Jess scanned the room beyond them. The gym was packed full, chattering fans filled the floor in every direction, laughing with their friends, whistling, gazing forward in anticipation.
"There's no sign of the teachers or Angel yet," she called out brusquely, turning to her band members.
Irie, the drummer, looked around, nervous. "What if she does come? What if Angel-"
"Easy, babe, it'll be all right," Hayley comforted, checking her guitar's strings. "Remember, we want her to come. If she's here, then she's out of the way of the others. We have a duty."
Hayley turned, and carefully drew an instrument to her chest. It was an acoustic guitar, with faded wood, worn frets, and well-fingered strings. She set it up by the corner of the stage, smiling at it with nostalgia. In this world, you could only create what you knew how to make. She knew the contours and details of this guitar, her first guitar, better then she knew many people.
"All right, old friend," she murmured softly, stepping back. "Wish me luck."
A motion caught her eye. At the front of the mesh of people, she could distinguish one individual, largely by the way the individual was nearly keeling over with excitement. She recognized the uniform; it was one of the Battlefront.
Hayley smiled. "Hey," she called, padding over to the younger girl. "What's up?"
The fan turned dark red, and swayed on her feet. "…Up?... Addressing me…" She blinked. "Oh, sorry, Hi! Uh, I'm Julie, from the distraction-team. Though, well, all they really trust me with is setting up."
"You kidding? Techies have the most important job. Us performers have everything handed to us."
Julie seemed to be having difficulties comprehending what she was hearing. "R-really… thanks… Um, Miss Hayley?"
"Hmm?"
"I just wanted you to know how much you and Girl's Dead Monster's music means to me. Listening to you all perform, standing up to Angel like that… and your music itself. It really inspires me. I, I…" Julie's mouth moved for a few moments more, but she could not longer manage words.
Hayley drug a hand through her hair. "Whoa, thanks Julie. We put a lot of work into our songs. It's good to know someone's listening."
They crept along a moonlit path, their shadows slipping along beside like animated assassins.
Winnie's pale hand flew up. The Battlefront slammed into each other, with all the grace of ice-skating elephants.
Winnie cringed, not looking behind her. "There's something over there," she hissed, indicating a bush.
They watched, eyes wide. The bush rustled, shook. Then, two figures appeared out of the darkness, their features becoming illuminated under the lamp light.
The Battlefront sighed with relief as they greeted the newcomers.
"Richie! Mike! Where in the hell did you go?" Winnie barked. "We thought we'd have to do this without you."
Richie the fifth and Mike exchanged painful glances. Mike rubbed his aching neck. "If you don't mind… we'd really prefer not to talk about it. Could we just get moving?"
They continued on, gravel crunching under their feet. Up ahead, a building loomed. Mike couldn't make out the details in the dark. Was this Angel's domain? It didn't look like much, but he'd learned not to make assumptions. All manner of fantastic, dangerous stuff could be waiting for them.
They halted. "Wait," Winnie whispered, looking around behind her. Elly's glasses glinted in the lustrous moonlight. Hannah's shadow was all that could be seen, as she crouched off to the side. Leonard looked around, curious. TK was doing a one-person tango, but silently.
"We wait here," she continued, "until the distraction's begun."
The students in the gymnasium milled around, impatience mixing with anticipation as they stood. Most of them couldn't make out what was occurring at the front of the gym.
Kyle, the rock-enthusiast student council member, looked around at his friends. "Do you think they made it," he asked, anxious. "I mean, if the teachers catch them…"
Tiffany, who had been dragged along with much reluctance, cringe. She held her arms in close, trying desperately not to be shuttled back and forth by the crowding bodies all around. "If-they don't-show-can we-go home?" she squeaked, shivering with distaste.
Suddenly, there was a yell, a call that started in the front and swept to the back. The lights dove off, only to be replaced with glittering spotlights which illuminated the stage (even in a school as large as this one, the auditorium had still been combined with the gymnasium. Budget cuts, the students supposed.)
And then, a proud foursome was revealed, standing posed with sharp instruments. As the students cheered, Girls Dead Monster beamed out.
"All right, It's great to see everybody," Hayley whistled, waving. "Now, who's ready to cut loose," she cried, as her hand swung down to the guitar.
Mike blinked. A spark of sound has sprung up, catching their ears playfully. Looking across the yawning grounds, he traced the source of the music to a glow of light that had appeared, filtered out of the windows of the gym.
Winnie's ear bud crackled. "The distraction has commenced," came Bridget's professional tones
Fred's fist clenched with satisfaction. "Excellent." She flipped off the mike, and turned to her team, waiting behind her. "All right. Operation: Infiltration, Start!"
They broke into a run, Mike panting to keep up. Before he knew it, they had passed through some form of door, and had entered the mysterious structure. With hushed footsteps, they passed through passage and stair. Mike struggled to make out his surroundings in the darkness. They suddenly stopped. Over the racing heartbeats of his companions around him, Mike could make out what had halted them. Asmall, simple door was set into the wall.
Where could this lead, he thought breathlessly, as Emmanuel, the resident burglar, made his way to it. Some kind of inner sanctum?
However, Emm was able to break through the door easily. With a deliberate movement, he swung it open.
The Battlefront fighters rushed in, guns and blades pointed and aimed. They flew in on a blitzkrieg.
"Clear," Harry called from the back.
"…Clear…" Hannah murmured, dropping down from the ceiling.
With squinted eyes, Mike made his way in, feeling utterly useless. What… It almost looked like just a normal room in here… What kind of Domain was this? He could barely see. Oh, wait a light switch by the door! Let's get some light in-"
With one casual motion, the room filled with light. Everyone froze. Emm blinked by the bookcase full of textbooks and novels, Hannah frowned on the wooden dresser, TK paused in the process of examining a clothesbasket full of neatly folded uniforms, Harry was caught checking under the small, tidily made bed.
"Turn that light off!" Winnie hissed, brushing past a frozen Mike.
At the touch, he melted, his voice ringing out as he boiled with rage. "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU ALL DOING? THIS IS A GIRL'S BEDROOM, YOU JERKS! What, this is the girl's dormitory? We can't go through her stuff like this, it's-"
His voice faltered, coming to a shuddering halt as his throat was menaced. Jake's halberd glittered, inches away from Mike's quivering Adam's apple.