"Bain, hurry up!" Briar knew that he sounded whiny, but he didn't care.

Bain threw another handful of wet paper towels into the trash and grabbed another stack. "I didn't hafta help you," he said matter-of-factly. Briar hated when he talked like that. "I wasn't the one throwing cake at people."

"Amelia pushed me out of the circle! That's not fair, I shoulda won the chocolate cake. She obviously didn't even want it, 'cause she threw it at me."

Bain rubbed the brown stain on Briar's shirt a few more times with a wet paper towel before giving up. "I dunno how to get it out, so I guess it's just going to look like that forever."

"But it's my favourite shirt!" Briar pouted even as his twin opened the door and pushed him out of the bathroom. His shirt had a surfing dinosaur on it. It was the coolest shirt ever, but all Bain wore was ugly, blank t-shirts, so he didn't get that.

Bain shrugged. "Well, I can't fix it, and it was your fault, anyway. You shouldn't fight, Bri. You ruining your shirt was caramel."

That gave Briar pause. He furrowed his brow while he thought about it. "I was throwing carrot cake, there wasn't any caramel cake." If there were, that would be cool.

Bain huffed. "Not that caramel. I mean like, sometimes you do something bad and then the universe makes something bad happen to you. That means you have bad caramel. Mrs. Slack taught me that."

"Ohhh." Briar nodded, even though he didn't really get it. Bain always said things that Briar didn't get, because he talked to the grown-ups all the time. Grown-ups were weird and boring, and Briar didn't really know why Bain liked them so much, but at least Bain wasn't always as boring as them yet.

"Come on, we need to find mom and dad." Bain continued down the hall. "You're probably gonna get grounded. Why did you want the cake so much anyway? You hate chocolate."

Briar opened his mouth to protest, but thought better of it. Bain was right, he probably was going to be grounded. He always got in trouble for everything, because his parents never listened to his side of the story. So instead, he stomped after his brother, grumbling, "I was trynna get that cake for you."

Bain paused. Then he turned to look back at his brother. "I guess that was nice of you. Thanks for trying." He was smiling a little. He always looked better when he smiled, even if he said his crooked tooth made him look stupid.

Briar grinned. He kept walking, a spring in his step.

Then they stopped.

Blood spread slowly down the hall. A body laid in the centre of it all, twitching and gurgling red. Someone crouched next to it.

Briar recognized the body's shirt, purple with silver stars. The shirt was stained, the stars turning red.

"A-Amelia?"

She didn't answer him. Blood bubbled from her mouth. She twitched spasmodically for another second, then stilled.

The woman next to her started to turn her head. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she was so pale that they could see the veins running beneath her skin.

There was blood on her face, both new and fresh. There was something in her mouth.

With an inhuman screech, the woman lurched towards them. Briar was already turning to run, Bain only a second behind them.

They turned.

Mr. Harding, the grade eight teacher, stood there, tall and gaunt and silent. Pale, with bloodshot eyes.

He started towards them.

They turned, and kept running.

There was an empty classroom. They both reached for the handle at the same time, scrambling to grasp it.

They could hear uneven, sliding footsteps behind them.

The door opened. They all but fell into the room, hearts pounding.

Briar slid down to the ground, resting his back against the wall. Bain stood, staring out the small window on the door, his hands clenched into fists.

The only sound was their heavy breaths.

Finally, Bain fell into a chair, relaxing against the desk. "I think he's gone."

Briar hunched his shoulders, hugging his knees to his chest. They sat in silence for a while, the only sounds being the ticking clock, the air coming from the vents, and the screaming, distant but there. He didn't know if the screaming had only started now, or if it was there the entire time and he just didn't notice.

Finally, Briar spoke. His voice was thin and uncertain. "Bain, what's happening?"

For once, Bain didn't immediately jump in with an answer. He was quiet for a long time before he whispered, "...I don't know."

Briar knew that was hard for his brother to say. Bain hated saying when he didn't know something, and normally Briar would make fun of him, but now didn't seem like the right time. So he just nodded and ducked his head. He'd have to make fun of him later, when they were home.

Then, so suddenly that Briar startled and hit his head against the door, Bain stood, his chair scraping against the tiled floor, his eyes wide.

"Wha-what is it?" For a second, Briar was scared that Bain had seen Mr. Harding or that woman outside the door.

But what he said seemed somehow worse.

"Mom and dad are still out there."

Briar was up before he knew it, hand on the door handle. "We gotta get them!" Their parents weren't athletic, not like them. If one of those people went up to them, they'd definitely die.

He was halfway out the door when Bain pulled him back, slamming the door shut with a loud bang. "Bri, you stay here."

Briar glared at Bain and swatted his arm away. "No way! If you're going, then I'm going too."

