Aiden booked it for the door and ran out, leaving me and Dan alone.
Dan looked behind him, confused at Aiden's actions as I dusted myself off and walked to him.
"What was that all about?" He asked.
I had no clue how to respond to what I just witnessed.
I collapsed, suddenly. Dan looked at me surprised. "What happened?!"
I grasped at my chest as a sharp pain shot through me. Aiden must've slashed me after all.
Dan sighed and pulled out a small bottle of water out of his back pocket and began to poor it in his hand.
"How many times are you gonna get hurt?"
I replied, impatiently, "As many times as I need to."
Dan looked back down at me as if I belonged in an asylum.
A moment of silence fell between us as he held his hand over my stomach.
"Forget the dance you need to be getting home. You're hurt."
"Can't you heal me?" I asked.
"Everytime I heal someone it takes my energy."
At that instant a light bulb in my head clicked.
I looked up at Dan who was crouched down on the floor.
"Heal me and let's continue to decorate the gym" I said eagerly.
Dan stared at me before he lifted my shirt just below my chest. There were no marks or scars to be seen.
He walked away, awkwardly. "Let's go."
"Where is Aiden?" I asked as I began to stand up.
As Dan stood up droplets of blood dripped onto the floor.
"Your nose." I said worriedly.
He rushed to cover his nose with his other hand laid on his bent knee.
"Maybe it is best to head home. Let's go tell Principal Joe" I implied.
"My nose. I cant hold it like this forever. I need tissue or something."
I began to search behind the old teachers desk hurriedly.
The first drawer contained old office papers and a stapler used as a paperweight for them. I slammed the drawer back with a metal thud.
The second drawer contained more questionable things. A bottle of lotion was laid to the side of the drawer with a red, unmarked shoe box in the middle. I pulled the shoe box on and placed it on the floor to open it.
I opened it to find already used bloody tissues. It nauseated me.
I looked back over to see Dan sitting on the edge of the desk patiently.
I knelt back down and opened the third drawer. It was mostly office supply. Pencil, paper, staples, hand sanitizer, et cetera.
I shuffled through the drawer, pulling everything out and lying it on the floor until only a small package in the back of the drawer remained. I pulled it out.
"Aha!" I yelled excitedly, holding the pack of tissue up victoriously.
Dan smiled as he looked back at me, moving his feet back and forth against the desk, playfully.
I pulled open the package and picked the tissues out. "Here." I held them against his nose.
It was far too late to clean up. "DAN!" I shouted. Blood ran down Dan's shirt and all over the floor.
A trail followed him from the door to the desk.
"Dan! It looks like a crime scene!" I yelled.
Dan didnt reply. He just kept swinging his feet.
I sighed, still holding the tissue against his nose. I decided to get up on the desk with him and sat beside him.
"Let's go now?" I asked.
He put his right hand over mine for a moment on the tissue. A wave of awkwardness flushed over us as I let go.
He hopped off the desk and pulled the door handle, letting me out
As we walked out into the hallway, I turned to ask him, "Feeling better?".
He nodded.
I turned back to see the hallways cleared out. Huh?
The clock in the hallway read 8:16.
We had spent 3 hours in there? It wasn't possible. It could have been no more than 15 minutes. I looked at Dan, dumbfounded.
"We have to go before they lock the school down. I'm surprised the lights are still on." Dan said.
We walked to the end of the hall towards the outside door.
Dan pulled the door handle to find that it wouldn't budge. "What is wrong with these doors!" I sighed.
"Well," Dan began, "They are over 70 years old. This whole school is."
Makes sense. This whole place is falling apart.
"There is a keyhole. Looks like it can be unlocked from either the inside of the building or out."
"How does that work?" I whispered to myself.
He tried to pull it again, but with each pull, the door still wouldn't budge. Instead, a click could be heard with each pull.
"We should go see if Principal Joe is still here. I highly doubt it, though."
"Actually" Dan started, "You stay here. I will go look for him. Make sure you stay safe in the meanwhile. See if anyone unlocks it. Find me if they do."
He began to walk cluelessly back into the eery hallways with his hands in his pockets. I watched him until both him and his footsteps dissapeared.
I was left to myself. The few noises to be heard were the buzzing lights and the hissing of the crickets outside. I put my hand over my forehead and tried to peek outside. Nothing.
Several minutes passed. Dan still wasn't back. I began to worry. A couple more minutes passed.
8:23
8:46
8:54
9:01
I called out into the hall. "Dan?"
Synchronizingly, every light in the building shut off at once.
I began to worry even more.
I pulled the hair clip from my hair and held it between my palms, curling up.
Like the moon on a foggy night, an orb of light ascended from the center of my palms, lighting up a small area around me.
Huh? Did my pin do that?
I was astonished. I opened my hands to see the pin still there.
With a flash, the orb dissapeared in the same fashion it came in.
I pulled my hands back into my palm to see if I could do it again. No. I flipped my palms over. My hands faced the ground. Nothing.
I figured I was just hallucinating since it was getting so dark, but it felt all too real.
Pulling my self up, I took a couple steps forward.
"Dan?" I asked.
A figure turned the corner, finally.
"Are you alright?" I continued, puzzled. He walked towards me, impishly, limping on its right foot.
"What happened?"
As it heard my voice it began to limp faster and faster. This. Was this Dan?
I held my palms face up against each other. Please work. Please.
The figure drew closer and closer and closer.
I hit the side of my palms together again, and a light descended from them and into the air.
The figure now stood a few steps in front of me, rapidly approaching, but in the light. I was right. It wasn't Dan. I didn't know who it was.
His body was dismembered beyond imagining. He had teeth forming from the sides of his face and a mouth in the center of his stomach. He wore shorts and no shirt, socks and no shoes.
He had bushy brown hair curled around his head and a hat to top it off. I had seen something like this before. The same thing that haunted me at night and made me scared to sleep on my own bed.
Before I could fully process his image, he was on top of me.
I screamed murder.
I lifted my knee and hit his stomach. He stumbled backwards a few steps before advancing again.