Lockdown

Disclaimer: Do I look like I own Victorious? I do not, leave me be.

A/N:

Chapter 3 (Locked In)

Jade followed Mr. Vega up to the stage, much to his chagrin as he preferred non-police to stay away from the bodies. She wasn't going to depart however. She knelt with David as he checked Tiffany's pulse. "They're both out cold," David muttered, "Gone." Jade clenched her eyes for a moment, then looked out to the audience where everyone was now staring fearfully at the stage. Tori was visibly shaken, her eyes wide and tears were flowing over her cheeks.

"Do you think this is a coincidence, Mr. Vega?" David moved along the rope, studying the frayed end. Someone cut it with a jagged blade, or rather, a sawing motion. As her eyes trailed back to Tiffany and Shirley, she felt a sudden shift inside of her. "Just like what happened to Trina. What do you think it means?"

"I don't know yet." David checked his phone and started to frown. "My battery's dead, though, and Holly didn't bring her cell. I didn't want her texting Gary…" The only other alternatives of calling emergency services would require use of the other cell phones, but Sikowitz was finicky and required everyone to toss their phones into a box during the auditions which he'd hidden back stage. Currently, Cat was checking for them. "We can't jump to any conclusions."

"You're sure about that? It looked deliberate." David hung his arm over his knee and bowed his head, sighing heavily. Everyone in here was suspect to yet another murder, and this time she had a bad feeling that Tiffany and Shirley were only the first. "What if more happens?"

"Our primary thing is to call for help and to keep everyone calm. Especially my daughter-she shouldn't have to see this again." Tori had been right there when Trina died, practically in the same spot as Shirley had been. Being direct witness to your sister's death was something Jade never thought she'd see someone suffer. "If it was deliberate, then I'm going to have to keep everyone inside."

"Jade!" Cat cried out from backstage. She and David looked up as Cat came running from behind the curtain with the box of cell phones. "They're gone! Someone removed all the batteries from our phones!" Her eyes widened as David slowly pushed himself to his feet. His face scrunched and his hands clenched.

"You're kidding." Jade rushed over, panicking as she peered into the box. Every phone had the backs removed and with the backs were the batteries. "Who would have had the time to go through all this?" She looked over to Sikowitz, curious if he'd done it, but when would he have had the time? He was never backstage, and she was sure everyone had been together. It didn't take long to remove a battery from a phone, however, and really it was just ten phones. She could remove batteries from all of them within a single minute! "Sikowitz! Do you know who would have been near the phones? All the batteries are gone."

Sikowitz curled a finger under his lip, humming under his breath. "Anyone probably, I only left them on the table in the prop closet."

"It doesn't matter," David waved his hand in the air and walked off the stage. "Someone needs to signal for help." Jade and Cat followed him. The others listened earnestly. "The phones are worthless. Does anyone have a working phone?"

"I left mine with my sister," Sinjin remarked. A wrinkle formed between David's eyebrows and he looked to Sikowitz, who merely shook his head.

"I put mine with the students." The man pulled his phone from the box. A desperate look came over his face as he studied the back of his cell phone. "Sinjin's my Teacher Assist, I would have let him keep the phone…"

"Can we leave the school then?" Beck inquired to Jade's annoyance. She shot a glare in his direction while David denied his question. The officer pointed to the bodies on the stage and started to frown.

"That was deliberate, which means everyone in this room-this building right now could have had something to do with it…" Tori's eyes widened and she took a staggering step backwards. "Nobody leaves until I can signal the police. Sikowitz, Sinjin, do either of you have access to the office?"

"Should be unlocked," Sinjin shrugged, "With the principal's security system he never locks the office up. You think maybe one of the landlines will work?"

"They should-"

"They're cut," Robbie admitted. Jade froze and David raised an eyebrow at him while the rest stared suspiciously at him. He was sweaty and fidgety, but then, nobody looked calm in this instance. "I saw the power box, all of the wires were cut. The auditorium was built where the school's electric system was-someone cut the wires."

"We have to try," Jade replied, "There's a chance you're wrong." With that, she guided everyone to the office. All the lights in the school were indeed off, and there was no moonlight coming in, which gave her the impression that the principal's security system might have been activated. That was her fear, but she figured it must be improbable.

The more they walked, the more nervous she became. Try as she might, she couldn't hide the growing fear that something was off.

When they made it to the front office, the doors were locked tight. She pushed, pulled, and even tried kicking them open. David suggested Sikowitz try his keys, but as the man felt around for his teacher keys, his face slowly became distraught. "They're gone! I-I must have misplaced them." He emptied his pockets and looked over to Sinjin. "Sinjin, do you have your faculty set?"

The man immediately began searching his own pockets, only to come up short. Jade could feel her heartbeat beginning to rise. Her eyes drifted towards the school's front doors, which the windows on either side had ironclad bars shooting out across. Her hair started to stand on end as tiny beads of sweat formed on her forehead. "Guys, I think someone activated the security system…"

"Impossible!" Sikowitz rushed to the front doors. "You'd need to enter the access code, and I certainly didn't." He gripped the bars on the door and his arms locked as he tried to push the bar in. His eyes widened and Jade's heart began to sink. "Check the classroom doors! Quickly!"

