A/N: On with the chapter!

Alice ran through the darkness, surprised she could see the street signs so well. For some reason, this night the street lamps were off. Strange. Pushing her suspicions aside, she continued to run, now only a block away from the school. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She didn't answer. Once. Twice. No more. That was their signal. The Myst Twins were already at the school.

She sighed with relief and turned the corner to finally catch the school in her line of vision. It loomed in the darkness, it's white structure looking gray from the night. She caught sight of two other figures standing on the steps to the school. Jonathan and Jeanette, she knew. She sped up slightly to cover more distance quicker.

The figures finally came into close view, Alice quickly noticing the slight features of the two of them. She caught sight of black jeans and a black T-shirt on one figure - Jonathan - and a black skirt and black shirt on the other figure - Jeanette.

"Guys," she breathed, leaning forward on her knees, trying to catch her breath.

Jonathan and Jeanette stepped up to her. "Hey," they chorused. They hated it when they did that, speaking in sync, but Alice thought it was funny. She stood up straight, hands on her hips slightly.

"Where's Joseph?" she asked, looking at them.

"Isn't here yet," Jeanette said.

"He said he would be punctual, what time is it?" Jonathan added.

Alice looked at her watch. 9:56 PM. "Four to ten," she mumbled.

"Cut your chit-chat, I'm here," said the distinctive voice of a person named Joseph.

All three teens turned to the younger kid. "You're the one to give orders," Jeanette stated. She hadn't the time to deal with 'immature brats' as she usually referred to 'smart allecks' like Joseph. The boy grinned.

"You want my help, or not?" he said, walking over to the door. They watched him and followed.

"Yes, we do," Alice said. "So, how are we going to do this?"

"First, we break through the security system," Joseph stated, walking over to one side of the door, tracing the wall with his hand. They watched him. He stopped to the far-off left side of the door and looked at the wall, keeping one hand on it as if he were observing it closely.

Jeanette and Jonathan shared a glance and turned back to him, shaking their heads slightly. Alice watched closely. What was he looking at?

Joseph took something out of the backpack he'd been carrying slungaround one shoulder. It looked like a chisel-tipped screwdriver. Alice watched as he carefully seemed to place the tip of the screwdriver beneath a small metal plate on the wall.

Joseph finally got the plate to budge and they found he'd found the circuit box. "Found it!" he exclaimed.

They all rushed towards him. "What?" they asked.

"The circuit box, this is how we're going to manage to turn off the security system. You know, most schools've got this inside the school," Joseph said. "I'm surprised it's out here, but it's always procedure to check anyway."

"Procedure?" Jeanette asked. She's never trusted the guy, and wasn't about to start just yet. Joseph nodded.

"I've been in this business for a long time," he said.

Jeanette looked at him suspiciously, but her attention was drawn away as she watched him look at all the wires and switches inside the box, looking for the right one. "There's not switch, so it's one of the wires," he stated firmly.

"How do you know which one it is?" Jonathan asked. He may be a collector of old newspaper articles, but he's also got a thing for things like this.

Joseph trailed the wires with his finger, mumbling things beneath his breath, them only seeing his lips move rapidly. "This one," he said, once again taking something from his backpack.

"You can't cut it!" Alice said quickly. "They'll know someone broke in!"

"I'm not going to," Joseph said quickly. He took out a tiny pair of clamps. "Just gonna disconnect it, but it's dangerous to do so without some sort of protection against probable electrical surges," he said smartly. He was so serious. It was one these types of time when Alice couldn't believe he was actually eleven years old.

They watched again as he 'unplugged' the wire connecting to the security system. Joseph grinned slightly. "Safe to pick the lock now," he stated.

"You know how?" Alice asked then.

"How many times do I have to repeat myself? I've been in this business long enough to know," Joseph said, walking over to the door and immediately going into another search for something in his backpack. "Plus, I've got a couple of things that could help." He showed them a small, key-like item. Actually, it wasn't like a key because it didn't have the little grooves that keys have. "A universal key. I just have to put it in and it changes to fill in the spots missing in order for it to work," he said, simultaneously doing what he was saying he had to do.

"Cool," Jeanette mumbled, surprised she'd done so. Jonathan looked at her and smiled. She stuck her tongue out at him. He only smirked wider.

"We're in," Joseph said then, turning the key and hearing the familiar click of the door's lock unbolting.

He opened the door and the three teens quickly made their way inside the school, making sure to keep their eyes peeled for any lonesome janitor that had stayed over-time or something.

Jonathan made his way expertly through the halls, his footsteps barely even hearable. Alice was surprised by his stealth. She was even more surprised at how he knew the school so well as to know exactly where to go even in the dark. She followed closely, careful to keep her own footsteps quiet too. Jeanette followed just as close.

They walked through about four halls to get to Jonathan's locker. Jeanette and Alice kept look out while Jonathan put in the combination to his locker. "Any time?' Alice asked through clenched teeth. She felt a little out of place being there all of a sudden. It had suddenly gotten very cold, her breath almost clearly visible. Jeanette and Jonathan didn't seem to be affected.

"Got it," Jonathan said. He looked inside his locker and gasped. They turned to him.

"What?" both girls chorused. Jonathan turned to them, moving out of the way so they could see inside the locker. Empty."My binder," he said. "It's gone."

"What do you mean gone?" Alice asked. They'd come this far for nothing? She pushed past him, making sure her eyes weren't fooling her.

"It's just gone!" Jonathan said. Jeanette shushed him. They were still on thin ice. They couldn't risk being found out yet.

"But I thought you never took it out of your locker," Alice said.

"I don't," Jonathan said. Alice turned back to them, catching a strange difference in their number.

"Where's Joseph?"

E/N: Oh. Wow. I'm happy today. I got home a few hours ago from the Honor Roll Assembly at my school. Man, I got so confused at where I was supposed to go. I shook my principal's hand like ten times! HAHA! Anywho, thanks for reading!

--Airamé Phantom