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The school's entrance was practically surrounded. The car slowed as they saw them. A knot of students stood outside, their voices overlapping. Restless and uneven.
Some were shouting. Others just stood still, like they were waiting for someone to instruct them on what to do. A few phones were out, while others kept dialing. The rest simply stared at their screens muttering words of prayers, hoping their calls would go through.
"I tried calling my dad…nothing" someone in the crowd yelled.
"The bus didn't show up—"
"The building is locked—"
Voices clashed and tangled, rising into a wave of panic.
Nora parked her car by the side. She scanned the crowd then looked at Rain.
That was their cue to step out. Rain jumped out the vehicle with Lily close behind.
They're eyes moved across the crowd and landed on a familiar face.
Mason spotted them. And the moment he did, his expression brightened. Relief
flickered first, then disbelief; like he was trying to decide if this was real or not.
He pushed through the crowd and ran over to them. "Finally," he breathed out, hugging Nora first. "I am so glad you both are here." Then Rain.
"What's going on?" Rain blinked, as she glanced at the crowd again.
Mason let out a short laugh. Not one of amusement, but shock trying to pass out as normal.
"I…i swear, i thought I was going crazy." He said, dragging his fingers through his hair. "People have been saying wild things the moment I got here."
"Define wild." Nora raised a brow.
Mason gestured towards the school front door. "No teachers. No staff. The school's locked. Nobody is answering calls, even the buses didn't show up."
Lily's posture straightened as she met her sister's eyes. "Yeah, we waited." Her grip tightened slightly on her bag strap.
"Thank God I saw Luke on the way here," Mason added. "He gave me a ride. And also, nobody from middle school showed up," he glanced at Lily. "Except Lily, the building is completely empty."
Rain didn't look at Lily. Her hand tightened around Lily's fingers without thinking.
As if summoned, Luke appeared from the side of the crowd. His movements were steady despite the noise around them. His gaze was focused, like he was already piecing things together.
Rain couldn't help but swallow the closer he got. His brown hair fell into his eyes, his expression still calm.
Nora noticed Rain's stare. A subtle grin formed across her face, then she looked away like she hadn't seen anything.
Luke raised a hand, "Hey guys," his voice became quiet. "It's worse than that." He said.
Their brows furrowed while they exchanged quick glances.
"It's not just the middle schoolers. Some people are missing."
The words hit them differently. Rain didn't respond, she couldn't find the words to.
"What…what gave you that idea?" Nora asked quickly, then slowed herself down like she caught it.
"That's what everyone is saying." He replied.
Mason gave a light shrug. An attempt to convince himself; it wasn't that serious. "I heard some girl saying she couldn't find her mom. Crazy stuff."
There was a moment of silence.
Then,
"It's not crazy.."
A boy with ginger colored disheveled hair stepped forward. His glasses were huge and slightly crooked, hands tensed at his sides.
He looked like he had been standing there long enough to know the basis of their conversation.
"Sorry for interrupting," he added quickly. "But, it's not crazy stuff."
Mason frowned about saying a word. Suddenly Nora holds him back. "What isn't?" She continued. "The fact a girl couldn't find her mom or the middle school building is empty?"
"The missing people," The boy swallowed. "And everything else."
Nora tilted her head slightly. Rain studied the boy. She recognised him, biology class.
Despite being active, he always sat alone in the back row and was never loud.
"I…" his voice was low, his fist curling by his side. "I woke up this morning…" he swallowed, "And my house was empty. My family was… gone."
They were silent. For a moment, the noise around them dulled. It wasn't gone, it just became distant as they processed his words.
"What do you mean by gone?" Rain blurted out as she moved closer.
Mason's expression changed, and so did everyone else. "That's not possible," he muttered.
Luke didn't say anything immediately, he just stared at him, "Did you try calling them?"
"I did." Dave answered quickly. "It didn't go through just…static."
Rain's breath hitched. Her thoughts drifted to this morning when she tried calling her mom. She swallowed.
"Try calling them again." She said, leaning forward. "Do you need my phone?"
"I already tried." His voice became quiet, "it's the same thing.
