The kid arguing with him, [i]at a time like this[/i], flared Jack's anger beyond belief. Jack wasn't exceptionally tall, but he was a strong guy, with broad shoulders and in great shape. He was a swimmer for the school and had dabbled in football, mixed martial arts, rowing among other things. He could back almost everything he stood for. "Listen here, you fuck. It ain't about taking them by the hand, but they still don't know what's happened yet. They're still in shock. Their teacher has disappeared and they're sitting in pitch black. So we get them, keep them calm, and bring them down here. When they're down here, safe and secure, we get the lights on. Despite what you may think," Jack said, stressing the last five words, "lights are not a priority at this moment. Keeping everyone safe is. The sound came from outside, I would bet money on it. And even if it weren't, keeping everyone in the hall would maximise security. Is Your Highness happy with that answer?" Jack asked, the sarcasm dribbling from his tongue like sugar coated honey.

Jack listened to this new girl, another addition to this crowd that was beginning to form right after he got rid of the last one. "Hi Val, thanks, but we have a plan first. I don't know what the state of the electric grid is like for the school so I don't want anyone touching it yet. Could crisp you up," he replied to her statement that, despite being on the side of the other kids, was coherent and non-aggressive. "I want some of the Grease Monkeys," the colloquial term for the Craftsmanship folk who would venture into metal and vehicles if they had the chance,  and Auto Shop people who helped them when they could, "to go with the Physics Nerds and see what's going on with it, but we have to organise them first once they're in the auditorium. You can however go and see if there is a [i]disconnected[/i] generator and some heavy duty lights. Come find me as soon as you get back, I want to make sure everyone is safe. Take this fucker with you," Jack said, still standing toe to toe with the tall cynical boy. [i]I'll remember you. Don't you try anything, because I'll come down on you like a rickety house.[/i] He wasn't particularly keen on letting them go into the dark themselves, with no protection. Jack was still completely with Aria on the matter, but he had to get people doing something, and getting that boy out of his way. The things that made those screams could be prowling the halls the now, waiting for someone to slow down and lag where they'd have their spine ripped from their back and their skull crus-

"Don't worry, girl. I did too. Some people didn't seem to be bothered by it though. Strange. Are they good kids though? The ones who are unaccounted for? Y'know, won't do anything stupid?" Jack asked, a maternal instinct warming his chest. They were his wards, for now, until he died or someone better took charge. But Aria continued to ramble on, something on her mind which drove her to do something. The Shriek must have messed with her badly. It seemed like she was almost running from something. Jack turned around as he noticed eyes flickering over his shoulder. A pale girl stood in the dark, shoulders hunched, shying away from people. Vanessa, if he remembered correctly. He couldn't remember, but Jack reckoned she was being bullied or something at some point. Maybe Robyn mentioned her. He had no idea, so it was unusual that he remembered her name out of the 5000 students currently attending the school. He gently nodded towards her, a soft sign of greeting before turning around to respond to Aria. He did, however notice the sign language action. He remembered now. She was one of the few kids in the school, besides Jack, who could speak sign language. It seemed important. "Yeah, sure, go ahead. Take Vanessa with you too. It's looking like she needs occupation as much as the rest of us. One job at a time though, and report back to Robyn in the auditorium. If we don't cross paths for a while, I need to know you're safe. And when you're in the office, look for a registration sheet, something with everyone's name who should be in school. We can mark off from there who was definitely here today at some point or not. Be safe. See you in a while," he said, scared for her. Aria was tough when she wanted to be, incredibly smart and self-driven, but she was small, timid, and not many of the other kids could see what he saw in her.

Jack turned back to the Moody One when he started speaking. Jack lunged forward, grabbing the neckline of the boys shirt and dragging him down to Jack's shoulder level. He tensed his stomach and clenched his thighs, anticipating a violent reaction. If he were prepared for the impact of a punch it wouldn't be as bad, and would allow Jack to rain down hell upon him. "You speak to her with respect, [i]dipshit[/i]," he spat. "We will get around to sorting the lights, but not now. Not until everyone is [i]safe[/i]. You will go with [i]Val[/i]. You will do what [i]Val[/i] says. You will obey [i]Val[/i] when she tells you what to do. If [i]Val[/i] finds a map of the school, you can carry it up to [i]me[/i]. You will do as instructed until [i]I[/i] have deemed it safe for you to do what [i]you[/i] want. Am I making myself clear?" Jack asked quietly. He did not scream, he did not shout, he spoke to him with command and authority. If you were reading the conversation on paper it would seem meek, but in the darkness closing in like a tidal wave held at bay, it had formed into a living being representing control. 

