Chapter 4

Celia and Lucy ran through the dark playground, only really seeing when there was a flash of lightning. Lucy had escaped the shadow, by jumping into an empty classroom, and then grabbing Celia as she ran past.
The two had then heard the scream, and decided it was definitely time to leave. Still they hadn’t seen any of their friends, and they hoped that the scream hadn’t meant any of them were in serious trouble.
As they arrived at the gate, they almost collided with Rebecca and Yasmine, who were running in the opposite direction.
“Oh thank god!” Yasmine cried, and the four hugged. “Have you seen the others?”
“We were hoping you had,” Lucy replied, and then spun around, as she heard a stick break behind her. But it was only Jo and Mia, both in shock, both with tears in their eyes.
“What happened?!” Rebecca cried.
“Aleisha,” Mia stammered.
“We lost her,” Jo added. “She suddenly disappeared, and then we heard running, then the scream. It was so scary. We didn’t know what to do; we couldn’t go looking, so we just ran. Oh man, what are we gonna do?”
“We have gotta get out of here,” Yasmine said, and they ran out the gate, and it was only when they were halfway down the street that the six slowed down.
“Did anyone see Valerie?” Rebecca asked nervously. Silence was the only answer. “She didn’t turn up? Do you think she forgot?” Suddenly she got all panicky. “What if she didn’t, what if she's in trouble? What if something happened, oh god! What if-”
“Rebecca!” came a cry from both Mia and Jo. By now they were over their tears, and they too were shocked and scared. “She’ll be fine, you’ll see, we’ve just got to go home, there’s nothing we can do for Aleisha now.”
So each of the girls left, making their way home, in the same way they had made their ways to the school, and each resenting their helplessness in their current situation.
* * *
Jo wandered slowly through the school gate, still thinking about the previous night. It had been on her mind, and she needed to remind Mia that they needed to talk to Marilyn about what they had seen in the sick bay. She arrived in the quad, and saw the group sitting in the corner under the trees. As she got closer, she realised the group’s two Year 10 friends, Sarah and Emma, were sitting there too. Though the group was in Year 9, they still had friends from other years.
“Hey guys,” she said, sitting down in between Mia and Yasmine. “Any sign of Aleisha?” She whispered this part only to Mia, who shook her head, but Yasmine heard as well.
“No sign of Valerie either,” Yasmine whispered back.
“Mia, we have to talk to Marilyn.”
“Oh yeah!” she stood up, pulling Jo up as well, then said to the group: “We’ll be right back, just gotta, yeah…” she trailed up, as she noticed the two detectives from the other day, Carla and Damien, walking towards them from across the quad.
“Guess we’re not going anywhere,” Jo commented, and Emma and Sarah stood and left as the cops reached the group.
“Remember us?” Damien said, almost in attempt to make a joke. A poor attempt, his heart wasn’t in it. “Would you mind coming with us please?”
The six stood, grabbed their bags, and, feeling stares on their backs, followed the detectives.
“Any idea what’s wrong?” Lucy said to her friends.
“Not a clue,” Celia replied. Lowering her voice, she said: “Do you think it has anything to do with-?”
“Do with what?” Carla asked, turning round. Celia went red, she hadn’t realised she could be heard.
“Umm, well,” she started, trying to think. “You see, Valerie is away, we haven’t seen her in a while-”
“Did you say she’s missing?” Damien, who had continued walking when his partner had stopped, “For how long have you known this?”
Hesitant, Celia went on, “Well, actually, it’s only since yesterday, she’s probably okay, maybe she’s just late.”
“Hmm, well,” Carla said, trying to be optimistic, but her voice filling with doubt. “You’ll keep us updated on that won't you?”
The girls nodded, Mia sneezed. For a moment, a few of the girls almost laughed. They were so on edge, and it happened at the most random time, they just needed to let out some steam.
“Sorry,” she sniffled, “I think I’m getting a cold.” The mood lightened slightly, the detectives led on, and the girls trailed behind. Slowly the group entered the music block, and went upstairs, passing some red tape.
Suddenly the mood was serious again, as they passed the first classroom, then the second. Then all that was left of the block was the lockers, and the door that connected it to the cooking block.
Needless to say, it wasn’t the door they were there to see. But as of yet, they couldn’t see anything, for the corridor was crowded with doctors, cops and people clearing up.
“Hey! Everyone, move to the sides, coming through!” Damien called ahead. “Doc, is the… uhh, is it out of the way?”
An indistinct reply displeased him, and he told the girls to stay put. He pushed through the crowd, leaving Carla to struggle after him. The others stood quietly, not talking, waiting, prepared for the worst.
Mia sniffed, and then sneezed again. “Damn this cold!” she muttered, and then all was quiet again. For a fair while, nothing happened, the school bell rang, and crowds outside the window moved slowly to class.
Then, all at once, Damien and Carla returned and things started to move at a pace faster then normal, they got given a lecture, but none of them were listening, and then they were moved further along the corridor. And the first thing they saw was the blood.

Message III {Update Finally!!!}

So hello again! I finally thought I should update. Just for your information, I left the ending as it is, to spite all of them (Emily, Flick, Lydia, Twak and just about the rest of my group) people who keep pressuring to update! Have Fun!