After Hours

Chapter 20.

Ember's POV.

  "Grayson?" I scream.

   That scream. I heard it. I know it's him. "Grayson!" I scream again, running into the darkness in front of me.

   I click the power button on my phone, but nothing happens. I click the home button and the battery sign comes up. I'm out of battery.

  "Are you kidding me?" I say, sighing.

   I angrily shove my phone back in my pocket and squint into the darkness. I let my eyes adjust for a few seconds, but it doesn't help. I put my arms out in front of me and walk slowly. Another ear piercing scream of Grayson fills my ears and I cry out to him.

  "Grayson!" I cry.

  "Who are you?" he screams back, and I can tell he's in pain.

  "It's Ember, Grayson!" I scream, holding my arms out. "Where are you?"

  "Get away from me!" I hear in the darkness.

  "Grayson, it's me! It's Ember!" I say, standing still in the tunnel.

   He screams out again and I crumple to the floor, hands over my ears. "Stop!" I scream out, my throat raw. "Stop it!"

   His screams fade into the darkness and I stand up again. Tears fill my eyes as I continue forward, unsure of where I am stepping. I hear footsteps behind me, and I whirl around.

  "Vanessa?" I ask, into the tunnel. "Eva? Is that you guys?"

   I hear a grunting sound and know at once it's not either of them. I break into a run, holding my arms out in front of me still. I run blindly down the corridor, unsure of who or what is chasing me. All the sudden, I crash into something and fall onto the ground.

  "Who's there?" a voice asks, and a light is shone into my eyes.

  "Ember?"

   I get up and see Vanessa and Eva standing in front of me. I hug Vanessa tightly, and she awkwardly pats my back.

  "Guys, we need to find a way out!" I say, then stop. "Where's Grayson?"

   Eva looks down at her shoes. "We don't know. He kinda disappeared."

  "Where's Cameron?" Vanessa asks, fear flooding her face.

  "He and Ethan disappeared too," I say.

  "Ethan?" Vanessa asks.

   I nod. "I hear Grayson screaming down here. He has to be here!"

   Vanessa puts her hand on my shoulder. "He's not here, Ember."

   I suddenly remember the reason I came here. "This is your guys last night here. You can't go back home."

   Vanessa looks at me strangely. "What do you mean?" she says.

  "Last night was your last night to go home. I'm sorry," I say.

   Vanessa looks at her watch that reads 6:00. "This is the time you guys go back. Why aren't you going back?"

   I look down at my body and don't feel me drifting away from the scene. "I don't know why. I' have only been here for a few nights."

   Vanessa frowns. "It must be Him. The Leader, I mean. He must not want us to go back at all anymore, not caring if you have been here for a few nights."

   I start to panic. "No, no! I have to go back!"

   Vanessa grabs my shoulders and looks into my eyes. "Don't panic. Panicking isn't going to help us at all."

   I take a deep breath and then hear it again. An ear piercing scream of Grayson fills the walls again and I've had it.

  "Stop hurting him!!" I scream so loudly, almost blocking out the sounds of his screaming. "Leave him alone!"

   Vanessa puts a hand on my back and looks at me. "Are you ok?"

  "You don't hear this?" I ask, hands over my ears.

   The blank look in her and Eva's eyes shows they don't. He screams out again and I lay on the ground, hands over my ears. I scream along with him, unsure why.

  "Ember!" I feel Eva shaking my shoulders.

   I uncover my ears and look around. The screaming has stopped finally. I shakily get up and Vanessa hands me her phone. I turn the light on, glad to see light.

  "Cameron and Ethan were taken the opposite way of where we're going. If Grayson disappeared and you guys didn't know, I'm assuming the shadow figure took him the same way he took Cam and Ethan."

   Vanessa and Eva nod and we go in the opposite way. We walk for about an hour when Vanessa sighs.

  "How much longer?" she whines.

  "I don't know! Why don't you ask the GPS?" I say, annoyed.

  "Guys, calm down. We'll find them, I promise," Eva says.

   I breath heavy, same as Vanessa. We continue on, feeling the walls for any sign of a hidden door.

  "What's that?" Eva asks.

  "What's what?" Vanessa asks.

   I hear a sound of grunting and moaning. "It sounds like Them!" I say.

   Vanessa pulls out guns and hands one to me and Eva. I load mine and shine the light around. Suddenly, I see it. It's Devan again.

  "Devan," I hear Eva whisper.

   Vanessa shoots him in the head twice, but he doesn't fall to the ground. I see the Cinderella one behind him and I roll my eyes.

  "Just die already!" I say, shooting it.

   I watch Eva shoot Devan, and my heart hurts for her.

  "Ow!" I hear Eva say and turn around.

  "Are you ok?" I ask.

   Vanessa finishes Them off and we jog several yards away from them. Eva is holding her arm and I look at it. Deep scratch marks line from her wrist to her tricep.

  "It's just a little scratch," she says, seeing me and Vanessa's concerned faces.

  "Even a scratch can turn you into Them, though," Vanessa whispers.

   Eva rips off some of her jacket and ties it around her arm. "I'm fine. Lets go."

   I look at Vanessa and shrug. "Alright. On we go, then."

   We continue on, but find nothing. We end up bumping into a wall and Vanessa lets out a frustrated grunt.

  "It's a dead end! Are you kidding me?!" she bangs on the wall with her fists.

  "I don't get it," I say. "They had to have gone this way."

  "Maybe the shadow figure was magical?" Eva says. "And he's a shadow. He can probably go through walls or something."

   Despite the upset, I smile. "ShadowMan." I say, thinking of a cool name for him.

   I see Vanessa and Eva roll their eyes an I shrug. "It was just a thought, gosh."

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