“I still can’t believe that the entrance was locked,” Tyler said, hoisting Mabel on his back and walked down the corridor. “Also, why is it so quiet?”

His sister wrapped her arms around his neck to support herself, hating the fact that she fractured her leg. “Why fretting? Everyone’s in their class.”

Nevertheless, walking down this corridor, normally packed with students heading for their lockers, in complete silence sent chills down their spines. Plus, there would always be at least two classes with students screaming their heads off. Why was it that only Tyler’s footsteps were being heard?

“We REEEEACHED!” Mabel screamed in his ear, making Tyler almost jump out of his skin because it was too silent.  Rubbing his ears, he opened the door and froze.

The only source of light in the classroom was the sunlight streaming through the drawn curtains and falling over the scattered dead bodies of their classmates and teacher. Blood oozed from a single spot on everyone’s body- some on their heads, some on their chests. Tables and chairs were upside down, the cupboard was thrown on the floor… and the only sounds in the class was the clock ticking and Mabel’s shaky breath.

“Ms. Sabrina…” she murmured, blinking hard in disbelief. 

“Sit here.” Tyler gently puts down Mabel behind one of the fallen cupboards, heart pounding. The thought of being in a place with so many dead bodies and a potential killer roaming around was almost making him cry but he needed to get Mabel out of here. Too bad the school couldn’t provide locks for their classrooms. “I’ll check-”

“No!” she whisper-screamed, her face flushed with irritation. “Are you mad? You are not-”

Footsteps. Echoes of faraway footsteps reached their ears, making their minds go blank. The killer was approaching them, slowly and ominously, and they were sure of it.

Tyler’s stomach clenched in anxiety, sweat forming on his forehead. They couldn’t hide here forever. His eyes darted back and forth until he caught sight of the vent on the ceiling. His eyes lit up. There were times when his friends used to hide in there and scare all the students and Ms. Sabrina in the middle of classes.

Mabel caught on what he was thinking. “One problem- I have a leg that doesn’t function as a leg!”

“Your fault.”

“Excuse me-”

“I’ll help you climb up.”

With much difficulty and after lots of being kicked in the face, he helped Mabel climb into the empty vent, all the time praying the killer doesn’t enter this class. The footsteps were louder and nearer now, but he predicted they still had enough time to pass through this vent. Grabbing Mabel’s outstretched hand, he hoisted himself up and into the vent and closed it. Mabel silently cheered but his heart was threatening to burst out of his chest. How long were they going to hide like this?

Mabel shifted uncomfortably. The vent was wide enough for them to squeeze through but they kept bumping their heads against the top. “Should we just… crawl?”

That seemed like a solution. But for what? Escaping? Was this a route for escaping? Tyler never knew where this vent would lead to.

“Tyler? Stop zoning out! Wait, I don’t hear the footsteps anymore! Should we climb down-?”

“Crawl!” Tyler whispered abruptly, startling her. He did not want to climb down after so much hard work for getting Mabel into the vent. “Just get going.”

“Did you try calling the police?”

“Tried. No signal.”

When they were kids, their father, who worked in the military, used to punish them for their mistakes by making them crawl under certain objects. None of them were harmful, but they’d always try their best not to touch the object while crawling. So they were good at crawling on their bellies.

Only problem: Mabel was too slow.

“Stop complaining!” Mabel muttered, wanting to kick Tyler on his face. “I have a fractured leg! I’m- WHOA-!”

Not aware that there was a huge hole in front of her, Mabel’s arms went right through, making her lose balance and fall down. Tyler tried to grab her leg but he only caught her shoe, which came off right when she fell.

“Mabel!” Panic-stricken, he looked below to find Mabel flat on someone’s back on the floor, safe, when his eyes caught something next to that person’s hand. A gun.

Mabel rubbed the back of her head. “I’m fine! I-”

“GET THE GUN!”

Mabel didn’t have time to think when she saw the gun next to the fallen person’s hand. She grabbed it and got off the man who struggled to stand up. Tyler couldn’t see his face for it was covered in a black face mask and hoodie, but he could feel his gaze on Mabel’s hand on the gun, making his blood run cold.

Mabel, however, looked back and forth from the gun to the man, her eyes glittering. “Wow! This looks so cool! Where…”

Tyler was about to climb down in secret, when the man lunged for her. Mabel shrieked.

The gunshot’s sound pierced through Tyler’s ears and throughout the school.

***

“I don’t like our new school,” Tyler grumbled as he helped his mother unpack the boxes for their new house. Everything felt disorganized. “When’s Mabel coming from her therapist?”

Just then, the door slammed open and Mabel burst in, panting for breath. She exclaimed, “Did-you-hear-huff-the-news?”

Their mother frowned. “Mabel-”

“HE ESCAPED FROM PRISON! HE WAS STARING AT ME DURING MY THERAPY THROUGH THE WINDOW!”