Blame the Clue Kids

Everyone blamed the person next to them as the dead man laid on the floor. They cursed and yelled out as I stood there wondering who this person is and how he got in our school when it was supposed to be locked up.

No one, but me seemed creeped out by the guy laying there dead. They're too busy throwing the fault to realize we were all in serious trouble and possible danger. As I take a closer look at him, something hits me. I recognize his face. Where have I seen that face?

But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me take you back to the beginning of the day. 

I should have known going to my after school club would be a bad idea. Why didn't I trust  my gut feeling?

If I had, we probably wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. 

Had I  known, we'd be trapped with a dead man and a possible killer, I would have just stayed home.

We're  gonna go through the day and see if we can't figure things out. Are you with me? Great.

Let's get started.

The moment I heard a shrill from my alarm clock, like those annoying air horns parents use to wake up their kids, I knew I was late for school. 

I jumped out of bed and crashed to the floor. That's what I get for leaving my skateboard beside my night table.

Before I could even get dressed, my door flew open and my older brother Cory walked in. His knuckles whitened as he grabbed my shirt off the ground and threw it at my face.

"ANDY! Do you have ANY idea what time it is!" His voice roared as he flared his nostrils. "It's my day to drive and you're  making us late."

While he screamed at me I thought back to the weird dream I had. I remembered flashes of school and two men and a gun. What is up with that?

"Andy! Are you even listening to me? Hurry up or I'm going without you." he slammed the door and it rattled. 

I grabbed my bag and chased after him. While I get in the car, I noticed that there was a car parked across the street from my house. A man sat in the driver's seat and one was in the backseat looking at a newspaper while  he looked at me out the corner of his eye. 

The hairs on the back of my head stood straight up. I shook my head as Cory jabbed me in the arm.

"You done yet? Get in we are already late, dude." he scoffed as I slide into the backseat.

I turned to look at the car, but it drove away. Who was that?

Fifteen minutes later, we were parked in the student lot and walked towards the school. My mind goes back to the car and for a second I thought I saw that same car drive past the school when I turned around. I didn't get time to react to this situation.

"Andy! Over here." a voice yelled over the bickering of students at the entrance.

Here comes my best friend, Brian and his half-brother Robbie. After our secret handshake, we headed to our classrooms. I told Brian about the strange car. He had a few snickers.

"Are you sure you're not being paranoid?" he tossed his ball at me.

It gave me something to think about, for a second, before I shook my head. "No, there were two guys. One was  an older guy with more than a few wrinkles.. The other is my dad's age. He's the one who looked familiar."

Brian held out his hand and I tossed the ball back to him as he talked. "Why would he be following you?"

The teacher came in before I had the chance to reply, but it had me thinking.  Do I know them from somewhere?

During class, I looked out the window and saw that same black  Mercedes  drive past at a slow speed. I turned away for a split second and turned back to see a scowl on the man in the back seat. 

Okay, I know two things. One, I am not paranoid and two… I'm being followed. But who are they?

Last class of the day before I head to my club. On my way I bumped into Oliver and Allison. They're in the writing club too. They exchanged words while I stayed quiet. One of them poked me and I looked up to see Allison smile.

"You ready to read your story?" she said in her chipper voice. Too me she is a bit too bubbly for me to handle right now.

"Uh, yah," I mumbled hoping that would get her to stop talking to me.

After we took our seats I put my head phones on and tuned everything out.

That is until it got dark. What the heck?

I grabbed my phone and put my flashlight on so I could see the others.

"What happened?" I said while I got out of my seat to check the switch.

Oliver showed me the alert he got on his phone.

"Attention students of  JA Hill House High, all after school events, clubs, athletics and extracurricular events are canceled due to the coming storm. Please be safe as you leave. The storm will hit at 4pm. Again, all activities are canceled. Thank you.”

The three of us looked from one another before we ran to the door. As we opened it, we smashed into a few people. My brother being one of them.

I reached out for my girlfriend Jade Matthews and hugged her tight before I cleared my throat.

“Alright let’s go to the auditorium and come up with a plan.” I told them as I took charge.

They all followed me as more people joined. I guess I’ll have to take attendance to see how many of us there are. 

Brian nudged me as I led the group and whispered, “What do we do when we get there? The power is knocked out.” 

“We will figure it out when we get there. Keep calm so the others will be less worried.” I  whispered back as I opened the door to the auditorium.

Once everyone was inside I whistled to get their attention.

“Okay everybody. I need everyone to make a line. Say your name and what club you are here for, okay?”

After gathering everyone’s names and clubs I decided we should stick together, however…

“Where are you guys going? We should stick together.” I shouted as six of the students left.

“Andy, calm down. It’s fine. Maybe they’ll find something that will help.” Robbie said with his arms folded.

I couldn’t stop the feeling that we should all be together. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. 

“Ya, Andy, what could go wrong?” Brian shrugged his shoulders.

I gave Brian a sharp stare. Why did he have to say that? 

W

Nothing good ever comes from that line. 

BANG

BANG

BANG

Yup, bad choice of words. I put my finger to my lips before anyone screamed.

"We need to hide! Quick behind the curtain." I whispered.

As my group rushed to the stage, my mind thought of the other group.

I hope they're safe.

I led the group to a safe spot. It's a hidden room behind the light switch board.

We all stayed quiet as we heard footsteps coming.

"How are you sure they're here?" a man asked.

Another man spoke. "Because the info said they have after school activities."

Since I came in last, I took the chance to peek out and see who they are.

Wait a minute. It’s the guys from earlier. This is really creepy.

Suddenly we hear the two men arguing and another bang.

This time I left the place and ran for the curtain, the others following me. When I looked out I gasped.

One of the men lay on the floor. 

Now we all stand around the body and I stare at him as everyone else starts pointing fingers.

And here we are back to where we started. I  waved my hands to get everyone’s attention.

“It doesn’t matter right now. Whoever killed this guy is still here and we need to find him before he finds all of us.”

“Find any weapon you can. We leave in five minutes.”

“It’s him or us and I choose us!”