Castle High's After School Horror

"Something's happened," Mace whispers solemnly. "I can feel it."

Gerard, Ray, and Chelsea all look at Mace.

"Is this a twin thing?" Chelsea asks boredly.

"We should've bumped into them by now," Gerard says, thoughtful. He is a tad bit worried. The four of them had already attempted to open five different exits and they hadn't heard a sound from the other group.

"They can take care of themselves," Ray says. He sounds as if he doesn't believe himself. "They're probably fine."

"This school is so huge," Chelsea whines.

"Yeah, and water is wet," Mace spats. Gerard smiles. "We have to find them, something is wrong!"

Mace is noticeably nervous. She's shaking and her eyes are wide. Gerard takes this as his opportunity to do what he'd been wanting to do for a while.

"Okay, before Mace freaks out," he says, "we should go see if we can find them."

"But--" Ray starts. Gerard puts his hand up.

"You guys check the doors and we'll go make sure they're okay."

Mace wraps her arms around Gerard's waist. "Thank you," she whispers. Ray sighs.

"Okay, fine," he says. Gerard nods and grabs Mace's hand. Chelsea chuckles and shakes her head at Gerard.

"What?" Gerard asks.

"Wanna make sure Bonnie is okay?" Chelsea says to Mace. Mace nods. Chelsea gives Gerard a meaningful look. Gerard ignores it and starts walking ahead with Mace.

The posters hanging on the walls campaigning school spirit and pride seem to mock Gerard as he and Mace make their way down the hall, taking quick and long steps. The dim lights of the hallway make him feel uncomfortable. Nothing is normal. People getting killed, the weather outside changing so drastically, the eerie quiet of the halls. He wants to get out and get help. Mace shivers beside him. He looks down at her and whispers, "Don't worry."

Mace shrugs. Gerard knows how close Mace and Bonnie are. If one of them feels something, the other twin feels it. This worries Gerard. He wouldn't want anything happening to Bonnie. Gerard kisses the back of Mace's hand reassuringly, his mind wandering to the look Chelsea gave him. Did she know? He wouldn't be surprised. He just hopes that she won't blab about it...

As they turn a corner, Mace squeals in terror. Gerard follows her stare with his own. She pulls away from Gerard's grip and runs down the hall. Gerard narrows his eyes at the three motionless bodies, lying sprawled on the floor, that she's running toward.

Oh God.

"Macey!" Gerard yells, starting after her.

His heart feels ready to explode. He catches up to Mace, grabs her hand, and they finish the run down the hall together. Mace falls to her knees next to the body of her sister and starts to shake her. Gerard swallows, hard, and looks at Bob and Mikey. He sighs in relief when he sees that they are breathing. Bob’s lying beside Bonnie and Mikey is near the wall opposite them.

"Uhhn," Bonnie moans. She lifts her head and squints her eyes at her sister. "Wha-"

"Thank God!" Mace screams. She wraps her arms around her sister's neck. Gerard smiles at Bonnie, relieved to see that she's okay. Bonnie smiles back and hugs her sister.

Gerard hears steps down the hall. He looks back and sees Ray and Chelsea sprinting over to them. Gerard looks back down at Bob and Mikey, seemingly unconscious. He gets down to his knees just as the twins stand up together.

"What happened?" Ray asks, sounding breathless.

Gerard shakes his brother's arm. Mikey groans and turns over. Gerard notices a trail of blood leading to the floor from behind his ear.

"W-we were walking and then...I don't remember," Bonnie says. Gerard looks up at her. She's staring at him longingly, biting her lip. Then, Gerard notices Chelsea's knowing smile. He turns back to Bob and Mikey. Bob's rubbing his head angrily.

"Mikey," Gerard says. "Mikey, get up."

Mikey doesn't move. Bob sits up and rubs his eyes. He looks down at Mikey. His fists falls straight into Mikey's chest. Mikey coughs and sits up, the blood trailing the side of his face.

