Disclaimer: Hetalia is not mine!

Chapter Eleven- I'm Not Scared!

Turn this shit off. That was Lovino's first thought as he reluctantly stepped into the main hall. As if the humiliating costume wasn't bad enough. The upbeat temp of the song only darkened his mood. He didn't object to happy music on a general basis; no, he was guilty of lip syncing along with 'Baby' if it was playing on the radio, he was alone and he was in particularly good spirits. But he was miserable right now, and the cheery music only further reminded him of that.

The celebrations were already in full swing and the music was pounding in his ears. The thump-thump-thump of the bass made it feel like his whole body was vibrating. It felt like if he stayed in here for too long, it was likely his ears may start to bleed. People were crushed together, yelling over the music. Someone shoved him to the side and he began to feel slightly claustrophobic.

Oh, fuckfuckfuck. That was Lovino's second thought as a certain Spaniard came bounding towards him in a way that reminded him of an overexcited puppy. There was multiple reasons Lovino's despair. Number one; Antonio was yelling that embarrassing nickname so loud that the whole room could probably hear it, even over the roaring music.

Number two; he could see Antonio's thought process unfolding from behind those alluring eyes, even from where he stood. He knew he was about to get glomped. And he knew that Antonio would not care if the whole school was watching and he was a teacher and it was not at all appropriate to glomp your students.

Number three; damn, he made a fine pirate. It was better than he had pictured it. A crimson red coat billowed behind him as he ran and the hat he was holding onto so it wouldn't fly away had a spectacular feather attached to it. His white shirt was opened a little farther than necessary – although it gave him a nice view of that swarthy skinned chest – and there was a small silver cross hanging around his neck on a chain. And those trousers. It was going to be a very difficult task to tear his eyes away from Antonio's ass.

Number four; he couldn't actually see Antonio's ass since he was running towards him, and the long coat covered it for the most part, but he could picture it in his mind's eye. It's always a bad sign when you can easily picture someone's ass without looking at it.

"Lovi~!" As he had been too busy thinking about Antonio's attractive backside, he had neglected to dodge the incoming missile. Why was he surrounded by people who couldn't control their hugs? Much to his horror, tears were forming in the corners of Antonio's eyes. "Mi tomate! Eres tan lindo~!"

Most pirates had swords as their weapons of choice, but Antonio had instead gone for a formidable looking axe that Lovino assumed was plastic, since its wielder was waving it around with ease. Because these things are bound to happen, it was inevitable that someone got hit. The unlucky sod who just so happened to wander by at the wrong moment was Yao Wang in a fetching panda suit.

"Aru!" he squeaked as the blade whacked him across the face, not that anyone heard it. He landed on his backside with surprising grace, but the panda head that had been under his arm went flying. There were a few nervous giggles from students who had seen it, and Antonio immediately pushed himself away from Lovino. That stung him a little, but then he remembered that he hadn't wanted to be hugged in the first place. It didn't help very much.

"I am so sorry Yao!" Antonio shouted as he pulled the stunned man up. He winced when he saw the angry red mark on his face that probably hurt like a bitch.

Yao dusted himself off with inhuman dignity. "It's fine. I was just wondering what you were doing hugging a student like that, aru."

Antonio fumbled, completely unable to come up with a good explanation. This was it; he was about to get the sack in front of the whole school. He lowered his head in shame, bracing himself for the final judgement.

"Sir, I was the one who hugged Mr Carriedo, not the other way around."

Lovino wasn't really sure what made him step in and save Antonio from being humiliated. A reflex action, perhaps? But he did it without thinking and he enjoyed the look of shock of the older man's face. It made a change from the goofy grin. He did like that enigmatic smile though.

"Is that so? I know Mr Carriedo is your counsellor and I'm thrilled that you're making good progress, but you can't just hug him like that. Do you understand?" Yao's tone was stern, but Lovino didn't care that he was being scolded. He nodded obediently. Satisfied, Yao went off in search of his lost head.

"Muchas gracias," Antonio said right into Lovino's ear. It made a shiver run down his spine.

"Stupid bastard," he growled, glaring at the pirate. "What were you thinking? People will get the wrong idea if you pull that kind of shit! I saved your ass back there, but I won't do it again! Che." He crossed his arms haughtily and stalked away to find his friends. He hadn't realised that he had lost them somewhere along the line, but he was very glad they weren't there to witness what had just happened.

Spotting Ludwig's head bobbing about in the sea of people wasn't terribly hard. When he joined the group again, Alfred was trying to convince Arthur to dance with him and Feliciano was bouncing around Ludwig. The German had not been blessed with flying feet, so his dancing was just him shuffling around awkwardly. The Frankenstein costume suited him even more like that. As per usual, Kiku was impossible to read. He was staring intensely at the other four, which Lovino found a little weird.

