Lights Out

      3… 2… 1… Chaos ensued as the lights flickered and then completely went out. Teachers were shushing students and yelling at them to stay where they were. Students payed no mind to these words and instead took off running towards the only light in the auditorium, a little flashing red dot that signaled where the light switch was. Richard was the first one to reach it. He flipped it up and down several times, but nothing happened. Not even the slightest flicker of light came back.

           “Everyone calm down. It’s just a small power outage. You won’t die.” Miss Brown rolled her eyes as a student burst into tears.

           “Miss Brown is right. You guys are teenagers, not kindergarteners.” Mr. Garcia seconded. Some of the older kids started sitting down again and acting like they had not just been up screeching with the rest of the students. They snorted at the rest of their peers that were still clawing at the doors. Once everyone had finally settled, the teachers gathered their classes and had them sit together. Everyone was assigned a partner to keep track of and everything seemed to return to its monotony. The principal resumed her speech on the now pitch black stage. After the assembly was finished, the teachers went to try the doors, believing that the hysterics prevented the students from doing so. Only two doors opened on opposite sides of the auditorium, the door to the old art room and the door to a large supply closet that no one seemed to remember.

           “Girls and boys, your teachers will lead you in groups to either somewhere here or one of the other rooms. Please follow them as calmly as possible as we figure out what is wrong with the doors and lights. I am sure the problem will be fixed quickly.” The principal’s certain tone calmed the classes and rowdiness was restored to the room. Teachers tried their best to corral their students away from the other classes, so they could at least attempt to give them their homework assignments for today. Mrs. Jones, Miss Lopez, and Mr. Hernandez’s classes were ushered into the open art room, Mr. Gonzalez and Mrs. Wilson’s entered the supply closet, and Miss Taylor, Mr. Anderson, and Mr. Harris’ students were kept in the auditorium. Teachers started listing work that the students would need to complete by the end of the week, but no one was listening. Girls were giggling together in small groups while assigned partners sat on the outskirts. The boys were throwing around a football that just barely missed hitting Mr. Anderson.

           “Hey, watch out!” A boy yelled at someone that was in the path of the football. As soon as the football looked like it was going to hit the person, they disappeared. The boy rubbed his eyes and looked towards another boy named Daniel that had been watching that. They exchanged a quick glance and frowned. Daniel walked towards where the person was standing and inspected the ground. The dirt outside typically sticks to the bottom of people’s shoes which leaves dusty footprints, but there were not any there.

“Probably just seeing something. It’s so dark that it could’ve just been someone walking through that we didn’t see headed for Mr. Gonzalez’s class.” Daniel pointed towards the supply closet that had dark shadows masking anyone or anything that walked around it. The other boy nodded in agreement, but they both knew that was not the case. The person had disappeared. Daniel glanced around, looking for the person, but he could not find a trace of them. Shaking his head, he let it go and continued to watch the football being thrown around. The shadow appeared and disappeared several times afterwards, but everyone just figured it was just a figment of their imagination. That is, until the disappearances started. Margaret was the first to go. Daniel did not know her that well, but she seemed very sweet and shy. She would barely ever talk to anyone, so no one noticed she was gone for a while until she was asked for help with an assignment. They looked and looked, but no one could find her. Next, was Will. People noticed he was gone quickly. Being the captain of the football team and the most popular kid in school made it hard for people not to notice him being gone. One by one, kids disappeared. Naya, Robert, March, Lilah. All gone in the blink of an eye. Everyone was started to get uneasy. A couple kids burst into tears and some were once again clawing at the doors.

“Everyone calm down. We won’t be able to find anyone in the darkness if you don’t all stay where you are.” Mr. Anderson commanded. His voice was buried by the sound of a scream.

“Allison is gone! Mr. Rodriguez! She was standing right here and then she was gone!” A girl shrieked. Sobs echoed throughout the auditorium. The teachers all exchanged glances and then started ordering the kids to climb up the stage.

“You’re going to be okay. Shh…” Miss Lopez was calming a group of girls that were whispering unintelligibly about something.

“Miss Lopez… Behind you.” A girl hissed, but, like the rest, Miss Lopez was gone. Mayhem erupted in the auditorium and people stumbled over chairs and each other to get to the obviously locked doors. Students tried banging on the doors, shouting, cursing, kicking, and running into the doors, but they did not move an inch. People ran around desperately looking for an exit, but one by one everyone disappeared. Daniel was alone now, but he was not scared. The power outage was his fault. She only appeared in complete darkness. A smile glittered in front of him as a silky voice echoed eerily around the auditorium.

“It’s time to leave.” All the lights flashed on and the doors crashed open, but no one was there. A lone janitor peeked in and shrugged, getting back to his duties.