Brendon felt cold as soon as he left the group. At least they had the light and six contributors of body heat to keep warm. Brendon shivered as he stepped into the hall. He halfway expected his breath to form a small cloud in front of his face. Thankfully, it wasn't that cold.

The hallway just felt like a tunnel of darkness. With the windows boarded up and the lights turned off, there was no source of light besides Brendon's lantern. He held it out in front of his face, taking in what little of the hall accepted its light.

From his first dark walk through the place, Brendon hadn't noticed just how much it had changed. Paint cracked and peeled off of the walls. Floor tiles were cracked and had chunks missing in some places. Ceiling tiles hung down, showing exposed wires and new pits of darkness. It was strange that nostalgia had clouded Brendon's vision from noticing any of it. Maybe the dark contributed too. Things could easily hide in the dark.

Something slammed against the wall beside Brendon, suddenly, making him jump. He dropped the lantern, sending it clattering to the floor. He swore lowly, bending to grab the lantern from the floor. The sound had came from the outside of the building. The winds must have sent something flying against the outer walls.

When he straightened, he looked over the hall again. The magic from first walking through had faded. It just made him sad now.

He diverted to the bathroom, carefully balancing the lantern on the divider between the urinal and the sinks as he did his business. Many of the tiles lower along the wall looked as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to them. Cracks spiderwebbed out from central indents every few inches. Though the urinal was stained from its once pristine ivory, it still functioned enough to serve its purpose.

Brendon was rezipping his pants when something grabbed his ankle.

He cried out, arms flying into the air and knocking over the lantern. It crashed to the ground and its light immediately went out. Brendon was cast in darkness as he spun to look at the empty space behind him.

There was nothing.

As far as Brendon could see, at least. He shoved his hand into his pocket and quickly pulled out his phone. He unlocked it and turned on its flashlight. He scanned the room, panting as the light gave him nothing to pin his fear on. Had he just imagined something grabbing his ankle?

After another moment of letting his light cross over the empty bathroom, he turned back around. The lantern was still on its side where it had fallen. He picked it up, shaking it in hopes that it would bring the light back. It didn't.

"Fuck." He frowned. Two falls had busted it. Now he just had his phone to rely on.

He set both the lantern and his phone on the lip of the sink and turned on the water. His phone's flashlight shot up at the ceiling, illuminating the small area around the sink with some of the light bouncing off of the mirror just above the faucet. There was no soap dispenser anymore, but at least there was water.

Brendon's nose scrunched. The water didn't smell great. He'd have to resort to hand sanitizer if anyone had some back in the gym. He wiped his hands on his pants and looked at the scratched mirror in front of him. Slurs and other graffiti obscured his reflection. He almost couldn't make out his own face due to the glasses warped distortion. He looked like a different person, surrounded by darkness.

He could remember standing in this bathroom, checking his smile and fixing his hair in front of this same mirror back when he was a student. It was harder for him to fully see himself back then as well, but his height was probably the biggest contributing factor to that.

He shook the image of the past away, shutting his eyes. This place was full of memories. If it affected him like this, how was it all for Dallon?

Brendon practically felt a pit in his stomach just thinking about it. He had encouraged Dallon to come. What for? To sit in some creepy ass building during a hurricane rather than a comfortable home? What had he been thinking?

He opened his eyes. He was greeted by two red eyes looking back at him in the mirror.

He spun around, eyes wide, only meeting darkness. "Hello?" His voice cracked as a crack was heard overhead. There was a shattering noise on the other side of the restroom's stall where a small window was perched near the ceiling. Apparently it hadn't been boarded up. Now, its protective barrier from the elements rested in pieces on the ground. Wind howled into the room, bringing a trickle of water down the wall and stray rain flying into the small space.

"Fuck!" Brendon spun back around. He grabbed his phone and the lantern before rushing out of the room. The door shut slowly behind him after he burst into the hall. He leaned against the wall, panting again as he listened to the sound of the storm. It faded slightly once the door fully closed, but it was much more apparent now.

It was deafening. It roared like a wild beast coming for its prey.

Brendon sighed once his breathing calmed. This place was getting to him. This place, combined with the storm was making him go crazy. He should have listened to Dallon rather than pushed him to come to the old school.

"I must be out of my goddamn mind." He muttered to himself, flinching as something thudded against the the outside of the wall in front of him. He owed Dallon endless apologies.

There was a noise down the hall, on the opposite side of the hall from the gym. It sounded like movement... And it sounded like something big. Brendon stepped away from the wall, backing towards the gym as he turned his light in the direction of the noise.

"Josh? You fucking with me, dude?" Brendon laughed, nervously. Maybe it was one of the guys. They loved a good opportunity for a gag.

Down the hall, Brendon could see nothing but the slow decay of the building. There was nowhere for Josh, or anyone else, to hide. Was it just the storm and the building playing tricks on him?

"Real funny." He muttered, lowering his light beam.

As soon as the light went down, a shadow seemed to form in the dark.

"Nope." Brendon turned around and ran. His running footsteps thudded down the hall, though the storm outside nearly drowned it out. He burst back into the gym, looking back over his shoulder as he slowed his pace.

There was nothing there. No human shaped shadow chased him. No creature was ready to change towards him. There was just nothing.

Brendon took a few steps back, continuing to look down the dark hall. He felt like he was going insane. He had seen something, he knew it.

He turned to face the group, quickly counting that everyone was there. Four huddled around the laptop and one resting just feet away. There was no one but Brendon absent to make the shadow.

Brendon walked back to the group, hoping he looked casual enough. The others were entranced by the movie, however and didn't even seem to notice him. He sat down by Dallon and took a deep breath.

Being here during a storm was a mistake. He was seeing things. His heart was racing in his chest. This place didn't feel as safe and secure as it once did...