Only certain doors would have full bars blocking the area. The front door only had a metal gate that came up from the ground outside, while the doors themselves had a built in bar that ran right through the upper lock, at the same time locking up the exit bars. The classroom doors would have metal bars blocking the outside of the doors.

As they ran for Sikowitz's classroom, Jade saw what she'd feared in the distance. His door was blocked by three bars coming down from the top of the doorframe. The others screamed out as they came to the same realization, and Tori even went so far as to faint on the spot.

They were locked in the building with no conceivable way out. Andre tried to help Tori up while the others continued to panic. Jade glanced to Mr. Vega, who was doing the best he could to keep calm. This inspired her to do the same. "Could there be anyone else in the school besides us?" Sikowitz frowned at her.

"It is possible someone else that knows the code. Like another teacher or even the janitor."

"Okay. You look around for a possible way out. Sinjin, you're smart so try and figure a way to contact help." Sinjin nodded and everyone parted ways. Jade sat with Tori until the girl woke up. She eventually did after several minutes, moaning softly as she rolled her head to the side.

"My head is pounding." Tori put her hand to her forehead and Jade looked to her with sympathy.

"You did hit the floor pretty badly."

"No. My head's been pounding ever since Trina…you know, ever since she fell."

"Migraines are typical of stress, Tori. Hell, you were practically under Trina when…you know…" Tori swept her hand down her right temple and along her neck as her chest began heaving. Tori's eyes widened for a second and Jade reached over, gently touching her wrist. "Tori. Hey. I'm right here." Tori's eyes filled with tears and she quickly pulled her hand away.

"Tri-Tri…I used to call her that when I was a kid. Growing up, I always clung to her…" A lump formed in Jade's throat and her chest grew heavy. Tori clenched her eyes and curled her fingers. "Jade?"

"Yeah?"

"Back there at the audition? I saw you and Beck…in the mirror." She started to tense as Tori's eyes slid open and her breathing hitched. "I was watching…Jade, did he hurt you? What was he doing?" Her lips fell back into a frown and she turned her gaze away.

"Nothing, he didn't do anything to me." Tori sucked in a deep breath of air and dropped the back of her head to the wall.

"Is this really happening? We're trapped in school and someone just killed Tiffany and Shirley?" She didn't know what to say. With Tori still in shock, it was hard to admit to anything that would further devastate the girl. Tori's eyelids slid back down and her arms folded over her waist as she began to tremble. "I still see her. In my dreams, Jade…I see Trina…"

"That's natural." Tori's face tensed for a second and she looked back with a hopeful and frightened look. "When you lose someone so close to you as you did with Trina, it's natural for the subconscious mind to try and bring back memories of that person." At least, that's what her father always said. She often tried to rationalize everything due to this. "It'll get better Tori. I'm sure it will. As for what happened to Shirley and Tiffany, I have an idea but no proof." She wanted to say Beck was responsible, but that would not only be jumping the gun, but she'd be accusing him for the wrong reasons. "Don't put yourself down because you dream of your sister."

"If you say so. Where are the others?"

"They're looking around the school, hopefully they'll find something." Tori breathed in and looked up as Cat rounded the corner. She gave a weak smile and waved her hand. "Hey Cat." Cat hurried to Tori's side, hugging her neck.

"You're awake, I'm glad!" Cat looked over to Jade and frowned. "Nothing's been found yet. How are you keeping so calm?"

"I think it's just having a dad that's a psychologist," Jade shrugged, "I try to keep a rational mind in some cases like this." Tori smiled at Jade while Cat sat down between the girls. "So…we're stuck then?"

"Yeah, but if there's a killer on the loose, I know where some sports equipment is that we can use for protection. You know, the gym's open. A lot of places seem to be open. The gym, the indoor pool, some classrooms…" Cat snapped her fingers, seemingly thinking of something. "I did find a phone in an open classroom, but Robbie was right, the phones don't work."

Tori appeared visibly shaken by the news and slowly stood up. Jade and Cat looked up at her with concern, rising with her and asking if she was okay. "I'm going to go to the restroom. I feel like I'm going to be sick."

"All right," Jade pat her hands together and sighed heavily. "I think we should all stick together though. On the chance there really is someone in here with all of us, we don't want to be caught wandering the halls alone."

"Yeah." Tori swept her bangs from her face and released a shuddering breath. "Last thing I want to do is be alone…"

So they're officially stuck, hopefully everyone follows the buddy system here. Honestly I'm going to try and avoid the stereotypes that most horror movie stories/tales get. One thing that kills the stereotype is Jade right there: The lead female isn't a panicky blonde who's best move is "run" XD. She'll be a survivalist here, so as said the whole group kind of relies on her. Anyway, tell me what your thoughts are on this particular chapter. This is more investigative mystery than horror, at the same time, so there will be clues scattered about for the reader and the characters. Who knows, maybe there's even an extra person in the school?