A gust of smoke puffed out at his face. "Ha," Chad laughed. "You see? Told ya." Gabriella shook her head impatiently.
"We're never going to get anywhere-" Troy stated to say, but Sharpay cut him off.
"Enough, Troy, we know already…" Sharpay told him. Taylor sighed.
"Let's go. We don't have much time left," Jason reminded them.
"True," Kelsi and Zeke agreed.
"Lead the way Chad," Gabriella gestured into the hallway.
"Okay…" Chad said, uneasily and walked cautiously into the hallway. "Okay, all safe. This is- aah!" Four arrows flew at his head and pinned him against the wall by his fluffy afro.
"Oh my goodness!" Taylor shrieked. "Chad, are you alright?" She asked, running to his side and pulling the arrows out.
"Yeah," Chad nodded, "But that was a very close one."
Sharpay shrugged. "Hey, at least we know it's safe now."
"Hey!" Chad yelled, offended. "I could've easily died."
"No," Kelsi said. "Look at the string on the floor. Once you crossed the line, that bow pulled back those arrows and it was aimed and looks as if it was measured for the exact height…"
"That means he knew you were going to go first," Troy pointed out. "You're taller than the rest of us." (Pretend, I don't honestly know if he is or not.)
"How could he possibly know that?" Zeke asked.
"He knew that Chad would be the most eager to get out of there. Somehow, I don't know how, but he knows us. Well. Remember, he said that we haven't been living life like we should," Gabriella replied.
"Who said it's a he?" Taylor asked.
"Remember, the voice on the tape?" Chad pointed out. "It was definitely a dude."
"I agree," Jason nodded anxiously. "But, we really need to get outta here." He checked his watch. "We have only about two hours left at the most."
The group huddled together. Troy's arm around Gabriella's waist to his left and an arm around Zeke's shoulder to his right. Gabriella was holding Sharpay's hand and Sharpay was holding Taylor's arm. Chad was standing close on Taylor's other side, with an arm around Kelsi. And Kelsi was clinging to Jason's are as if for dear life.
They soon turned found a staircase and sent the boys up first. After the coast was clear, the guys ushered the girls back up and they all got into the same positions as before. There was a wide hallway to the right, decorated with picture frames and wall hangings. To the left, a tiny hallway, with candle's for light. As far as Taylor could see, the hallway dragged on and on without any doors. Then, she heard Gabriella gasp from somewhere near her.
"What?" Everyone asked in unison.
Gabriella walked closer to the wall with the pictures and squinted. "Zeke, bring me a candle," she demanded.
"Why?" Kelsi asked.
"I'm not sure, but…" She took the candle form Zeke's outstretched hand. "I knew it," she whispered, leaning the candle towards the picture. "Guys," she turned to face her friends, "These pictures are of us…"
"Repeat?" Sharpay said, in a question tone of voice.
"These pictures on the wall," Gabriella said, moving down the hall. "They're pictures of us."
"No, I heard you, but…" Sharpay joined Gabriella by one of the pictures. The rest of the gang stood frozen and rooted to the spot, as if in shock. "That's me and Tay…"
Taylor ran over to her best friends and stared at the wall. "Oh my gosh," she whimpered. "It is…"
"This is of me and Gabby," Troy said, standing near one with Jason across the hall. Jason had the candle in his hand.
Sharpay took the candle from Gabriella and walked to the next picture. The candle dropped out of her hand.
A/N: Ooh, cliff hanger. Don't jump off the cliff just yet. No, just kidding. Sorry, this is sort of a short chapter. The next one will be longer. I promise--and I keep my promises. And sorry I haven't been updating recently. I've been so busy with school and it's just really hard to keep track of things in my life right now. Anyways, what do you think that picture was of? Or was it even the picture that startled Sharpay? If I can get at least three guesses, I'll update the next chapter ASAP, 'cause it's the weekend, baby. And I have all the time in the world.