Disconnected

Chapter 6

That night, we kept the lights on and no one got a wink of sleep. The only time anyone closed their eyes was to blink. We decided to sit back to back so we could watch all four corners of the room. The rest of the night, nothing strange happened. No laughter, no voices, not even the chill that we had felt in the room earlier. 
That morning, Lily went over to my computer and found the blueprints that showed how to get to the basement. 
"But what if the door is locked?" I questioned.
"Don't worry. I know how to pick a lock," Grace replied.
"Do we want to know why you know how to?" Sam asked.
"My parents sometimes lock me out of the house by accident."
"Wait," started Lily, "So we're really doing this?"
"Yeah, but the question is when?" Sam said
"How about Friday after school?" I suggested, "so we have about three days to investigate it."
We agreed. But we needed to come up with a story to tell our parents so they wouldn't worry about us. We decided to make fake trip permission slips saying we were going on a three day trip to another state. 
Over the course of the next three days, we discussed what the slip would say. On Wednesday, during lunch, Lily went to the library to print out the fake permission slips. Thursday, we decided on what we were going to do for food, water, and other things we might have needed. Before long, it was Friday, the day we had planned to put our plan in motion. Lily brought flashlights, Grace brought walkie-talkies and extra batteries, in case there was no cellphone service in the basement, and Sam and I brought the food and water. I also packed the diary just in case we needed it. We all brought gloves and those masks that doctors wear so we wouldn't breathe in too much dust or whatever was down there.
Everything was going as planned. Our parents thought we were going on a trip out of state and everyone brought what they were supposed to bring. We hid in the bathroom stalls until everyone left the building. Sam met up with us outside of the girl's bathroom, where we split what we each had brought. We each got one flashlight and walkie-talkie, a pack of batteries, eight bottles of water, and six bags of chips. 
Once we each had what we needed, we headed towards where the blueprint said the entrance was. We found ourselves standing outside of Mr. Smit's classroom. I tried to open the door, to find that it was locked. 
"Watch out," Grace said quietly. "I got this." Before long, the door was open.
"Thanks," I said as we entered the room, quietly closing the door behind us. We went to the vent cover in the back of the room. 
"Did anyone happen to bring a screwdriver?" asked Sam.
"I have a coin," Lily said. "We could try that." 
"Go for it." 
Though it wasn't as quick as if we had a screwdriver, it worked. We put on the masks and gloves while Lily pulled off the vent cover. She then put on her mask and gloves. "Ready?" We all nodded.
She went in first, then Grace, then Sam, and finally me.