A Killer Among Us

Chapter 3

Frank
"Is everyone here?" Mr. Brunner asked. Everyone in the room nodded. "Okay, good. You may keep your phones with you, but you're only allowed to use them for emergency's. There are camera's all over the school, so we can see if you misbehave or fight with each other. You may sleep in the library and there is food for you in the cafeteria. I expect you to be friends by the time I come back. Understood?" He asked. Once again, everyone nodded. "Good. See you all in the morning." Mr. Brunner left, leaving us all alone in the large school. I turned to watch as he locked the front doors, then drove away.
"I can't believe that he actually left us here." A girl, Calypso I think, muttered under her breath.
"You'll get used to this crazy school soon enough, Sunshine." Leo answered, rolling his eyes.
"I'm going to the library." Annabeth said suddenly.
"Of course the nerd wants to go to the library first." Octavian sneered, Rachel and Bianca laughing with him. Annabeth tensed, looking angry and hurt at the same time, then stormed away. Percy whirled around, his fist flying towards the scrawny blonde. Octavian staggered back, clutching his throat as he gasped, making a strange gargling sound.
"Octavian!" Rachel cried out, helping her boyfriend get his balance again.
"You make any more rude comments to any of my friends, and your nose will be broken by the end of the night." Percy threatened, a harsh gleam in his eyes. It was obvious that he was not bluffing.
"B-But Mr. Brunner will see it on the camera, and you'll be in trouble!" Bianca tried to intimidate him, but he just rolled his eyes.
"Do you think I care?" He asked dangerously. Octavian gulped.
"Alright, fine. I'm sorry." He managed to get out, still choking slightly.
"Good." Percy turned, walking after Annabeth. I saw Hazel stand next to me. Our hands slipped into each others and I smiled at her as we followed the disappearing forms of Percy and Annabeth.
"Percy's sweet standing up for Annabeth like that. They're so cute together." Hazel said suddenly. I laughed.
"Yeah. Everyone knows that, except themselves." I snorted.
"Yep." Leo popped the p, standing next to Hazel.
"Jeez, don't give me a fright like that, Leo." Hazel said, fanning herself with her free hand.
"Sorry Haze." He gave her an apologetic grin. I vaguely saw something flash in Calypso's eyes.
Jealousy perhaps?
I couldn't help but grin at that.
They would also be cute together.
Nico, Will, Reyna and Thalia were walking in a group a few meters behind us, talking about something called Mythomagic.
"Well isn't this cosy." Leo asked sarcastically, referring to the few blankets folded up on the floor in the library. I glanced out of a window. It was already dark and cloudy. I sighed.
This is going to be the longest ten hours of my life.
"Ugh. What are we going to do for another ten hours? I'm already bored." Piper groaned.
"I know. Thanks a lot for this, Jackson." Jason glared at him, but Percy just ignored his stare.
"Oh, how about spin the bottle?" Rachel giggled.
"How about no." Annabeth and Reyna said at the same time, trading surprised smiles. Rachel pouted, her green eyes shining a poisonous colour.
"Aw. You guys are no fun."
"Truth or dare, then." Bianca suggested.
"No." Nico's voice spoke up, giving the majority of us a fright.
Damn. I almost forgot he was here.
"Why not goth boy? Afraid we'll find out you're on drugs?" Bianca sneered. Nico flinched, like he had been punched. He looked incredibly hurt for a moment, before it was replaced with a look of anger.
"I'm not on drugs you asshole." He snarled. Bianca faltered for a moment, before her rude demeanour appeared again.
"Go Neeks." Thalia laughed. A crack of lightning caused the lights in the library to flicker. I saw Percy look out the window slightly nervously. I followed his gaze and saw rain pouring heavily outside, the wind howling like crazy. Another flash of lightning appeared, the crackling booms of thunder sounding like an impossibly loud drum. Hazel cried out from next to me at a particularly loud crash of thunder. I held her closer, trying to get her to calm down. With another sudden, powerful strike, the lights all instantly switched off, bathing the whole school in darkness. I heard Piper, Bianca and Piper all scream, terrified.
"Everyone calm down!" I heard Percy voice try to soothe everyone. The girls continued shrieking, a flash of lightning illuminating the room for a brief second. "Calm down, it's just a storm!" Percy tried again, obviously getting annoyed. The screaming didn't stop. "EVERYONE SHUT UP!" Percy roared, causing everyone to go silent. "Good. Just calm down, everything is going to be alright." He said, his voice calming me down for some reason. It seemed to calm everyone else down too. "It's just a storm, we'll all be alright." He promised.