The music stopped and Yao, having recovered his head, stood at a podium on the left of the stage. The crowd booed, but he just rolled his eyes and started to talk. "Welcome to the annual Halloween Scare Fest! It looks like the Student Committee has done a fantastic job again this year, aru. I've just taken one final look around the campus. I hope you're all ready to be scared!" Yao really hated these kinds of talks. The words all sounded so cheesy to him, but he couldn't exactly say things like 'prepare to shit your pants'. Not around the younger students anyway. Besides, it wasn't that scary.

Clearing his throat, he carried on. "Most of you know the drill by now, but I'll explain things for those who might not. Those who want to go on the tour have five minutes to get into groups of ten and line up by the door. A member of staff will also join you-" As with every year, the students voiced their annoyance about having to walk around with a teacher. True, most of the teachers were decent enough, and a few were really cool, but there were one or two out there with a stick shoved up their asses – metaphorically, of course.

Thumping his hand (or paw) against the side of the podium, Yao tried to regain order. "Settle down, aru! Thank you. The groups will leave at ten minute intervals and the tour should last around an hour. You'll come back here afterwards. Whoever doesn't want to go on the tour is welcome to stay in here and dance the night away, but we will kick you out sometime before twelve, aru. That said, have a fun night and enjoy the holidays!"

Yao left the stage and there was a sudden rush as people ran around like headless chickens, trying to find the groups they wanted to be in. Those who didn't want to partake in the tour converged in one large group and waited patiently for everyone else get sorted so the party could start again. Lovino was about to join them, until Alfred jerked him back, nearly ripping his arm from its socket. He whimpered in pain and Alfred let go.

"Sorry dude! I don't know my own strength sometimes. Our group's over here, c'mon." Lovino had no choice but to follow. The group consisted of the usual five, himself included, and five others whom he had seen in class, but he couldn't put names to faces. It didn't matter since Feliciano seemed to know them. Three girls dressed as the Power Puff Girls giggled at him, shallow, high-pitched giggles, and Lovino decided that he didn't like them. One guy's face was obscured by a grim reaper mask and held a plastic knife in hand. The other was laughing along with Feliciano. Ludwig moved a little closer to his boyfriend.

They lined up by the door just like they had been told and one of the girls tried to talk to Lovino. "So," she simpered. "I'm Tina, and this is Ruth and Gracie. You're Lovino, aren't you?"

"Yeah," he grumped. Tina pouted annoyingly and he could see that it was going to harder than that to get rid of her. Her blonde pigtails swung from side to side as she nodded along with the music that had started up again. Thankfully, it was much quieter than before.

"Ooh, I love Nicki Minaj! Isn't her new song so amazing?"

If that was her attempt at trying to get him to dance, Lovino tried very hard not to laugh in her face. "I haven't heard it."

Gracie pursed her lips, putting one hand on her hip like a Little Tina Clone. She looked like she was impersonating a fish. "The lyrics are just so original. I totally love her."

If Lovino was hearing correctly, Nicki had just said something about sitting with Anna and how it was not a metaphor, she was really just sitting with Anna. It didn't sound too inspired to him. No, it sounded like Nicki would benefit greatly from being slapped across the face with a very heavy dictionary.

"Whatever." Why couldn't these stupid girls see he didn't want to talk? He didn't even want to be here!

"Are you a turtle? Or are you a tortoise? I could never tell the difference. It's so confusing!" Ruth stomped her foot to emphasise her confusion. Lovino wished for a brick.

Just as Lovino thought he really was about to blow a fuse at the immensely irritating threesome, Feliciano cheered loudly. "We got Toni~! Ve~" Sure enough, Antonio was looking down at him happily. Lovino didn't know what to feel.

"¡Hola amigos! I'm Mr Carriedo, but you can call me Antonio. Don't tell the other teachers, ¿de acuerdo?" He winked at them and there was a strange tightening sensation in Lovino's chest that he put down to heartburn.

"So hot…" Ruth said rather conspicuously. The three in the back were practically drooling over the Spaniard, which annoyed Lovino to no end for some reason. Antonio noticed their attention and looked away nervously. Or maybe it was the way Lovino was staring at them, his eyes narrowed to thin slits. It was predatory and it was kind of hot.

Bad, bad, he chided himself. Don't take advantage of the dark corridors.

"It's our turn to leave," Ludwig pointed out.

"Sí, you're right. Follow me. Stick with the group and don't get lost! It'd be a bother if I had to come find you." Subconsciously, his eyes shifted over to Lovino and the Italian blushed at his gaze.

