Author's note: I've got a direction!
Something More Familiar
"Life hates me," Andrew whined.
"That makes two of us," Gina replied. "We should have brought flashlights. Mulder and Scully woulda had flashlights."
"Giant lighthouse flashlights," Andrew agreed.
The pair had entered the high school after all, despite Andrew's reluctance. They had debated for almost ten minutes, but neither had come up with a better plan. Gina was in the lead, though she wasn't sure what aspect of the high school they were supposed to investigate. Andrew followed her closely, tugging at the cuffs of his shirt as his eyes skittered along the darkened hallways of the school.
"Hey, look!" Gina ran a short distance ahead.
"H-Hey!" Andrew exclaimed. "Don't do that!" He ran after her. "What's the rush?"
"This is my old locker!" Gina replied excitedly.
"Um, Gina, I think your old locker was destroyed, along with the rest of the school."
"Pfft, you're no fun," she admonished. "D'you think the combination's still the same?"
"I think my previous statement applies. If your locker was destroyed, then the combination cannot possibly be the same."
Gina rolled her eyes, then turned the dial. "Eighteen, forty-three, nine," she counted as she spun the dial. There was a click, and then the locker opened. "Huh, what are the chances?"
Andrew folded his arms across his chest, but it was more to comfort himself than to show signs of irritation. Somehow he knew that Gina being able to open this very locker could not be a good thing, and must therefore be the work of Evil Warren. "I have a bad feeling about this."
Gina pulled out a notebook, and leafed through the pages. "Well, that's odd,"
Andrew tried to steal a glance at the contents. "Oh? What's odd exactly?"
She folded the cover back, and the book up for him to see. "This isn't written in English. Nor is it French or Latin."
"You speak French?"
Gina shrugged. "A little,"
"Cool," Andrew replied.
"I have many talents, Andy Wells, that you may get to see later." She winked at him, and he blushed. "You are so adorable," she gushed.
"Uhh…it's erasing itself." He indicated the notebook.
Gina regarded the page curiously. "So it is." She flipped to the next one. "It's all blank, the whole book! What do you think it means?"
"I think it means we should leave. Now," Andrew insisted.
"Aw, c'mon, Andy, stay awhile," Warren pleaded.
Andrew jumped, then spun around. Warren's eyes glinted an eerie gold in the dark. "N-not you again." The blond tried to keep the whine and fear out of his voice.
"Yeah, it's me again, Andrew, old buddy. I try, but I just can't stay away."
Gina dropped the notebook and latched onto Andrew's arm. "I can see him."
"Uh-huh,"
"He has no skin."
Andrew wrinkled his nose, but Warren looked like Warren to him. "S-so, uh, that thing you did with the book just now, what was that for?" Andrew put as much defiance in his voice as he could muster.
"That was for fun. I thought it would be a neat touch."
"Why do you want us here in the high school?"
Warren shrugged. "I wanted Andrew in the high school because he has some unfinished business to attend to. You're inconsequential to me."
"Oh." Gina nodded. "Good to know."
"I don't have any u-unfinished b-business, Warren. I told you, no more k-killing."
"This isn't about killing, Andrew. It's just about dying. Come now, Kiddies, follow Uncle Warren to the basement." Warren turned, and starting leading them away.
"N-no," Andrew said, but he found himself following, anyway.
Gina was pulling on his arm, trying to hold him back. "Andy, wait!"
Warren stopped, and glanced at Gina over his shoulder. "You can come, too, Precious."
"I think he's gonna make me kill you," Andrew whispered.
"I hope not," she returned.
