The storm that the news had warned about raged on around the school. Hail pelting the roof and thunder making it almost impossible to listen to the teachers. The sky was pitch black, the trees in front of the school only visible during the brief flashes of lightning. The wind screamed through the vents around the school.  “This is getting ridiculous,” Cordelia says to Sacha during lunch, “I know that they probably can’t send us home because of the driving conditions, but like, we can’t even hear the teachers. At this point, we might as well go into the auditorium and put on a movie with subtitles.”  Sacha shrugged and swallowed the macaroni and cheese in her mouth, “I mean, yeah. We're literally half yelling right now. I’m honestly surprised the power hasn’t gone out yet.”  Cori ate another bite of her pear and chewed it as she thought, “Do you know if they’ve set up the new power generators they were talking about, yet?”  “I don’t think so,” Sacha paused at the particularly close strike of lightning hitting the ground, waiting for the thunder to pass before continuing, “I don’t even know if they got them yet. I’m pretty sure they got ordered, though.”  Cori hummed in thought, “I guess there’s not much use wondering. What do you think they will have us do if the power goes out?” “Probably go to the basement or auditorium so they can make sure none of us accidentally kill ourselves.” “It would be bold of them to assume we wouldn't anyways.” “Honestly, though,” Sacha waved her fork around in Cori’s general direction, “You get it. The teachers expect too much from us.” Cori snorted. They ate in silence for the last few minutes of lunch, both of them finishing a homework assignment from their first-period class.  During their next class, one that they didn’t share, the lights flickered after a particularly strong gust of wind. Everyone paused for a second, and one of the kids had to half yell over the sounds to question the teacher, “What are we going to do if the lights go out?” “We were told to bring everyone to the auditorium if the power fails.” Cori hoped that if the lights went out it would be next period. Cori and Sacha had that one together so they wouldn't be separated. Sadly, the hope was all for naught.  A flash of light and the building shook, thundering rumbles echoing through the building as the heaters died out and the lights flickered once before going dark.  “I blame you, Jacob,” Someone says from across the room. “My bad.” Cori sighed at her classmates and tuned her ears into everything outside of the room. It sounded like most of the classes were moving around, from the screeching of chairs and thuds of people running into desks.  “Alright, class. Put your things into your backpack and decide if you want to bring them with you or not.”  Cori shoved all of the things out on her desk into her bag, not bothering to sort it out because she’d probably put them in the wrong pockets anyway. She heard the zippers and thunks of notebooks around her as everyone packed up their things. She picked up her backpack and slung it onto her shoulders, hearing the majority of the class do the same. “Okay,” The teacher was heard pulling the strap of her satchel over her head, “If everyone could try to follow me to the best of their abilities, that would be great. If you get separated, try to find another class and go with them. Every teacher has a flashlight, so you should be able to see us, but they aren’t very bright,” She turned hers on, barely illuminating a nine square area on the floor, “so still make sure to be careful where you step. If everyone’s ready, let's go.”  They all shuffled out of the classroom, multiple people running into each other in the lack of light. Cori tried to find the hint of Ylang-Ylang in the air that would mean Sacha. She knew Sacha was probably doing something similar in search of the smell of cinnamon and chamomile that followed Cordelia around. The class intersected with two other groups of students and continued on their path. When they got closer to the stairs, Cori smelled the oil she was searching for and silently slipped away from the group and into the total lack of light in a side hallway.  “Sacha!” Cori whisper-yelled, “You here?” She didn’t hear a response and continued towards the smell. “Cori!” She heard as she went around a corner. “Sacha? Where are you?” “Right here.” Sachs must have been barely 5 feet in front of her.  They linked arms and Cori pulled her towards the way she came, listening to how their footsteps echoed so they wouldn’t run into a wall. “Where’s your class?” “They went down the other way but I figured your class probably wouldn’t, so I went this way. It is extremely unnerving that we can’t see anything.” “I know. The staircase has that big window, so I’m hoping there will be enough light from the lightning that we aren’t tripping down the stairs.” Sacha snorted, “With our luck, we will probably both fall down the stairs even with the lightning.” “…Let’s try not to prove that correct. I think this is the main hall. ‘Cause the breeze.” “Probably. Hey, do you hear that?” Cori listened for a second. There was a faint rumbling sound, not too different from thunder, that seemed to make its way through