The Infection

Dante nodded shyly, looking a little scared. "There are the screams again..."

Alex had a nagging feeling they weren't...

"What are they screaming about?" Artemis asked worriedly.

Jacen finished packing up and sat down, looking around before starting smoking.

"I don't know..." Dante said worriedly as he played with the strap of his backpack.

Alex sighed and moved away from the window, stopping when he saw a long metal pipe and picked it up.

"I kind of want to see... But we have to find Jacen..." Artemis said. He was worried about Alex too, but as far as his brothers knew, Artemis barely knew Alex. That wasn't true at all though.

"What are you doing?" Jacen asked.

Dante nodded, "I want to find Jacen too Arty..." He bit his lip, "He should be okay right..?" He looked at his archery glove as he waited for his brother to answer.

"I have a gut feeling we may need this..." Alex answered softly, he was worried about Artemis. He and Dante should of been there by now, he glanced at Jacen.

"I hope so." Artemis said, turning to look at him. "Didn't you take that off after practice?"

"Why though?" Jacen asked, still not convinced they should be worried.

"I forgot to take them off and then the teacher got attacked outside..." Dante answered softly. "Should we get moving again?"

"Dude, those screams out there... They aren't getting to you?" Alex asked his friend.

"Right." Artemis nodded, stepping closer to his brother. "Let's go."

Jacen shrugged his shoulders. "For all you know it could be the drama club filming something."

Dante nodded and shyly looked at the teacher that was now with them, "Music room is this way."

Alex sighed, "During the school week?" He asked as he sat down, he needed to see if Artemis was okay.

"I know where the music room is." Jasper replied, shaking his head at Dante. "I do work here."

"Why not? Other clubs do stuff during the week, like bands and archery."

Dante blushed and looked away, "Right... Sorry..." He moved closer to his brother as they walked.

"Because wouldn't something like that distract the other clubs?" Alex asked, stopping as another scream came from outside.

Jasper followed quietly after the brothers, checking each room they passed.

"Most clubs are finished already for the day." Jacen replied. At the sound of another scream though, he still tensed a bit.

Dante grew more nervous as they passed some bloody hand prints, what had happened?

Alex moved slowly back to look at the window, "There is blood on the ground out there..."

"What the hell...?" Jasper muttered as the saw the hand prints.
Artemis made a nervous sound, grabbing Dante's hand again.

"How do you know it's even real?" Jacen asked, though there was a hint of concern in his voice.

Dante nervously moved closer to his brother, "What is going on, this is just like a horror movie."

"It looks pretty real Jacen..." Alex said softly, looking worried. "What is keeping Artemis.. And Dante..."

"If it wasn't for the attack we saw, I'd say it was a prank in here..." Artemis mumbled. "But it can't be..."

Jacen shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno."

Dante nodded, "Yeah..." He started walking a little faster, scared about what it could mean. "The music room." He said when he saw it.

"I wish the screams would stop..." Alex said softly.

"Oh good." Artemis said, hurrying over to knock on the door. "...hello?"

Jacen went to respond to Alex, but then jumped when he heard a sound at the door and quickly put out his cigarette, tossing it in the bin.

Dante quickly followed his brother.

Alex hurried and opened the door, "Arty!" He said happily before he could hold it back.

"Oh, hey." Artemis smiled, putting his hands in his jacket pockets. "Um... Jacen's here with you, right?"

Alex nodded and moved away from the door to let the three in, "Jacen they're here."

Frankie a panted hard as he ran, ducking into the school for safety.

"They are?" Jacen asked, turning around to look before smiling at his brothers.
"Thankfully you're both okay." Artemis said, going over to hug Jacen.

Leslie, one of Frankie's friends, was following behind him. "Where are we going?" He asked as they ran.

Dante ran over to hug him, "Jacen your okay."
Alex sighed as he moved back towards the window.

"I used to go to this school, I think Jasper started to work here."

"Duh. Why wouldn't I be?" Jacen asked, hugging them both.
Jasper leaned against the wall just inside the room, watching them.

"Jasper?! How'd he end up as a teacher?" While Leslie had been friends with Frankie and Jasper in their school years, he'd never gone to the same school. Jasper had moved from his school to the one Frankie went to so they'd all hung out together during their time off.

"We were still worried... With all the screaming and then the attack..." Dante said softly.
Alex looked back and watched Artemis.

"He found he liked it, I'm surprised he's stuck to it this long." Frankie answered pausing to catch his breath.