Will Them Into Existence

Shallow Shadows

Pulling a drum set from the back of the band room all the way to the front turned out to be a lot harder than either of the two thought it would be. Granted, that was probably because of the other instruments piled on top of it, but considering that they needed everything they'd grabbed, it would have to work.

Wilbur had made a point to only take the instruments of the people that they knew - themself, Colby, and Sam - so that they didn't accidentally start a school-wide war whenever this was all over if some random kid's instrument got caught in the crossfire.

Dean had rolled his eyes when Wilbur explained it to him as such, but did as they asked. He now pushed the back half of the drum set through the room, eyebrows knit with the effort. Trying to dodge other shelves and not make any noise proved to be a difficult task.

The teen took a pause to roll their hoodie sleeves up to their elbows, closing his eyes briefly and listening to the sounds still coming from outside the band room door. When they opened their eyes, the brunette man nodded, and they both resumed the task at hand.

Upon nearing the door of the band room, Dean froze, and let go of the drum set and other instruments on top of it completely. Wilbur raised an eyebrow, looking at him and taking their hands off of the drums as well.

'What?' Wilbur mouthed, eyes searching the man in front of them. 'What's wrong?'

In stead of responding, Dean simply shook his head, moving around the drum set on the floor to stand in front of the teenager. He yanked on their sleeves, and the younger furrowed their eyebrows in question.

The brunette looked over his shoulder back to them, searching their eyes and then nodding once again. 'We forgot to barricade the door.'

Wilbur's eyes widened, and their gaze snapped to the door. They looked for any sign that something had come through - a little crack, a scratch on the hinges, anything - but found nothing visual. Instead, a creeping feeling made its way up their back, and they looked back to Dean with a heavy heart.

'It- it still sounds like it's outside.' They mouthed, cutting themself off at first to try and push more conviction into their stance.

The man, in return, smiled dimly - humorlessly - and glanced down at the younger's arm, where every hair stood on end. 'I don't think you believe that, kid.'

Wilbur swallowed, pulling their hoodie sleeves back down and rocking on their heels. 'Dean, I-'

The man in question shook his head, motioning to the door. 'Later.' He mouthed again, turning back towards the door completely with an air of finality.  He pulled the top instrument, Sam's, off of the stack, carrying it to the door and setting it back down right in front of it.

He kneeled, popping open the case it was in and pulling it out, knocking the case back with his foot until it rested against the door's hinges. He looked back to Wilbur, motioning for them to start doing the same.

The teen nodded, carrying their own instrument to the door and repeating Dean's actions. The man brought Colby's to the door and did the same thing, and then both of them took one half of the drum set and placed it on either end of a cart with wheels. The man looked at the teenager, waiting for them to nod, and then pulled the doors to the band room open, pushing the cart out as fast as possible and then doubling around to grab an instrument laid on the floor.

Wilbur picked up the other two, following Dean down the hallways as they made their way to the front office, which the man had admittedly been to a few times. The teenagers eyes darted around the hallway, breath coming in quick spirts, no thanks to the jog the pair had adapted.

When they rounded a familiar corner, Wilbur stopped dead in their tracks, a case in the hallway coming into view. They searched it as quick as they could, one sole target in mind.

There, in the middle of the case, was the picture. Except this time, the figure was closer, and Tommy was gone - instead, the figure clutched one pink converse in their hand. Wilbur's eyebrows furrowed, and they looked to Dean, who was also looking at the picture. They shook his arm gently, and he snapped back from the case, starting to push the cart again down the hallway.

When the two made it to the front office, the teen felt another chill crawl down their spine, and they pushed the older brunette to the ground behind the cart he still had his hands on just in time for another shadow to descend over the hallway. Instead, this time, they didn't have any paper. None. Not even just blank, lined paper.

The nearest poster was inside the office, and they hovered at the door, unable to move or risk alerting the thing of their presence. But, if it came closer and saw them anyway, they'd have nothing to protect against it.

Wilbur, from the corner of their eye, saw Dean set his jaw. He squeezed their hand, and Wilbur shook his head furiously, eyes boring into the man's own. The man let go of the teen to grip the cart with both hands, pushing up on the handle to stand at his full height.

The green haired teen grabbed his leg, silently begging him to come back down and let go of the cart, but the man didn't listen. Instead, he looked back briefly, eyes searching Wilbur's for something he didn't find. He shook his head, a hollow laugh escaping his chest before he slapped a hand over his mouth.

The shadow - the darkness - surrounded the pair, and Dean motioned for Wilbur to run.

But, Wilbur was rooted to the spot. There, in the middle of the hallway, darkness seemingly spreading from them , was-

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i luv cliff hangers <3