[u][b]Peter[/b][/u] Peter wasted no time after finding the adults and older students gone to leave Perdido Beach's High School. He needed to see if his aunt and uncle were okay. There was no phone service, either. He had tried about ten times already without success. He swallowed hard, his backpack swinging obnoxiously, and quickly freed his phone from the bike raked. His t shirt nearly caught on the side of it, making him scowl. Turning his attention back, he jumped on his bike fast and peddled with all his might - an easy feat for him. Peter made sure he remained fit and conditioned, mostly as a distraction from his background. The memories haunted him daily, but he tried his best not to think of it. On his way, he passed children running around, teenagers gathered together and discussing what was happening. The loud boom from earlier was a topic of discussion, though he had no way of responding. There was black smoke miles away, with what appeared to be a plane. Due to the smoke, it was hard to make it out, but he added it to his to-do list of finding out what was going on that day. Cars were abandoned on the road, a few alarms blaring hysterically throughout the street. Peter groaned, the noise aggravating him. None of this made sense. It was as if their town had just become a real life movie. Where was everyone eighteen and over? Fortunately he didn't live far from the school, so he arrived minutes later. What made it even better was that his best friend, Emma Remington and her older brother Alexander, lived a few streets away. He quickly stopped and jumped off his bike, breaking into a run and catching himself before he fell. He looked around. The front door was unlocked - but why? Their car was in the garage, too, he noticed as he looked through its' window. Without pausing, Peter burst into his house. It was eerily silent. His heart began to race uncontrollably, while his tongue went dry, despite him feeling clammy. "Aunt Hanna?" He called, his voice low but consumed by worry. There was no response, when he should have received one. "Uncle Aaron? Are you guys home?" Silence. The silence normally was welcomed but now it filled him with dread. He had no idea what was going on, but it was frightening. He quickly discarded his backpack and stuck his house key in his jeans pocket. Peter left the house intact and locked the door after leaving. Lifting his bike up and then pushing his spiky brown hair out of his eyes, he quickly jumped back on his bike. He began peddling towards Emma's house, tightly gripping the handlebars. He rode as fast as he could to the Remington's house, having recalled Emma being absent from class. Was she sick? He hoped not. That was his best friend. The thought of her caused him to smile. She was so kind and sweet, and her humor made him laugh. On top of that, as a bonus, she was gorgeous. To describe her would do her injustice. There was no way to explain coherently how beautiful Emma Remington was,and he wouldn't dare try. He would not insult her or her name. Peter had befriended Emma almost immediately. The girls' friendly and bubbly nature cheered him up when he himself had the most difficult time in doing so. After what had to be twenty minutes, he finally arrived. Peter coughed into his arm as he neared the house and set his bike down neatly. He knocked politely, despite seeing Alex, Emma, and an Asian boy named Noah. He briefly recalled seeing him around school but hadn't spoken to him much. Well, they were all here now, so this was as good time as any. [b]"I'm sorry to bother everyone,"[/b] He commented as he looked around and then smiled crookedly. [b]"But could I come in please? I think we've all gathered the fact that everyone eighteen and over disappeared. But, also, Em, you weren't in school today so I came to check on you after all teachers disappeared, of course. And hey, Alex, hey Noah. How's you?"[/b] _____________________________________________________________________________________ [u][b]Shay[/b][/u] The boy let out a chuckle at her question. She gazed over at him, eyebrows raised, but remained silent when he said "I guess, I need to try harder on my rep. James. James DiAndre." She smiled mildly at him and wondered why the hell anyone cared about their reputation. They were at an academy for the disturbed and troubled. If that wasn't blatant enough, Shay didn't know what was anymore. [b]"Well, James," Shay smirked. "It's nice to meet you."[/b] She didn't bother introducing herself since he seemed to know her already. The new girl news must have spread around the damn place already. She wasn't sure if she liked it or not. If there were troubled and/or disturbed people, then she wanted to stay away. However, she managed to recall entering the academy and seeing him; though she didn't remember speaking to him directly. When the ground shook and she fell, James protected her with his body. She stared, astonished. However, in the split second he was there, she met his gaze to see how much he was longing for her. She blinked, wondering if she had imagined it. However as soon as it was over, he let go and moved away. "Are you ok?" He asked her, though ignoring her apology. "Yes, thank you" Shay responded quickly. Who know if this boy was disturbed or not. It seemed as if he were a gentlemen - though it was too quick to tell. She wasn't trying to judge but was trying to figure out his mental state. Her cheeks were red. She had been caught off guard and wasn't sure how to respond. Was his crush that intense on her? They barely knew one another. She kept her thoughts to herself nonetheless. After asking about the earthquake, his comment about "adding it to the list of fucked up shit", failed to relax her rising tension. What was wrong with this damn place? As if the universe were questioning her, a slab of earth detached itself and floated momentarily in the air before dropping. Shay stared at