Jack let go. Walking back along the now deserted corridor where once hundreds of feet trampled not two minutes ago, he muttered to himself, "I'll just go do it myself." He reached the far end of the English corridor. To the right was the music department and to the left were stairs which took you up to the art department. He went left. Two people had already just came from the music corridor, so he assumed not many people would be left there without them noticing. The stairs were soft with dust and dirt from shoes creating a mostly frictionless surface. No footsteps echoed in the building. He reach the bend where the stairs folded back on themselves to reach the next level. As many times as he had walked these steps in his life, Jack did not lift his foot high enough on the first step off the landing and tripped. His arm shot out and careened off at a bad angle on the slidy step. His arm grazed along the edge and collided with hard stone, and then his deltoid landed on the hard edge of the stair. Jack groaned and lay for a minute, feeling sleepy in the dark, like he was laying in bed with the covers pulled tight over his head, except the blanket had so many holes in it and someone was blowing arctic air right onto his sleeping body. He rolled over and stood up, hand putting pressure on the bruised delt. This time, he succeeded in climbing the stairs without any more grievous injuries. The hallway was long from what he remembered, so he started on the right side and entered the first classroom. 

Screams. So much screaming. The students erupted into hysterics when Jack entered. [i]Maybe I should have knocked.[/i] Jack pointed the phone light at his face and yelled for them to be quiet. "Guys, guys, guys, GUYS, guys! It's me! Shut up for a minute!" he screamed, getting really tired of all the shit today. The class stopped yelling after a little while. "Good. Alright. I know everything is not okay right now, but this is happening everywhere. What I need you to do is to be calm. We're going to collect everyone who has not been collected yet and go to the auditorium where we will discuss things. Capiche?" Jack asked, the question highly rhetorical. They would follow or be stranded. The class collected itself well, quietly and quickly. Jack could feel a hell of a headache brewing behind his eyes. It pounded away at his skull, desperate to break free. When standing before him, bags and jackets attached to bodies, Jack spoke to them again. "First of all, that scream some of you may heard," a statement which received whimpers, "was outside. Don't run away from anything unless I tell you. It's gonna be cramped for a while, but don't be stupid. It's pitch black out in the halls so turn your phone screens on or a flashlight app and use it as a flashlight. Do not lag behind the group. Do not run. Do not mess around. Do not get too loud. You're safe, just follow me to get you back with the others." With that done, they left, the phones of the students creating a halo around the band of weary... survivors? Is that what they were now?

As Jack reached each classroom, he recited the same speech. Each classroom screamed as the first did. His head pounded and his body ached and young kids squealed questions at him while older kids were mad they didn't have the balls to become leader first. "Jack! Jack! Why's it so dark? Where's Mrs Hemington?" "Dude, why are [i]you[/i] in charge? I am so much stronger/smarter/better looking." These did not get to him for Jack was ignoring them. If he listened he would be over-whelmed and that could possibly lead to crying. 

By the time Jack had finished going around the entire school, he had a flock of well over 3000 students, closer to 4000 if anything. And yet the only sounds Jack could hear were those if clapping shoes against the floor. They were exhausted. Shock had drained them. Today had only been a few hours long, but damned if it wasn't the longest day Jack had ever lived to see. He reached the corner of the building to turn left when he heard a soft weeping in the corner, just below a window peering out to the courtyard. As he neared the darkened silhouette he saw it was a young kid. The same one who he sent to look for teachers, Jack was guessing. Jack kneeled and talked to him, comforting him, assuring him that whatever made the Shriek was definitely outside. The child wiped away his tears and stood up, where Jack then told him that what he did was a good thing which helped a lot of people. A lie, but he seemed to enjoy hearing it none the less. It was then the walls erupted with the screams of nearly 4000 students.

Jack turned around and saw rows upon rows of eyes wide, not like a saucer, but more like a buffet plate, with terror. They gaped directly above Jack outside the window. He grabbed the boy close and held his head tightly to Jack's chest and looked outside of the window. Standing before him, mere centimetres away from the glass, was a crooked mixture of a person and a creature from the next dimension. It's face was twisted into a look of pure anguish like it had been tortured since time began and will continue to be until the end of time, and was feeling this pain all at one moment, every moment. Its eyes were gouged out and all that was left were black pits with tears of blood running down the scars left on its face. The front of his body looked like necrotic flesh but the back had erupted to bulbous, pulsing, [i]alive[/i] tumors which resembled a whale's brain. It stood hunchbacked, and placed its dead, elongated claws on the window. Jack didn't turn away from the walking horror show before him, but screamed at his loudest. "Get to the auditorium! NOW!" 

The students were in crying hysterics as they flooded past Jack, but the creature never stopped staring at him. Jack stared back, pure unfiltered terror in his chest but he had to know what it did. He had to know how it reacted to anything. It took nearly five minutes for every teenager to leave the hallway, and their crying continued to echo around the school. Jack had to watch. Five more minutes passed, then ten. It still stared. Hand still on pane. Jack let the kid go and warned him to not turn around, which he obeyed. Another five minutes. Jack placed his hand on the window, touching the creatures had it not been for the glass. It stared. Jack stared. It stared. Jack stared. And then it left. Retracted it's hand and walked away into the shroud which hid anything further than about four feet away, Jack noticed.

As Jack walked to the auditorium, he thought about the creature. Not any hypothesis or theories, just the creature. It was everything awful encapsulated into one body. He reached the closed doors to the auditorium, preparing to talk to the people he deemed as those who would be his voice and hand to the people. His most trusted confidants. Jack opened the door and stepped through, witnessing 5000 people in one room. The sound was deafening as he silently stood at the entrance, waiting to see what people did. How they reacted to anything.