This was going to be a long night.

Once outside, the only source of light was the full moon. The surrounding buildings were basked in the eerie silver glow and as they walked towards the pitches, the trees that lined the path were silhouetted against the velvet sky and seemed to reach for them with their skeletal limbs.

Feliciano whimpered and clung to Ludwig's arm for dear life. "Why are we going this way?" he whined.

"We have to go this way to get to the technology department," Antonio told him. "Look, we're nearly there." They stopped before the door that was swinging on its hinges. The creeks sounded like someone dragged their nails down an old-fashioned blackboard. He couldn't see what was in there.

Antonio was not scared of ghosts or murderers, and so held no reservations about going in. But when he looked back at the group, he saw Ludwig trying to comfort Feliciano and Alfred holding onto the back of Arthur's coat very tightly. Mask Boy and Laughing Boy were unreadable, as was Kiku. The three girls in the back were all holding hands and huddling together like frightened animals. Lovino was staring ahead with wide eyes. He looked like he was about to run off with his tail between his legs.

Wait, turtles don't have tails. Oh Dios, would Lovino look good with a tail.

"Should we go in?" Anything to get those images out of his head. He was a teacher and Lovino was his student and this was wrong and he should know better, really now.

The girl in the green dress tried to grab Lovino and he darted to the front, right up beside Antonio. Right where he didn't want to be. He didn't want Antonio to see him scared, but this was better than the three stooges bringing up the rear. "Let's get this over with," he grimaced. The sooner he got home, the better. He swallowed dryly and stepped into the darkness after Antonio. It was so silent. All he could hear was his own heart beating in his still funny chest. Could everyone else hear it too?

Looking around, he was nearly overcome with the desire to make a run for it. It was still, too still. The footsteps echoed off the walls. Suddenly, there was a loud buzz in the workshop as the belt sander turned itself on with a roar. He gave a short cry of surprise, which was mostly covered by Feli's screams. But Antonio had apparently heard it, and he gave him a concerned look.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Lovino looked away, ashamed he had let the cracks in his armour, or rather, shell, show.

"I'm fine, bastard." Antonio didn't look very convinced, but there was a more pressing issue at hand. The issue's name was Feliciano. Tears ran down his face and Ludwig seemed to be having trouble breathing due to the way Feli had his arms wrapped around his neck. Lovino didn't even question how he was able to reach.

"It's a ghost!" Feli screeched. "It's coming to kill us all! I knew I should have brought my white flag! Luddy, I don't want to die!" Ludwig managed to pry him off his neck and held him at arm's length. When he started shaking him, Lovino vaguely wonder whether or not he should intervene. Oh, it would probably knock some sense into him. He'd be just fine.

"Feliciano, get a hold of yourself. We haven't been here two minutes and you're already having a breakdown. Do you really think I would let anything bad happen to you?" Feliciano stopped making the ungodly racket and sniffled, shaking his head. Ludwig sighed and handed him a tissue, which the smaller boy accepted gratefully. "Gut." He coughed loudly offered his hand. Feliciano took it with a watery smile.

Despite the way Lovino hugely disliked the German, he had to admit it. He made his brother happy and that was something he couldn't always do himself. Maybe Ludwig was good for something after all.

With the crisis averted, they started to walk again. "Your brother is so cute. I wish I had a sugar cube on me~! I wonder if that would cheer him up?" Antonio chuckled at his own (not very funny) joke. Lovino bit his tongue to stop the snapped remark that was threatening to emerge, settling for a burning scowl.

Couldn't the stupid man make his mind up? Who was cute? Of course, he probably preferred Feliciano over him. That was always how it went. He should be used to this. Yet it bothered him so much.

Shut up and accept the facts, he told himself. Stop making a mountain out of a molehill.

Having been distracted by his inner dialogue and jumbled feeling, Lovino hadn't been paying very much attention to where they were headed. They had passed through the technology department without any further incident and were now in the geography corridor. Christ, if he hated the geography corridor in the daylight, it had nothing on how he felt about it at night.

There were no windows along the corridor walls, just a few skylights on the ceiling. Instead of being covered with glass, they were covered with a crude translucent plastic that didn't let much light in. As a result, the corridor was very dimly lit. The lockers that lined the walls made hallway feel very cramped. It was almost as if the walls were closing in on them. Lovino's breathing quickened as he started to feel a little panicky. Something was going to happen. He just knew it.

And how right he was. They were halfway down the hallway when a scratching noise came from behind them. They all turned, thoroughly spooked. There was nothing. The noise stopped and started again moments later. It was louder. It was no longer just a scratching. There was a faint tapping. Although Lovino didn't realise it, his feet were bringing him closer and closer to Antonio. He may have been angry with him, but that didn't change the fact he made him feel safe.

