Brendon's eyes snapped open. He wasn't sure when he had fallen asleep, but Dallon's head was on his chest as he slept as well. The room was quiet.

Strangely quiet.

The sound of the storm had gone silent.

Brendon turned his head, trying to see if he could see anyone else in the group. When that didn't pan out, he carefully wiggled his way from under Dallon's head. He managed to get Dallon's head on a pillow without waking him up. The taller man just let out a heavy breath before continuing to sleep.

Brendon looked around the room again, but it was empty besides himself and Dallon. There were signs that the others had been there, but now they were gone.

Brendon rose to his feet, casting his gaze towards the dark hall. Had they just gone looking around in the dark? It was possible. However, Brendon was hesitant to venture into the dark hall again after what he had seen... Or, at least, thought he had seen.

He sighed. He couldn't avoid it forever. He brought his phone out of his pocket. He had turned it off sometime during the early morning to conserve battery life, so he turned it back on quietly. He covered the speaker to avoid the cheerful beats of it coming back to life from disturbing Dallon by echoing around the gym. After a minute or two, he unlocked the screen and brought up his flashlight.

When he made it to the hall, he cast his beam into the darkness. A sense of déjà vu swept over him. He shook it off and exhaled softly before stepping into the dark.

It was practically the same as before, minus a puddle that seeped out from under the bathroom door. Brendon ventured further down the hall, casting his flashlight beam into the small windows of classrooms as he passed.

The classrooms still looked prepped for students. Tables sat in mostly straight rows, papers were skewed across the teacher's desk at the front, and the cobwebs that were visible hadn't completely taken over yet. It was as if everyone just picked up and left one day without caring what they left behind.

Brendon stopped once he hit the curve in the hall. He was hit with a memory of sliding along the still wet floor and hitting the edge of a bulletin board with his face. He reached up, feeling the now barely visible scar that cut through one of his eyebrows. He didn't fully remember the impact, but he did remember waking up in the nurse's office. Most of that day was a blur.

Something grabbed Brendon's arm. He jumped, hitting the wall as he spun to meet the frightened face of Patrick. "Jesus Christ!" Brendon exclaimed, "What the hell!?"

He signed something quickly, but Brendon couldn't catch the meaning behind it. "What?"

Patrick sighed. He signed again, moving slower and mouthing his message. "Josh is missing."

"Josh is missing?" Brendon repeated in question. How could he be missing? There was nowhere to go with the storm...

The eye of the storm was over them. It was the calmest it would be outside until the storm passed, but it wouldn't last long. Was Josh really dumb enough to venture out into it?

"Patrick!"

Footsteps thudded up the hall as Pete came into view. Patrick turned as Pete stopped beside him. He signed something to which Pete shook his head. "We don't think he's in the building."

"He went outside?" Brendon questioned, "How long has he been missing?"

"Between five and ten minutes." Pete replied with worry, "I couldn't stop Ty from going out after him."

"They're going to get themselves killed!" Brendon pushed a hand through his hair, "Where did he go?"

"Same place we let you and Dallon in." Pete replied. His eyes suddenly grew wide. "Brendon, you're not going to-"

Brendon was ready to jump on the opportunity, despite the obvious danger. He knew it was incredibly dangerous, even during the calm of the eye, but a small voice inside of him encouraged the recklessness of the decision. It was like more déjà vu to the feeling upon Dallon telling him about the invitation to weather the storm in their old school.

"We can't just leave them out there." Brendon finally settled on what words to say, "Josh could be anywhere at this point and there's maybe fifteen minutes until the storm starts up again if we're lucky."

Pete nodded. "I'll go with you, then. Buddy system, right?" He shot Brendon a nervous grin before turning to Patrick. "You stay at the door and we'll go after Josh and Tyler." He said also while signing the message.

Patrick frowned and his nose scrunched. Brendon was able to easily understand the message of "Bullshit" Patrick replied with.

"Please?" Pete tried, "So I know you're safe?"

"And so Dallon isn't alone." Brendon added, hoping to strengthen Pete's argument. "He's still sleeping in the gym."

Pete relayed the message to Patrick, ending by reaching out and grabbing hold of the silent boy's hands with his own. He gave Patrick a pleading look as he squeezed his hands. Patrick sighed. Though he didn't look happy about it, he nodded.

"Let's go." Brendon said, a bit thrown off by his own eagerness. Though, growing up, venturing into the eye of the storm had always been an interesting thing to think about, he never pictured himself actually doing it.

"Come on." Pete kept hold of one of Patrick's hands and gestured Brendon along.

They moved quietly down the hall. Brendon's phone was the main source of light as they approached the door that would let them out.

Patrick pulled his hand out of Pete's grip and signed something with a worried expression.

In response, Pete stepped forward, placed his hands on the sides of Patrick's head, and kissed his forehead. "Promise." He said the word slowly, looking at Patrick's eyes to be sure he read the message on his lips.

Patrick nodded, though his worry remained. He grabbed hold of one of Pete's hands as he pulled them away and pressed a kiss to his fingers.

"We won't be long." Pete told him, speaking slowly so that Patrick could read his lips clearly.

During the exchange, Brendon had edged over to the door. He was almost unnerved by his eagerness to get outside. He shouldn't be so ready to go out into a storm, especially one of this scale. The feeling that pulled him was hard to fight, however. He couldn't understand it.

"Ready to go?" Brendon asked, reaching out for the door handle. He turned back to look at Pete, who nodded.

"I think I'm ready." Pete nodded.

Brendon nodded back, tightening his grip on the door handle. "I know I'm ready..." He trailed off as he pulled the door open.