Bain grabbed his upper arms, forcing Briar to face him, his stare hard and serious. "Stay. Here. You mess around too much, and I don't wanna have to watch over you and make sure you're safe while I'm looking for them. You'll get us both hurt."

Briar blinked. Then he wrenched himself away from his brother, a glare on his face. So that was how it was? Of course Bain would be like that. Bain always acted like he was better than him.  "Fine! Go then, I don't care."

Bain nodded, unfazed. He turned to the door. "I'll be back soon," he said.

Briar turned away with a stomp of his foot. He crossed his arms aggressively as he stared hard at the posters on the wall. "I don't care!" he yelled over his shoulder. "I hope you die out there."

The door clicked shut behind him.

Without another person there, the room was...scarier. The clock ticked. Ticked. Ticked. It seemed so much louder than before. He heard a man screaming outside. He kept seeing the shadows move in the corner of his eye. He kept turning, and looking around, and seeing nothing but an empty room, but the shadows were always moving.

He couldn't stay here. But if he went outside...it would be worse, wouldn't it?

No, he was fine! He just needed somewhere where he could feel safe. He just needed to figure out where...

His eyes fell on the large wooden cabinets that lined the far wall. He was in this room before for a tornado drill, and he got in trouble for trying to crawl into them. He knew that the one on the end was empty, at least the last time he was there.

Briar hurried towards it, his shoes squeaking. He opened the door. Empty.

Briar wasted no time sitting down in the cabinet, pulling the door shut behind him.

There was only a small line of light, an opening where the door ended. He could barely see out into the classroom when he pressed his face against the space.

It was quiet. Briar slouched down against the wall of the cabinet, bringing his knees up to his chest. He was surprisingly comfortable there. He could probably sit here for hours.

He'd wait there, he decided. Bain would come back with their parents, and he would think that Briar got dragged off by one of those people and eaten, and he'd feel bad because he made Briar die. Then, right when he was about to cry, Briar would jump out! It would serve him right. Maybe it would even make him feel bad for what he said.

But it probably wouldn't. Briar knew his brother, and he knew that he never felt bad for anything. Because Bain always had to be the one that was right, since he was so smart, and of course Briar never knew what he was doing because he was the dumb one who always got in trouble. But not this time! Briar was gonna let him think that he died because of him. And when Bain felt bad, Briar would laugh, and for once, he would win.

The door slammed shut.

Briar clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle a startled squeak, heart stuttering in his chest. Then he slowly began to move, careful not to make any noise, and peeked through the opening in the cabinet.

A woman was pacing around the room, her heels clacking. "Holy shit. Holy fuck. Oh my God this is not what I signed up for!"

Even though she sounded like she was going to cry, Briar could recognize her voice. Miss Nichols was the student teacher in Mr. Harding's class. Today, during recess, she made Briar sit on the wall because he tried to jump off the slide. He did not like her, and he didn't even know why she was here, because it wasn't school hours so why did she have to torment him even here?

Not to mention what she said. "My nanny said that every time you swear is another swat on the wrist," he said, pushing the door open.

Miss Nichols yelped and spun around, almost falling over. Which was her fault, because she was wearing those stupid heels. "Shit—what were you doing in there?" she yelled, her hand over her chest.

Briar shrugged. "I like it there. That was three times."

"You shouldn't be running around!" Miss Nichols glanced back at the door before hurrying over to him. "It's dangerous here right now, you should be home!"

Like Briar didn't think of that already. "I wasn't running around, I was sitting in the cabinet," he informed her. "And I'm waiting for my parents."

"Waiting for your—" Miss Nichols put her hands over face and breathed out slowly. "Okay. Okay. That's okay. Your parent's'll show up, probably."

She marched over to the window, pulling down a panel of the blind enough to look through it. "There's still a lot of people outside right now," like Briar couldn't tell from the screaming, "So I'm gonna wait here with you."

Briar frowned. "That's okay. Go home." He didn't need anyone to wait with him, because wasn't a kid. He was brave and he didn't need anyone to protect him, no matter what his brother said. "Or find your own room to hide in!"

"Hey, I'm not here because I want to be! But now I can't just leave. If you die then I'll feel responsible."

Briar was pretty sure it had more to do with the fact that her car was probably in the parking lot where all the people were, but he didn't mention that. Instead, he just told her, "I don't need you here!"

"Well, I'm here." Miss Nichols sat down in a chair and kicked off her shoes, letting out a relieved sigh as she stretched her legs. "God, my feet hurt so much."

"That's your fault for wearing stupid heels!" Even his mom was wearing flats today, and she always wore heels. Miss Nichols was just dumb, and he wasn't going to hand out with a dumb person. Briar headed towards the door. "And if you're staying here, then I'm leaving!"

And he darted out the door, even as Miss Nichols yelled after him.