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The darkroom at school wasn't something many people went to. In fact, Eli, and one other senior on yearbook were the only ones that actually used it. After an entire month in Sweden, he needed to get the ones from his camera printed out to perfection. With the red light lit above him, he began to poor the chemistry into the trays.
It was good for him, having such a peaceful hobby. He'd always loved photography, ever since he was little and his grandmother gave him a polaroid for his seventh birthday. As he got older, he learned more aspects and importance of how to handle and capture all he needed, all he wanted. Not to mention, it seemed to help him a lot in the anxiety department.
That was a big reason he actually escaped here for his free period. After being packed into small classrooms, moving through crowds of people in the hallway, always having the terrible feeling like they'd been talking about him despite most of them not having a clue who he was, it was safe to say it had his heart racing and body heating up tremendously. So, he'd taken a detour down hallway C, all the way to the back, and entering the room most thought had just been a teachers lounge or janitors closet.
There was a thump.
Eli looked back, trying to see what had fallen. Nothing was on the floor, nothing was on the counters. He concluded it had just been one of the older equipments in here, turning back around and finishing off the solution before screwing the lid back on, pushing it to the side. He reached upwards to grab the focus finder on the top shelf, freezing when he heard it.
A clicking, almost like a twirling of a combination lock.
He turned around quickly, still finding nothing there. A sigh left the boys lips, shaking his head and looking back to the trays infront of him. Eli did this a lot, overthinking. His mind convinced him something bad was gonna happen when everything was okay, trying to scare him out of every good situation just for him to stay home with noise canceling headphones and biting at his nails.
Eli went to the other side of the room, looking for a thing of Stop Bath when he came time to use it. That's when he saw there had already been pictures hung up, drying. Must have been the senior girl, already taking first day pictures for the soccer team or the students that brought their teachers edible arrangements in hopes of getting special treatment through out the year. His curiously got the best of him, leaning in close to get a better look.
There were no students with teachers. No soccer teams. Instead there were three people with metal mask on, all of which seemed to be staring at him through the photo.
Before the boy had the chance to react, the door swung open. "Jesus christ!"
Malia gave a odd look at his out burst. "Uh, hello to you too."
"Hurry, hurry, get in." Eli insisted quickly, grabbing her arm to pull her into the darkroom before shutting the door quickly. He stayed frozen a second, hands pressing the door with his head down before pushing his hair from his face, turning to look at her. "The light from the hallway could mess it all up."