the vents. “I do now!” Cori hissed, pulling Sacha towards the stairs faster, “We need to get downstairs.” “I think the walls right in front of us,” Sacha reached out, “Yep, okay, so the staircase should be right-“ Lightning illuminated the staircase to their right and thunder quickly followed, “There.” Cori snorted and they both grabbed railings on opposite sides of the staircase before slowly making their way down. The sound in the vents gets louder, still moving towards the end of the hallway now behind them. “What the hell?!” Sacha whisper-yelled. “I have no idea,” Cori laughed nervously, “But I think we should move a bit faster.” They both speed up their descent while trying not to trip or twist an ankle. When they made it to the bottom, they grabbed the other’s hand and sprinted towards the auditorium where they could see faint lights near the front. Cori pushed open the door and they both tripped on the lip. Sacha slammed it shut behind them with her foot. The few faces they could see were facing them, staring in disappointed confusion. “Sorry!” Sacha said. “Shut up!” Cori hissed and slammed a hand against her best friend’s mouth, getting half of her nose in the dark. Sacha licked her hand, ya know, like a heathen. “Ew! Why!?”  “There was no other option.” “Yes, yes there was!”  They stumbled down the rows and found a few empty seats with a few kind students verbally pointing them out.  Cori squeezed Sacha’s hand after they sat down, “What do you think that sound was?” “I don’t know. All the horror movies I’ve watched say some sort of demon. My common sense says the building probably got struck by lightning or something fell into the vents.” “Yeah,” Cori nodded her head slowly, knowing Sacha couldn’t see it, “It better not be a demon.” After a few moments of tense silence, that weird rumble from the vents in the hallway seemed to make its way into the ceiling of the auditorium. Everyone went completely silent, barely breathing as it rumbled in and back out the opposite side.  When it was gone, furious and panicked whispers broke out, everyone tenser than they were before. The whispers were interrupted by a clear whistle through the room. All their heads snapped to the front of the room. “Thank you,” A history teacher, if Cori recalled correctly, said, “Each of us teachers are going to do roll call. If you hear your name, say ‘Here.’ If you do not, please come up to us after so we can call the group in the basement to make them aware of where you are. I will go first. Kai Anders.” “Here.” It went on for a bit like that, Cori answering with her own “Here” at the call of “Cordelia Rath.” Sacha’s teacher seemed to be in the basement, which the two had already guessed, and Sacha went up to the teachers to tell them.  When she plopped back into her seat, Cori linked their arms again. They sat in silence as the students who hadn’t been called went up to the teachers. The history teacher from before made his way to the back of the auditorium, picking up the landline phone to call the teachers in the basement. The teacher started talking into the phone after a few moments. After a few minutes, the teacher went back to the other teachers, whispering furiously to them.  “Okay, everyone I need you to listen for another moment,” This time it was Cori’s teacher, “It seems that an entire class has gone missing. Did any of you find anyone from Mr. Fredrik’s class?” Sacha choked on a breath, and Cori hugged her arm harder to her chest, “Isn’t that your class?” “Yeah,” Sacha breathed, panicked, “Oh, God, please let them be okay.” “Maybe we should tell the teachers?” “Yeah,” Sacha didn’t move. “Come on, I’ll come with you,” Cori stood up, bringing Sacha with her, pushing her into the aisle, and pulling her down to the faint light in one of the teacher’s hands. “Hey, Ms. Williamson, Sacha was from his class.” The teacher's attention was on them within a moment, “When did you get separated from them?” Sacha was still panicking, so Cori spoke up for her again, “She said they went to go down the stairs on the other end of the hall but we both have really bad separation anxiety so she made a detour to come find me.” “Is that true, Sacha?” The history teacher asked in a softer voice than before, trying to keep her calm. “Y-yeah. I knew where Cori-Er-Cordelia’s classroom was so I headed that way. Do you think they’re okay?” “Probably, they could have just gotten lost on their way, or had to stop for some reason,” He responded. Everyone in the auditorium once again went silent when the rumbling in the vents passed through again, this time seeming louder. The auditorium seemed to hold its breath as the sound passed over their heads. A collective breath was released after it was gone. Seemingly too soon, as a scream rang out farther into the school, going silent seconds later. People broke down in panic, some swearing, some crying, some not breathing altogether. Sacha shook silently as she hugged Cori, who did her best to hug Sacha back as hard as possible, resting her chin on her best friend’s head.  “It’s okay, it’s going to be fine,” She whispered, not knowing if it would end up being a lie.  The fear she felt was reflected in her teacher’s eyes as they stared at each other.