"He's up," Bob croaks.

Mikey is awake. Gerard doesn't have to care anymore. He stands up and grabs Macey's hand, looking at Chelsea's feet nervously. His sight feels blurred for a second. He looks up at Mikey, who’s giving him a hard stare.

"What happened?" Chelsea echoes Ray's question.

"We all got hit over the head," Bob says. "What do you think? We were having naptime?"

Bob and Mikey stand up. Mikey holds onto his ear. He glances around them. He takes a step back and looks down both ends of the hall. Everyone watches as he frantically glances around again.

"Where's Frank?" he asks. Gerard's heart sinks but his vision goes back to normal.

"He probably did this," Bob says.

"What was he gonna hit us with, eh?" Bob takes a step toward Mikey. Mikey takes a few steps back and hits the lockers, confidence gone.

"We have to find him," Mace whispers.

Mikey bites his lip. He looks at the ground.

"None of the exits were open," says Ray.

"Then we have to go find Frank," says Gerard. He starts ahead of the group again, going in the direction they'd come from.

"Wait!" Mikey says.

They all look back at him. He's staring at the ground with intrigue. Gerard looks and walks back toward Mikey. There are big black arrows pointing in the opposite direction of what had been Gerard's intention of going. Gerard bends down and runs a finger through it.

"Fresh paint," he whispers glancing down at his black finger. A strange image of sitting on his couch with everything gone back to normal invades his mind. He looks up at Mikey, who’s holding a hopeful puppy-dog stare.

"There's more," Ray points out. Gerard looks. There's a line of arrows leading down the hall. The trail continues around a corner.

"Let's follow 'em!" Mikey says, voice dripping with hopefulness.

'That's a bad idea," Gerard says. Mikey makes to follow the arrows but Gerard grabs his arm and pulls him back. The happy image in Gerard’s head melts away. "Mikey, you don't know-"

"We have to find him!"

"Aw, Gerard, just let him go," Bob says. "He wants to save his boyfriend."

Gerard rolls his eyes.

"This is not a joke!" Bonnie says. "Frank could be hurt."

"Frank could be worse than hurt," Ray says.

"We have to go find him!" Mikey repeats, trying to pull away. Gerard's grip tightens. Mikey's so weak. He stops fighting and just looks at Gerard, eyes desperate.

"It could be a trap," Gerard says.

"Well, what the fuck are we gonna do?" Mikey's face is red with a mixture of anger and fear. He's screaming so loud that they almost don't notice the roar of thunder coming from outside. Mikey flinches. "Are we just gonna stand around and do nothing? Frank could be hurt! Or worse! I don't wanna find him lying in a puddle of his own blood like we found Beth! He's the only person I have..."

Mikey's voice trailed off toward the end of his rant. Gerard is so shocked that he lets go of Mikey's arm. Mikey looks at Gerard in disbelief, then turns and runs after the arrows. Everyone follows after him.

After a short run, Mikey slows down to a stop. Everyone stops behind him. He's looking down at the ground. He presses his hand against his head painfully and brings back his hand to reveal blood. That must be where the blood’s coming from. Gerard looks at the ground. The arrows end, pointing to the art room. The glass of the art room is painted black with the same fresh paint that had led them there. Mikey swallows and puts his blood-stained hand on the doorknob.

Another clap of thunder erupts as Mikey touches the metal of the knob. He looks back at everyone. Gerard's heart starts to beat twice as fast. Anything could be on the other side of that door. It could be Frank's mangled body or the barrel of a gun...

Mikey turns the knob and pushes the door. Everyone glances in. The room is pitch black. There isn't sufficient light, from the windows or the hallway, to see anything inside.

"Frank?" Mikey speaks into the darkness. He enters the room, hands on the wall. Gerard slowly enters with Mace trying to hold him back. He hears the click of the light switch and the room is automatically brightened. Gerard squints into the room, alarmed by the sudden overwhelming light.

He sees Frank and doesn't want to believe his eyes.