it, then at the beads of blood on the butt of Jame's hand, then up at him. He was flushed, looking ready to drop. Shay frowned at him, bewildered, and wrapped her arms around his torso to keep him standing. Though nobody knew it, she prided herself in being strong - stronger then some guys, even. She held his torso up until he seemed healthy enough to stand. Once he was, she let go of him. "The Headmaster must have something for such emergencies." He stated moments afterwards and Shay nodded. Hopefully the headmaster knew how to respond to this, because this seemed to crazy. Had she drank something weird or been drugged? This couldn't seem real. Shay followed him towards the office and once inside, she glanced around. Everyone was gone. She bit her lip and joined James at the computer and read the mail as well. [i]Dear Headmaster Eric Sweets I am pleased to inform you that your school is hereby accepted to the new Juvenile Delinquency Program of San Perdido Beach. The residents of San Perdido will be happy to know that the "trouble" students will no longer be hazard to the community. It will keep the students more protected and will have the professional help they need, in order to live a normal life. Coates Academy will turn into the respected school it deserved to be by the end of the summer. Thank you, and congratulations. Sincerely, Mayor Victor Hartz[/i] Shay stared at it, agape. "What the hell?" she snarled as James spoke moments later. "They are sending us off," His voice was etched with hatred and she couldn't blame him. She stared down the list to find her parent's name and glared with hatred. What had she done to deserve being in a juvenile delinquency program - not serve in the goddamn military? Her attitude was not out of control as her parent's mentioned, although it mentioned her extensive training. Well, that was their fault, not hers. She hadn't asked to be trained for the shit they put her through. This was ridiculous! "We have been sold like cattle." [b]"Yeah," [/b] Shay growled in reply, clenching her fists. Genuine anger rose inside of her but she wasn't sure what to do - yell at her parents? That would work out. Maybe she could hide somewhere - then again, she was known by government and state officials all over rude to her parents. [b]"We have been. What the hell is wrong with people?"[/b] She turned to face James, whose silence only relied a sense of foreboding. Visibly, Shay could see the gears in his head turning. Was she in the room with a psychopath? The slow dark smile crossing his lips seemed to answer her question. Shay looked around, but he quickly left. She swallowed and followed him out. Screams echoed, causing her to jump and inhale. She turned in the direction, figuring out quickly it was coming from the cafeteria. James looked at her and then broke into a sprint. Shay ran after him fast, though pausing. She saw her locker and quickly went over to it. Turning the lock hastily, she looked inside her locker and gently puled the backside of it off to reveal a shotgun hoisted against the wall. Shay had gone to her locker the first day and realized the backboard of it was broke. It wasn't easily noticeable, either, but she had a knack for finding what others could not. She had used gloves to store her gun and ammo behind it as well so the DNA wasn't traced back to her. She could pull off the innocent act well enough that she didn't worry about it. The gun was also not in her name. After extracting her gun, she knelt down and reached behind it, puling out the small bag. Shay quickly loaded it, secured her locker back to its' normal state, and then stood up. The cocking of her gun bounced off the walls, but was drowned by the screams and yells of the students in the cafeteria. She stood up and ran towards the cafeteria, holding her shotgun underneath her arm with her other hand near the front of it. The scene she arrived in was not what she expected - Atlas, the disturbed boy from earlier, was covered in dirt all around him. A girl was tied to a chair by Atlas, her pinky finger missing. Her friend, or acquaintance, James, stood there, eyes having turned to orange. She rubbed her eyes and wondered what kind of drug she was on. The reality of the situation wasn't registering in her mind - this couldn't be real, could it? It seemed as if it was true. James' voice reached her ears, though it took her a second to register whilst his eyes returned to their normal brown. "What the fuck is going on?" His tone, irritated, bounced off the marble walls, though he looked determined. Shay cleared her throat, entering the fray and carefully holding her shotgun away from students. People turned to stare at her and back away, whispering, inhaling, or hiding behind tables and chairs. [b]"Yeah, what the hell is going on? I thought this was an academy for disturbed and troubled teenagers, not people out of Heroe's TV show."[/b] She looked at Atlas and Jame,s then moved forward. She smiled kindly at the girl who looked too be around fifteen and terrified out of her mind. [b]"It's okay, don't worry. I won't hurt you."[/b] Her voice was compassionate and warm. She wrapped the gun around her back and untied her fast, glaring at anyone who came close. [b]"Don't even try stealing my gun, people. I wouldn't recommend it."[/b] After untying the girl, Shay backed away and faced James and Atlas. [b]"So, tell me, what the bloody hell is going on?"[/b] She moved the gun closer to her front body so she could grab it fast in case she had to defend herself. Pulling out the gun fast and aiming it, was one of her specialties, her mother said. Sudden, sharp pain in her back caused her to jolt sideways and inhale. She felt her back with her free hand and frowned, feeling stubs. Had she injured herself without realizing it? She didn't know anymore. Turning her attention back to the others, she gritted her teeth and returned her hands back to her gun.