Suzanne had led them into an unused classroom. Why? Tom didn't completely give a fuck, he just wanted a damn drink.

He brought up the rear of the chain, trailing the fingers of his free hand along the wall. When they came in contact with a threshold, he fumbled around till he'd found the door and closed it. It took him a few more seconds to find the light switch and flick it on.

Except the lights didn't come on.

"Fucking brilliant," he muttered. "I think the power's out in the whole damn building."

He heard some shuffling, what sounded like chair legs scratching the tile floors, and two footsteps. But the footsteps sounded weird, like on wood?

"The lights are on," Suzanne said, her voice coming from above him. He frowned. Had she climbed onto a desk?

"I hate to break it to you, Suze," he said, "but the lights are definitely off."

"You're wrong." There it was again. That calm, cool tone. She wasn't so much disagreeing with him as she was simply stating a fact. It was excruciatingly unsettling.

Tom blinked in the darkness, and shrugged off the shudder that tugged at his shoulders. "Well, unless we've all been struck blind at the same exact time, then I'd say you're wrong. The lights are off."

"Come here," she said.

It took him a second longer than normal to respond to that. "What?"

"Come here. Climb onto the desk."

Tom grumbled, but did as told. What the hell, why not? It's not like he had anything better to do. He cautiously made his way toward the sound of Suzanne's voice, pausing when his toe hit what must've been the desk. He put his hands out, finding the rough wooden top, and then pushed himself up, hooking a knee over the edge and hauling himself onto the desk.

He straightened slowly, his balance wavering for a second before he caught himself. He felt the others around him, also climbing on top of the desk. There was a hand on his shoulder for a brief instant, someone was steadying themselves.

Once he was standing up straight, he froze, staring in naked shock as his jaw tried to join his feet on the surface of the desk.

{ { o } }

Eddie was clutching Suzie's shoulders, and he knew it was her because he could see her. Barely, but he could.

When he looked up, he could make out the flickering source of the faint light. Fluorescents, like in the halls, and in every classroom.

He squinted up at them.

They should've been giving off more light than they were, so... Why were they so dim? He tilted his head to one side, frowning slightly as he examined the lights. No, not dim... It's like something's... covering them... But what? Some kind of gas?

"This is too weird," he said, the panic eating at his chest. I'm too young to die. "What's this smoky black shit? Why doesn't it smell like anything? Is it poisonous? Will it kill us? Will it hurt?"

"Shut up, and calm down," Suzie snapped. "I don't know what it is, but I don't think it'll hurt us. It's just a pain in the ass, mostly."

"Mostly?" Eddie looked to his left, where he could just make out Tom's simple features and shaggy blonde hair. Next to him was Syd. On Eddie's right stood Fred. With all of them on the desk like that, it was a little crowded, but not unbearably so. Tom was scowling at Suzie. "Are you gonna keep talking in fucking circles or are you gonna tell us what the fuck's going on?"

"I need to try something first..." Suzie said, her voice trailing off. She turned in Eddie's hands, her gaze going in the direction of the blackboard. Or at least where he assumed the blackboard was, if this room was setup like most the others. She pulled away from him, hopping down from the desk.

She vanished from sight, forcing him to track her with his ears. Her footsteps wound around the desk, towards the board. There was a faint click and a whish, and he couldn't figure out what she was doing.

More footsteps, towards them, past them. A light clap, like she'd slapped the tiled floor with her palm. Scratching, shuffling, in a slow circle all the way around them.

What is she doing?

"What are you doing?" Syd asked, sounding partly frustrated, and partly genuinely curious.

Suzie didn't answer. Instead, Eddie heard her take a deep breath, and let it out slowly, like she was bracing herself for something.

And then he was blinded by sudden light.

They all cried out, startled. It took Eddie a bit for his eyes to adjust, and when they did, all he could do was gawk at what he saw.

What the...? "Jesus," he breathed. A prayer or a curse, he didn't care. It was the only word anywhere near strong enough to really apply to the knotted mix of emotions in his gut.