"What even is that?" Alfred whined softly. He moved behind Arthur.

"As the hero, shouldn't you be protecting me?" Arthur remarked. He received no reply.

The tapping was gone. But that wasn't all, surely. It felt off. He stayed rooted to the spot, even when Antonio tried to attract his attention. Without warning, a locker door slammed open and something fell out onto Gracie. Her squeal was so high pitched, it was a miracle dogs could hear it, let alone people. She pushed it away and latched onto Laughing Boy, who looked very pleased with himself.

It fell into a small patch of light and Lovino saw that it was the hideous creature that had scared the living daylights out of him the other day. Kiku poked at it curiously and it groaned. Alfred and Feliciano took that as their cue to leave and the rest followed behind them without much objection. Not that Ludwig or Arthur had much say in the matter, as they were practically dragged away.

Lovino wished that someone would speak, but the only sounds were Feliciano's short sniffles and their feet as they climbed up the stairs. The doors that let them into a short corridor were silent as they pushed them open, but they shut with a damning slam behind them. There was a quiet click as they locked themselves. No way back. It looked like their next stop was the library.

"This isn't scary at all," Mask Boy grumbled. It was the first time he had spoken. "All we've come across so far is some malfunctioning machinery and a shitty zombie. What's next, plastic spiders and a person in a sheet? This is a fucking joke."

For all his complaining and the potty mouth, the boy could easily have been Lovino. He looked at him and felt a little like he was looking into a mirror. Of course, he knew he wasn't; the boy was much taller than him, in a stringy way, as though he'd been stretched by one of those medieval torture devices. But the complaints were annoying, especially the way they kept coming. Now that he had opened his mouth, it seemed as though he couldn't shut it.

This must be what it's like listening to me, he realised. He made a mental note to cut back on the moaning. It really got on your nerves after a while.

"I'm terrified," Feliciano whispered to the boy.

"Of course you are," he replied in the most patronizing voice Lovino had ever heard. Ludwig looked as though he was about to send the boy flying, but Antonio stepped in before anyone resorted to violence.

"Hey guys, tranquilo, por favor. I think I heard something." He was just trying to distract the group, which worked for the most part. Mask Boy stopped grousing and Ludwig was back to his diligent form, on the lookout for whatever little thing that may send the quaking Italian into meltdown mode. Arthur snapped at Alfred to stop trying to hide behind him and he hid behind the girls instead. Lovino stayed where he was, but Antonio saw him clench and unclench his fists nervously.

They had no choice but to pass through the library in order to reach a door that would let them into the English corridor and outside, where they would move on to the science block. Normally in all the films, the library was the place where something bad happened. However, Antonio was never scared by those silly things and he wouldn't exactly say he was freaked out so far. Sure, a few things had made him jump. But there had been nothing to get his heart pounding.

Again, the library door locked itself as they closed it behind them. Shelves that towered over him were placed in orderly lines across the floor, and surprisingly, the lights were on. Plastic gargoyles, grinning pumpkins and cloudy jars sat in different places, some on the tops of shelves, some on tables and some on the floor. Silly string had been sprayed here and there. Antonio guessed it was supposed to look like spider webs.

The lights flickered a little. "I feel like we're being watched," Tina said.

"Oh my God, really?" Ruth spoke so quickly, Lovino wondered how she didn't stumbled over any of the words.

Tina nodded seriously. "Women's intuition." Bullshit. She was just being paranoid. Although now that she had said it, he felt it too. He hated his mind. First he couldn't stop thinking about how sexy Antonio was and now he was imagining a creepy stalker was coming to kill them all. He seriously needed to get a grip.

"I feel it too," Gracie announced, not wanting to be upstaged by Tina. She squealed as the lights shut off completely.

"Babe, don't worry about it," Laughing Boy said, holding her close. Lovino silently begged him not to say it. "There's probably nothing here. We'll be totally fine, you'll see." Great. He had said it. Now Lovino was sure they were screwed.

"Let's just go," Arthur urged. The group trudged along, only to find the door was locked and there was a yellow post-it note stuck to it. "It looks like we have to find a key," Arthur sighed.

Lovino didn't really want to look for the key on his own. Although he wanted to go with Antonio, he was still annoyed at the Spaniard's last remark. Had he not sworn to tone down the complaints just a few minutes ago? If he went near Antonio now, he would want to make his hurt known. Antonio was enjoying himself; it wasn't Lovino's place to destroy his happiness for the night.

