Chapter 9

Gabe sat in the leather chair in the bomb shelter, all alone, watching the dismal screens flicker, with no one in particular in any of them. He'd constantly flip through them, seeing no one and nothing.

After a while, he thought he heard the bomb shelter door creek open.

"Suki!" he called. "That you?"

No reply.

"Ian?"

No reply.

"Ceej?"

Ne reply.

Gabe turned around and shrieked at the sight. There was a man with long, curly, silver hair and a dirty suit, with a crooked bow tie on top.

"Oh my God!" Gabe cried. "Who the heck are you!"

"Three's a charm," he said. He motioned his thumb, index finger and middle finger.

"You're the weirdo my friends were talking about!"

"All three of your friends, Gabriel."

"How do you know my name? Are you the one watching us on the monitors? Are you the seventh person?"

He smiled a wicked smile, and back up, towards the heavy door.

"No, no I am not."

"Who are you?" Gabe asked, standing up.

The man raised his right hand, and motioned the same three fingers. Gabe noticed a ring on the index finger, which the man was taking off. The man threw it at Gabe, which Gabe happily caught, and put deep into his pocket.

"We'll see each other three times. Now is one, and twice in the next twelve hours. I think it's about time I check on Ian Archer, I still need to see him two more times."

"Why should I see you again? And what are you gonna do to Ian?"

The man began to chuckle, and leave the bomb shelter, slamming the heavy door behind him. Gabe opened it up, and saw nothing. The man had vanished.

"Whoa, how did you do that man?" Gabe called.

Gabe shuttered awake in the leather chair. Was it all a dream? Or had he just fallen asleep after the encounter with the man?

Gabe assumed for the moment he had been dreaming. He clicked the button for monitor one, and saw Ian sitting in Headmaster's chair.

"What are you doing in there Ian!" Gabe yelled. He could be as loud as he wanted; no one would ever hear him.

Gabe clicked the buttons underneath the Monitor 1 Button, trying to get different views of Ian, but the monitor wouldn't switch views. Gabe kicked the button in, but the screen had been through enough, and shattered. A large shard of glass cut Gabe's hand wide open, and blood oozed out. An electric burst shot out of the monitor, and was loud enough to boom down the hall, and echoed throughout the room.

The terrible noise gave Gabe wringing in his ears. Another burst of electricity shot out sparks, that hit Gabe down with a huge thud against the concrete. The remaining seven monitors (excluding the mirror and the first one that blew out) regained their life, showing the images once more.

What Gabe didn't notice was a ring with a huge, flat face on it, fall out of his pocket.

The same worn by a man in the tunnels less than fifteen minutes before, and would play a key part in Ian Archer's future.