Clare stepped out of the hearse slowly, her eyes never leaving the school building. She shuddered. Degrassi took on an eerie gleam once it got dark. She stifled a yelp when she felt an arm around her waist.
"Now, now, Clare, No heart attacks. Those are bad, you know." Eli quipped, chuckling loudly. Clare snorted.
"Remind me why I date you?"
"Because, Clare-Bear, you'd be forever lost without me, traveling a long and lonely path for all your days!" Eli dramatically exclaimed, clutching his heart and looking towards the sky. Clare groaned, marching in front of him, towards the looming school.
Eli tested the door, still wary of whether this was just a prank to humiliate the loner teen. He half expected the door to be locked. He had already prepared himself in the car for it to be locked and for the whole school to pop out screaming "Haha! You fell for it! We would never invite you anywhere, anyway!" The boy couldn't help the hopeful smile that started to form on his face as the door opened. Maybe he really was invited to some special party?
He swept his arm gallantly out, bowing his head. "You may enter, my lady." Clare smirked, and quickly leaped into the empty school.
She quirked a brow. Empty? There was something wrong with that…
Eli frowned, furrowing his brows. His hopes deflated. It was all some joke, like he had thought. Next to him, Clare jumped when a sudden shout pierced through the air.
"Eli! Clare! Come on, everybody's in the gym!" A high, loud voice squealed. Alli skidded to a halt in front of the pair, breathing hard.
The trio hastily made their way to the gymnasium. Alli rushed in before them, running back into the gym, towards the supposed crowd. Eli nodded his head, and they entered, hand in hand.
"Is this all?" Clare exclaimed, surprised, as she waltzed into the open space of the gym. Before her stood only Bianca, Alli, Drew, Conner, KC, Jenna, Sav, and Adam. Adam turned to her, and waved her over.
"Hey, Clare!" He excitedly said, cutting off his mock-fight with his older brother. Drew turned to them, biting his lip nervously. His eyes were glazed with innocent guilt as he stared at Clare, and more importantly, the girl standing next to Clare.
Clare, Eli, and Adam carried on a light-hearted conversation, leaving Drew and Alli alone. The tan dark-haired boy nervously glanced down, licking his lips in his classic sign of discomfort. Alli glared at him, her eyes nothing but flames.
"Hey, Dirt-Bag." The Alli suddenly snapped. Drew looked up, his gaze faltering under hers.
"Hm?" He questioned wordlessly. Ever since the Boiler-Room incident, he could barely look at her without an extreme sense of guilt washing over him. Alli smirked confidently.
"How's life treating you? You and Bianca have any good times lately?" She questioned cockily. Her eyes were like daggers.
"A-Alli! Nothing happened! I swear! Really, Alli! R-really!" His usual cool-demeanor was broken at Alli's accusation. He stuttered and acted out of character. Alli smirked at seeing him like this.
"Sure, I so believe you. Because you already proved that you are trustworthy!" She snapped, walking over to talk to Clare. Drew sighed, alone.
The lights suddenly flickered, causing the conversations to cease abruptly. Everyone turned to where the switch was located.
No one was there. Clare shivered, and leaned in closer to Eli.
"Probably just a quick power flicker, nothing big." Conner murmured.
The lights went out. The room was engulfed in a suffocating darkness. A voice rang out through the thick, humid air.
"I know you people. Do you know me? You probably don't. Not well. Never the less, I know you." The voice was chilling, scratchy. Each word was laced with malice, the sentence dripping with venom.
"I know you, I know you! I see you, I see you! You can't see me and you cannot flee, I see you, I see you!" The voice was singing giddily.
Adam gasped. The lyrics to the tune made him shiver. He imagined a child singing this, happily playing with its toys. The tune was sung like a nursery rhyme, but the words were anything but innocent.
"I have some plans, for you my friends, I see you, I see you! Just try to run, I'll have my fun, I see you, I see you!" The voice continued its song.
"I know each and every one of you." It had replaced its singing with a now serious, but light tone. "I know who you are, I know what you are, I know how you are! Are you ready for my game? I set it up just for you. Tic Toc Tic Toc. Do you know what that is? That's the time. It's running out. Tic Toc Tic Toc. Time to run. Run, Run, as fats as you can! I CAN catch you, I know I can!" The voice broke off, and was replaced by a sick, twisted cackle. "It's too late for one of you. I have one of you already. Tic Toc Tic Toc. The first victim is already almost in my grasp… I see you, I see you…" And there it ended.
A strangled shriek broke through the silence.