Rain's shoulders dropped a fraction. She released a small breath, not quite a sigh but enough to be heard.
Luke stood besides her. He glanced at her, his gaze sharp then straightened quickly.
"Okay—just, everyone breathe." Luke tried to ease the tension amongst them. "There has to be a logical explanation," he raised his hands slightly. "Maybe they went out early, or travelled."
The boy shook his head quickly, his glasses almost slipping off. "They don't leave without me," he said, pushing them back in place.
The silence stretched longer this time. Nora stepped forward, her focus on Luke.
"What about your parents?" She asked.
Luke adjusted the straps of his bag. "I called my dad last night, he js taking an extar shift at the hospital." then pulled out his phone from his pocket. "But I can call again."
The others exchanged glances.
Luke didn't waste time, he dialed in the number and placed his phone over his ears.
It rang.
And rang.
Eventually the call got disconnected.
He stared at his phone for a moment, surprise flickered across his face. "It's not going through." He said.
Then, he dialed it again.
This time, it was static. Nothing but broken noise and dead air.
Rain lowered her eyes, as Mason let out a laugh that died halfway. "Okay…" he breathed out, "you guys are starting to freak me out."
Rain didn't say a word. Her mind raced with a few questions, but one thought remained dominant.
What was going on?
Lily shifted beside her, her fingers gripping her sleeves even tighter. "Rain?" She looked at her. "Do you think…Mom and Dad are okay?"
But Rain couldn't respond. She stared at her sister, biting the inner corners of her cheeks struggling for the right words to say.
Nora's eyes flickered towards them. Then— "Of course they are." She bent to Lily's height, her lips curled into a smile, "Don't think like that."
Lily smiled back, then gave a small nod.
Nora's gaze returned back to Rain. A look of gratitude glinting in Rain's eyes.
A sudden ripple moved through the crowd, not panic yet. But close.
Mason looked around. The voices of the crowd grew louder.
Luke stepped in front of the group slightly, as the commotion began to spread.
Suddenly, a loud crash cut through them from the entrance of the school door.
Everyone turned towards that direction.
Grayson stood in front of the door, his eyes covered with huge dark shades. He held onto the pad lock and chain wrapped around it. Then yanked it a few times, which grabbed the attention of everyone present.
He turned to his friend; tommy, and with a slight motion of his head, tommy tossed him a breaker bar.
It felt heavier than it looked, but Grayson didn't flinch. He jammed the breaker bar through the chain, adjusting his grip till his knuckles almost turned pale.
He pulled once, but the chain didn't slack. It showed no weakness, just cold resistance.
He pulled again, the metal creaked faintly, not breaking just protesting, his arms strained. "Seriously…" he murmured under his breath.
Soon, he changed angles, his jaw clenched tightly as he pulled even harder.
Before anyone could react.
CRACK.
The metal snapped. The chain dropped to the ground, as the sound hovered in the air.
The crowd went still. The side-talks had died completely.
Grayson flung the bar to the side, then turned to the crowd, one of his hands tucked into his red football jacket.
The morning sun shimmered against his dark-brown skin, as he hid his face away from it.
Even with the glasses, he was still affected by the sunlight.
He straightened up, his breathing a bit heavy. "Happy now?" His gaze fixed on the crowd. "Y'all can go inside."
No one moved immediately, like they were waiting for confirmation.
Grayson stared at them for a second then let out a scoff. He turned around, walking into the school building with his friends right behind him.
That was it. Someone stepped forward, then another. And suddenly, everyone started pushing forward. The crowd began to pour into the building, shoving those in their way.
Rain didn't move, she held onto Lily tightly, as the crowd shoved past them.
Luke gestured to them, "Let's go." Then walked in as well. Mason followed immediately.
Rain's feet didn't give in right away. Her eyes stayed at the entrance.
She glanced at Nora once, then at the sea of students that rushed in. Her expression was unreadable.
Nora moved closer, her hands tightened briefly over Rain's shoulders, "Come on." She said, "let's go in."
Then moved forward.
Rain stared at Lily, as she held her gaze. Nothing felt right to her, at the same time everything was wrong.
Rain hesitated, then after a moment, she followed her inside.