Red Circles

10

2:30am
I was shuffling as quickly as I could through the halls, keeping my breathing in time creating a rhythm to keep me going. As I round the corner I almost collide into something tall with broad shoulders. My heart jumps into my throat for 2 seconds before the figure whips around to reveal Ryan.
"Oh my gosh, Harlow! You scared me, I thought you were something else!" He exclaims.
"So did I!" I say breathing a breath of relief and sideling closer to him so I have the slightest feeling of some protection.
"Hey, you good? You look kinda pale and sweaty." Ryan comments.
"Uh, ya I'm fine just working really hard." I say trying to look as convincing as possible.
"Oh, actually, We've decided to end the game early."
"Why?"
"Oh, umm, Micayla and Ever are kinda tired so we came to look for you, so we can end it and maybe head back to Micayla's for a bit." I respond, making everything up on the spot.
"Alright, I guess we can end it early. I'm kinda tired as well." He says not looking fully convinced. I'm just glad he's going with it. I wanna get out of here ASAP.
"So where are the others? Did Mic say whether we could watch a movie? Do you think she's got snacks?" He asks, right back to his normal, jock, chill self. He points in different directions. So many questions, all at once. My brain is still trying to calm itself from the shock, my heart is still pounding in fear.
"Umm, ya." I offer, distracted by the darting of my eyes checking every crack and shadow for a sign of the ember or black eyes watching me from the dark.
"Ok Captain, which way." Ryan sillily salutes. His silly, goofy manner is kind of calming, distracting in some ways from the horrific feeling settled in my gut.
"Well, we might still need to find Arlin if the girls haven't found him yet. Do you know where he hid in here?" I say taking charge of myself and my emotions again.
"Well no, I don't know where exactly he hid, but I do know he's not in here. I saw him around the playground when we first started." Ryan states. My stomach drops. The playground, of course. He probably saw us searching and melted into the shadows. He's good at that. Melting away, going invisible, and seeming as if he's not even there. This isn't good. That means there's definitely someone in this building who isn't one of us. If Ryan was here, Arlin's outside, and Micayla and Ever were on the other side of the school, whatever presence was with me is foreign. Not good. Very not good. My motivation to get out has increased quite a lot. I pick up the pace confusing Ryan but that doesn't matter we need to get out now.