Instinct vs. Premonition

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"So what- what do we do?" Wilbur asked, turning towards the door again and pushing another chair in front of it.

"You know what we do, Wilbur." The brunette man said, pushing a table towards the other. "We don't panic. We keep going. And we look out for each other."

The teen nodded, helping the man push the table in front of the door. The two stepped back, Dean seemingly satisfied with their work. "Wash, rinse, repeat. Just like always, kid."

Wilbur huffed and shook their head, bouncing on their heals. "It's just been a while, y'know? I never thought- well, I never thought we'd be doing this again."

The man looked at the teen once, waiting for a nod before moving closer and gently tussling green hair. "I know. But we can do it. We've been here enough times- in this situation. As long as we stick together, we'll be okay, yeah?"

The green haired teen snorted, but smiled gratefully at the other. "I know that, sappy ass. We just keep going."

Dean nodded. "Just keep going."

The two turned towards the only unused table in the room, Wilbur setting his bag down with a soft thud and an accompanying wince. "What do we need?"

The brunette hummed, unzipping the teen's bag and pulling out a flimsy notebook. "Can I use this?"

"Uh. Sure." They replied, sitting on the ground and fiddling with their headphones.

"Okay. So, here's what we're gonna do. You are gonna put your headphones on, and we're gonna go outside. If I hear it, I'll rip a peace of paper out and throw it on the ground. You step on the paper and stay there."

Wilbur nodded, raising an eyebrow. "And what about you? What will you do?"

"I've gotta get it to the band room-"

"But, you don't exactly know where that is." The green haired teen cut the man off, standing again and tapping the table. "You need me there to guide you to the band room. Sure, we can use the paper system, but take two out if you hear it. One for each of us. So we both pause, and we both keep going."

Dean shook his head, gripping the notebook tightly. He sighed. "When did you grow up, kid?"

Wilbur smiled sadly, clearing their throat. "When I had to." They gripped their headphones and pulled them up to their ears. "Now, are we doing this, or not?"

Dean nodded, moving towards the window. Wilbur grabbed his arm, whispering. "What are you doing?"

"Going out the window?"

"No, no, the front door makes too much noise. We've gotta go through the hallways." The teen insisted, already starting to peel away at the barrier they'd built.

"Wilbur, we just spent like twenty minutes building that damn fort. We are not going through the-"

————-

Dean closed the door behind him with a click, motioning for Wilbur to follow silently. They nodded, turning the volume up on their headphones and glancing around the hallway. The man in front of them pulled lightly on their sleeve, redirecting them towards a different hallway.

The teen took a deep breath and followed him, the pair making their way through the darkness of the school together. Occasionally, Dean would pause and grip the notebook in both hands, seemingly preparing to rip paper out as fast as possible.

The next time they rounded a corner, a familiar room came into view, and Wilbur knocked their knuckles lightly against the others back to get him to turn around. When he did, he nodded appreciatively to the green-haired teen and started slowly making his way across the hallway towards the door.

After a few steps, he stopped suddenly, and help up his finger to his lip. Wilbur did as instructed, reaching up to lightly press his headphones against their ears tightly. The two stood in the middle of the darkened hallway for what felt like forever, the teenager unaware of the noises surrounding the pair due to the noise-cancellation of their headphones.

Suddenly, a cold chill overtook the younger, and he felt themself react on instinct, not even truly thinking about it. Wilbur jerked the brunette man out of the way, pulling a poster off of the wall and shoving him on top of it. Dean looked at them, his eyes wide, notebook having fallen to the floor. They breathed deeply, holding their breath as a shadow passed by.

As soon as the darkness let up, Wilbur scrambled to pick up the notebook, only to have their hand knocked away by the brunette, who shook his head dimly and walked as quickly as possible the remaining way to the door. The teen pulled the door open, and the two slipped inside, closing it softly after them and pulling on a string from the ceiling.

The room flooded with light, revealing an assortment of different instruments stashed on shelves and in cases laying against the brick walls. Wilbur sighed softly, laying their head back against the door and looking at the man in front of them.

Dean snapped his fingers softly, motioning for the other to take of his headphones. The teen hesitated for a few beats, and then slid them down around their neck.

"Wilbur." The man started, tugging on his own sleeve. "How did you- how did you hear it coming?"

The teen swallowed, pushing off of the wall and fiddling with the edge of their headphones. "I- uh. Lucky guess. It just started getting dark."

Dean shook his head, motioning towards the door. "Nah, kid. I didn't even see that it was getting dark, not until it would've been too late. What really happened?"

Wilbur looked at the floor, kicking their dirtied converse across the linoleum. "Listen, Dean, is it really that big of a deal? I mean, it worked out, didn't it? We're in the band room. That's what matters."

When the man narrowed his eyebrows, Wilbur frowned, but kept kicking at the floor. "Listen, kid. We-"

From outside the room, a horrible scratching noise echoed the dark hallways, and the two shared a look.

"This isn't over." Dean whispered, but he still waited for the teen to nod before lightly grabbing their arm and pulling them further into the room.

——————

wooooooooooo! what's happening,

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