How wrong he had been...

"Okay, first things first, does anyone have a flashlight?" He questioned.
"Yeah, I totally have a flashlight in my bag. I never go anywhere without it." Piper answered sarcastically.
"I have one." Leo piped in. I heard a faint click and a thin beam of light streamed through the darkness, lighting up a small area.
"Okay, that's good. Anyone else?" Percy asked. Everyone else stayed silent. "Um, okay then. Does anyone know if any classes have any flashlights in them?"
"Wait, Mr. Hephaestus' class might." Leo said.
"Okay. We'll need a few people to come with. The rest can stay here. Leo should go as he knows where it is. I'll go with."
"I'm going too." Nico said. Though I could barely see in the dark, I knew that he was glaring at Bianca.
"I'll go." I volunteered.
"I think that's enough. The rest can stay here. Try not to get separated. Someone might get lost. Someone try and call Mr. Brunner, their parent... anyone. We might need help. Come on." Leo went in the lead, since he had the only light. We exited the library, walking along the hall. We all stuck close to each other, so that we didn't get lost.
"You handled the situation pretty well back there." I commented to Percy.
"I guess. I just did what I thought I should." He shrugged. "But what I want to know is what's going on with you and Bianca." He directed the question to Nico. He looked away.
"She's never been the same since Zoe's death." He muttered, shaking his head. I saw Percy wince.
Zoe? Who's Zoe? How did she die?
Leo looked just as confused as I felt.
"She's been obsessed with becoming friends with the 'popular people' ever since. Even resorting to hurting her own brother and sister to become like them." His voice hardened with anger.
"Yesterday she told Hazel that she was so ugly that her mother went insane and killed herself. And that that's the reason father adopted her. That was why she was crying on the steps." He spat. Percy looked at him sadly.
"What happened to Bianca?" He asked himself softly. I stayed silent, not knowing what to say. Silent tension surrounded the group, so thick that you could practically cut it with a knife.
"We're here." Leo said, shattering the silence. He tried the door knob and thankfully, it was unlocked. We went inside, Leo immediately scrounging around the class for something.
"Hey! Look what I found." He came back, holding a battery powered lamp.
"Brilliant." Percy muttered, checking if it worked. A pale white glow sprung up, lighting up the entire room.
"Perfect. But any flashlights?" He asked.
"Right here." Leo dropped about ten lights onto a desk. "And they all work." I counted quickly.
"Eleven. Good enough." Percy grabbed a few, putting them in his hoodies pocket. "Take as many as you can carry." He ordered. I took a few as well.
"Okay, let's go." We walked back, using the lamp to light up the way. Outside an enormous storm was arriving.
"Hey Percy," Nico started, smiling slyly.
"Hm?" He hummed in question.
"When are you going to ask Annabeth out?" Percy stumbled over his own feet, his face blushing red.
"W-What? I-I don't like Annabeth." He stammered, obviously lying. All of us laughed.
"Yeah you do, Jackson." Leo snorted.
"Well what about you and Calypso?" Percy shot back. Leo's smile dropped, his cheeks turning a scarlet colour.
"W-What? T-There is no us." He stuttered.
"But there should be." Nico laughed. If possible, he blushed even deeper.
"S-Shut up!" We all laughed again.
"Wait, Leo. Would you be able to fix the electricity again?" Percy asked. Leo pondered it for a moment before shaking his head.
"The blackout is probably caused by the storm, meaning that everywhere else is most likely out of power as well. So there won't be any point in trying." Percy sighed in disappointment.
"Alright, that's fine." We opened the door to the library, seeing everyone sitting in two different groups. The one closest to us had Annabeth, Calypso, Thalia, Hazel, Will and Reyna all sitting in a circle. The one further away was Jason, Piper, Bianca, Octavian and Rachel sitting in a circle.
"Let there be light!" Leo yelled on top of his lungs. Everyone jumped as they got frights. Someone even let out a girly shriek. Cough cough, Octavian, cough cough.
"You've got lights!" Hazel sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. I was almost having a panic attack."
"Yeah, the power will probably be out the whole night. Did you get through to anyone on your phones?" Percy questioned.
"No. There is no reception here whatsoever. No one's phone is working." Piper rolled her eyes.
"It must be the storm interfering with the connections." Leo mumbled to himself.
"Okay. You've got the lights. Now what do we do? I'm bored." Rachel complained.
"Truth or Dare." Bianca said again. She glared at Nico, as if daring him to argue. He glared back, anger radiating off of him. It seemed like they were having a silent fight.
"Fine." He spat.
"Okay, let's play truth or dare."