette?” I say calling out to her while walking towards her direction. “Oh… Jack?” She voices while snapping out of her trance. (She seems pretty out of it all day...) “Yeah it’s me. You good? You seemed kinda lost there.” I ask slightly grabbing her arm in a comforting kind of way. “Oh yeah. I’m good I was just sensing things…” She looks down at her feet with a slight red tint covering her cheeks. (Did she just blush? Oh my I must be really cool then.) “Why are you touching her like a creep?” Max gives me a disapproving look as she asks. (SHUT UP DON’T RUIN MY COOL MOMENT!) I basically yell inside my head. “Did you say you sensed things? Uhm… Anette?” Chloe looks at her with a disapproving look of a different nature. “Yes, the darkness in this school is growing. I feel it. We’re most likely in grave danger.” As soon as I hear those words I feel a lump in my throat and my stomach basically flips over. I want to snap at her for saying things like that right now but that would only make things worse. “What? Darkness? Danger? What is she on about?” Liam throws question after question looking completely creeped out. “Hey, Calm down Liam.” Chloe tries to reassure him while placing a hand on his back. “Calm down?? An invisible force’s literally trapped us inside the school and this creepy looking transfer student that just happened to transfer at the same day of this whole incident has the audacity to talk about darkness and danger?! If she is not suspicious then I don’t know who is!” Liam basically snaps at her as he raises his voice as loud as possible. Anette looks down at her feet clearly feeling mistreated. There’s logic behind his reasoning but there are some things that don’t make sense, making his outburst completely unfair for her. “Hey why don’t you chill out man? She didn’t trap us here and it’s obviously not her fault!” For some reason that really pissed me off and I decide to stand up for her. “If she really wanted to trap us here then why trap herself as well? And why try to warn us about the danger if she means us harm?” I continue defending her this time posing questions to Liam that break down any validity behind his accusations. “Uhm… I don’t know… maybe you’ve got a point.” He says defeated unable to find an answer to my questions. “Thanks.” She sheepishly spells out still looking down while tugging on my sleeve for a few seconds. I turn to look at her, to see that a smile has formed on her lips. I instinctively smile for a few seconds in return before Max speaks up. “Okay Anette we figured we should team up with everyone still remaining inside the school. So if you’d like to join us you’d be more than welcome!” Max enthusiastically explains while grabbing hold of Anette’s hand. That’s Max for you, easily makes friends with everyone. “So is there anything you’d like to tell us about this sixth sense of yours?” Chloe inquired without opposing to the idea of her joining us, although I feel Liam’s slight disapproval. “It’s something I had since I was pretty young actually. I can sense supernatural forces… but also danger and misfortune, like accidents about to happen to people or people who have ill intent.” Anette explains to the best of her ability. “So if you can sense these things can’t you warn people about it and possibly prevent it?” Liam asks looking curious, thankfully he doesn’t look as angry as before. “I try to but most of the times people don’t believe me and when what I warn them about actually happens they treat me as if I’m responsible…” She replies with her voice having a bit of bitterness at the end as it trails off. “So you can warn us before something bad happens? That’s actually pretty cool. Not to mention useful.” I come right out and say what’s on my mind. “Oh… that’s the first time someone has complimented me on my abilities so I’m not quite sure how to react but… thanks!” She says looking down at her feet again with a smile and her checks slightly red again. “Okay then shall we go check the student council room?” Max proposes and we all agree. Everyone but Liam that is. “Oh shoot! I forgot something back in class can I go grab that real quick?” He asks apologetically. “Wait. We’ll all go. Right?” Chloe looks at Max with a pleading look. (Wow, someone’s not giving her hubby enough space.) "Sure…” Max says with a furrowed brow and a smile. (Talk about a weird combination.)
As we walk down the stairs of the 2nd floor Anette seems to be lagging behind, (maybe because of her ability...) while Liam on the other hand is speeding up. (Heck, he really doesn’t like her.) I try to catch up to him, hoping to soothe his nerves. (I know I’m not the most social person in the world but I at least got to try since the situation calls for it.) “Hey relax man.” I come right out and say in what I hope is a reassuring tone. “Look dude, I know I sound paranoid but a ton of shit happened today so I’m kinda on edge.” He explains as we walk further down the hallway, ahead of everyone else. “It’s okay I get it just try not to snap on anyone like before. At least to someone who doesn’t deserve it" I say while sounding kind of patronizing. “Maybe you’re right.” He replies back to me as we stand in front of the door and he puts his hand on the knob, swinging it open. “NO DON’T!” We hear Anette’s scream as it barely has time to register with me, and we cross the threshold. Beneath our feet the floor of the classroom crumbles and cracks as I soon find myself staring at a black pit underneath my legs sucking me under. (Am I going to die just like that??)
o
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