As he was still expecting an axe murderer to burst into the room and chop them all into pieces, he stuck with Ludwig. After all, he was the biggest, so his limbs would take the longest to hack through. It was just a simple precaution. Feli was with him too since he was practically glued to him.

"Look in that pumpkin," the German instructed. He didn't know who he expected would listen between Lovino and Feliciano.

Feliciano did as he was told. He lifted the lid from the pumpkin and stuck his hand inside with a disgusted look on his face. "It's really slimy and I can't feel the key at all." When he drew his hand out, gunky seeds were sticking to him. He shook them away with a discontented 've'.

It didn't matter how many books Lovino pulled out, or jars he shook, or gargoyles he looked under, he couldn't find the key. It didn't seem like anyone else was having any luck either. The library wasn't particularly big and the places where it could be were limited. As such, the entire place had been scoured in little under five minutes.

"I could not find anything," Kiku said sadly when they regrouped. "I think we should just wait here for someone to let us out. They do not want two groups bumping into each other." Unfortunately, Kiku's idea was the best anyone could come up with.

The door handle rattled loudly. Gracie yelped, but Laughing Boy, being Laughing Boy, simply laughed. "See, the titch was right!" Kiku frowned at the offensive nickname. It wasn't his fault he was shorter than most. "I bet that's someone to let us out now."

If they had been in a horror film, Lovino knew that Laughing Boy would have been the first to go. The door handle was still rattling, and Lovino wasn't so sure if it was someone come to rescue them. Surely they would have a key and be able to let themselves in easily? Maybe the door was just old and rickety. Yes, that was it.

Laughing Boy walked up to the door. He grabbed the handle. He turned it slowly. Lovino's mouth was dry.

"YEAH!" Masked Boy exploded into the room with a deafening shout and everyone nearly jumped out of their skins. He waved the knife around so fast it was almost a blur. "LET'S CUT SHIT UP!"

Feliciano dived under the table and covered his ears, rocking slightly. "He'sbackhe'sbackohDiomisalviLovihe'sback." Feliciano uttered the words over and over, his voice cracking and nothing Ludwig was doing could snap him out of the catatonic trance. He whimpered and fought as Ludwig tried to touch him or comfort him in any way.

Antonio tried his best too, offering sweet words in a beautifully calming tone. But there was nothing that could get through to the boy. They were all so distracted by Feliciano, nobody noticed Lovino.

Mamma was there. Feli was hiding somewhere and Lovino couldn't see him, thank God. That meant the masked man couldn't see him either. Lovino was sinking to his knees, an invisible force pushing him down. The masked man was standing over him, laughinglaughinglaughing, and it made him want to be sick. The bastard saw humour in the situation. There was bile rising in his throat and he was choking on it. Or was he chocking on the scream that was trying to push past his lips?

He didn't want to look, yet he couldn't tear his eyes from what lay before him. He couldn't even blink. It made his eyes water, as did the shock that was resonating from his very core. Then there was the consuming grief. The guilt. And the trauma, let's not forget the trauma. He was young, but he knew he could never forget this. This night would be imprinted on his brain and it would not leave him for as long as he lived.

She was bleeding and it was his fault. She was hurt and it was his fault. The masked man was telling him that, and he was right. She was deadgonenevercomingback and it was his fault.

The scream finally showed itself. It burnt his throat and he felt raw after mere seconds. When he asked for a saviour, he had not meant this.

It was tight, it was dark, it was horrible. His chest was hurting and his lungs were begging for air, but he couldn't breathe. He was gulping for precious oxygen, but he couldn't take anything in. Not the air, not where he was, not what was happening, nothing.

And then, there was black.

So this is what happens when I try to write horror. I think I've learnt a valuable lesson; DON'T DO IT. I know the three girls I randomly included are very Mary Sue-ish (they're not anyone special, by the way). I'm sorry if this chapter seemed to fall short of the usual standard, but there were a few things that I wanted to include in this chapter that I felt were important, so I ignored my own misgivings and ended up with this. As a way of making it up to you all, I'll try my best to work some fluff into the next chapter.

The start of my week was a bit mad. I never sleep in, but I somehow managed to do it on Tuesday. The teachers were all trying their best to scare us into working hard, and it worked for the most part. Emphasis on that last part there. I should really be reading Pride and Prejudice right now, but this suddenly seemed more important than my education when I sat down with the book and Mr Collins popped up. MR COLLINS. GAH.

Thank you all for your reviews and alerts! They cheered me up in one of those 'OHMYGODHOWDOIEVENICAN'TDOITBLAH' moments. I was revising for a maths test! So thank you very much indeed, you lovely lot :D

Have a nice week!