{ { o } }

As Suzanne dragged the chalk across the floor, she was assaulted over and over again with visions.

Cliff and May. Their screams, and blood, and terror. Their death. One at a time.

Didi, curled into a fetal position, a panicked, sobbing disaster.

Dan, hiding in the janitor's closet, trembling and trying not to make a sound.

Alan, fumbling down the halls in the dark, looking desperately for another living soul.

All this knowledge, courtesy of the ghost, who'd so cockily decided to introduce herself.

Melody Ziskind. It's a pleasure, Suzanne Rath.

She cringed at the use of her last name. If she was right, then Melody had been watching them all for quite some time. So why start killing them off now? What changed? Or did Melody simply get tired of waiting?

Well, it wouldn't hurt to ask, would it? Telepathic communication wasn't something Suzanne was practiced in. Sure, she'd tried it a few times, but it had freaked out too many people, so she saved it for emergencies. Still, it was a basic concept, and required very little of her attention.

What do you want? Suzanne asked.

Aw. That's rude. I just want to have fun.

Suzanne shuddered. She knew what Melody thought of as fun. Why now?

She could sense, more than hear, Melody's derisive snort. Why not now? Wait, what are you doing?

Suzanne couldn't see where the beginning of her chalk circle was, but it wasn't that difficult to find it and complete the circle. As she got closer and closer to closing it, she felt Melody's presence fading, getting farther away.

It was... working...?

It was actually working!

Don't think you can hide, Melody snapped. I will—

Suzanne closed the circle, cutting Melody's voice off before she could finish. I'll bet she just loved that...

Then Suzanne hissed as sudden light stung her eyes.

She blinked rapidly, adjusting to the brightness. Immediately in front of her was a wall of roiling black smoke. It seemed agitated, almost annoyed, but beyond what she could see, she couldn't sense it.

The chalk line on the tile floor seemed to shimmer, and ripple. At first she could only stare at it in disbelief. "I can't believe it actually worked," she mumbled to herself.

Books about magic and ghosts weren't really much to go on, being fictional and all. So this whole circle business... Well, she honestly hadn't expected anything to happen. But, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

Suzanne turned to her stunned classmates. Each of them was staring at her from where they stood on the teacher's desk, matching expressions of disbelief and shock on their faces.

Tom started cursing under his breath, Fred ran his hand through his hair, Eddie rubbed at his eyes, and Syd simply stood there and stared.

Suzanne didn't blame them. She was a bit surprised herself.

Yeah. Just a bit surprised...

{ { o } }

"I'm dreaming," Syd said, more to herself than anyone else. "I'm asleep, and this whole thing is a terrible nightmare. None of it's real. A dream."

It had to be a dream. Ghosts? Black smoke so thick it blocked the light but didn't choke them? Magic fucking circles? There was nothing else it could be but a dream! It was the only explanation. Syd slapped herself, and cursed at the sharp sting.

It hurts... But if it hurts, that means it's real, but it can't be real. This is a nightmare.

"Woah," Suzanne said. "I get that de-Nile isn't just a river in Egypt, but it'll probably get us killed, so just try relax and keep up."

Syd stared at her, uncertain how to respond. "How...? How?"

"How what? You're gonna have to be more specific," Suzanne said, though something in her tone told Syd that she was just stalling.

She gritted her teeth, but managed to keep from snapping. "How the fuck are you so calm?"

Suzanne hesitated, but only briefly. Then she sighed, if somewhat reluctantly. "Why don't you guys get off the desk and sit down, there's enough room, and I have a feeling this might take a while."

They all traded looks with one another, though in the end they all turned to Fred. He stared back at them, confused. "What?"

Eddie shrugged. "Well, she's your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend!" Fred argued, at the same time Suzanne said, "I'm not his girlfriend!"

No one said anything. Really, this seemed like such a petty thing to be worried about at a time like this. Syd jumped down to the floor and sat down, criss-cross-applesauce. The others soon joined her, sitting in a circle. Suzanne joined them last.

"So," Syd said. "If this is all real, what are you?"