Ten.

Helen- quiet- technopath- about to cut second period

I really shouldn't... Helen thought, but a little thrill of excitement ran through her at the same time. She'd never gotten in trouble at school before. Maybe she should try this, just this once. Don was so interesting after all, and she didn't want to let this opportunity pass her up.

"I think-" she said with a smile, but then the fire alarm went off. "Ack!" She covered her ears.

Suddenly the lights in the hall began flickering again.

((Who's Desmond? I'm a bit lost. And sorry all my posts are so long!))

Jem. Easily depressed. Weather manipulation.

Jem had barely squeezed her feet into a pair of neon yellow converses when the alarm began to ring. It screamed in her ears, then settled into a whining drone that seemed to drill holes in Jem's head.

She looked around. Students were pouring out of classrooms and making their way to "the nearest exit", as they'd so often been told to do. There was usually nobody down this stretch of the corridor; Jem's locker was pretty out of the way. The area was quite run down; even now the lights were flickering again.

"Hey!" Jem yelled above the general chatter. Almost fifty heads turned to look at her, but she'd already made eye contact with a girl named Claire, whom she knew a little, even though they didn't talk much, from Biology. She was travelling in a crowd. "Is this a drill or what?"

"Dunno, but we're getting out of here! Coming?"

Jem ran towards them, pushing through the stream of students, secretly pleased at having been asked. Though judging by the frowns of some of the others, maybe they weren't on the same page. They'd probably seen her scene a few minutes earlier, when she'd come in soaking wet. So they already think I'm weird.

Nevertheless, she took her place up next to Claire and began to move.

((BTW, nobody knows about Jem's powers. Not even Jem, really. Just felt the need to clarify that. ))

im Des, if thats what you mean. he's the quick to anger one with power sourcing (sorta like Gambit form x-men)

((Oh. I thought your character was Matt?))

haha oops. storybook mixup. im just gonna say hes desmond from now on

so, we have:
Jazz
Farrow
Maya
Claire
Des
Jem
Julia
They're all here.

Claire-Happy one-Power negation

I called Jem, even though we didn't really talk to each other, she was nice but quite weird, not hat i cared much since I was always talking to people, I loved it. I had everyone I knew around me: Jazz, Farrow, Maya, Des, Jem and even Julia. I didn't know where the fire was coming from or if there even was fire, but the alarm had rang and almost everyone was outside now. It was all very confusing, with all the noise and things going on.
"What's happening" I asked Desmond.
"NO idea, we've been here long enough now, but apparently there is people still missing"
Once again, I was getting scared, I could fight people with powers but there were things I couldnt, like...this and...the demons.
"You ok? " I heard him ask.
"yeah" I answered, trying to make my voice sound through all this noise. I looked at Farrow who was still holding my hand and at Jazz who was looking very nervous.

Is it too late to join?

((Erm, well, we already have the ten characters that the storybook required, so theoretically it's full, Sazza. However, though I'm not in charge of this storybook, I have noticed that some of the participants have hardly posted since they put up their profiles. Shall we PM them? What do you guys - those who are posting at the moment - think? I'm new to this whole storybook etiquette, so I have no idea what to do, and EmmaJane hasn't posted here for a bit.))

i could PM her if you want, but im not sure either

Sorry I sort of abandoned this storybook, I haven't had much time recently to catch up on all the storybooks I'm participating in. Also I'm a little lost. ha ha.

As for sazza, I PMed them ages ago. O.o

And I think we're ready to encounter our first demon.

Maya ~ Tough one ~ Disintegration

"I don't like this," she said with a frown. "Something's wrong."

"No kidding. There's a fire."

"Where? How do you know for certain? I think-"

Her words were cut off when someone screamed.

The buzz of conversation in the surrounding crowd diminished until it became eerily silent for a second, then the voices continued, the previous volume now doubled.

"What-?"

Another cream sounded, followed by more before it had even died. The people around them were pushing back, fleeing from something coming from the direction of the school. The screams got closer and closer. Whatever it was, it was drawing nearer.

Donald ~ Secretive ~ Invisibility ~ Fire Drill

"There go the lights again, maybe there is actually a fire, electrical fault or something?" Don mused as he glanced across at Helen who looked a little panicked. Gee, nice going, way to scare the poor girl. "Or it could just be a drill, someone probably pulled the alarm again." Donald shifted a little uncomfortably. He wasn't quite sure what to say.

"Shouldn't we be moving?" Helen prompted. Oh yeah. Duh. Nice going there. Donald flashed her a grin.

"I rather like the thought of being all nice and crispy," he said before leading the way toward the fire exit. There seemed to be students everywhere, some of them chatting happily, some walking in a depressed silence and others trying to push their way through. It was madness. Don wondered where the teachers were, usually they kept a tighter reign on people than this. Not that he was bothered.

"Do you really think there could be a fire?" Helen asked. Donald shrugged.

"No I guess not, we're still going to have to stand out there in the cold though."

Okay, next poster can do the demon attack, if they want. I'm still setting the scene here.

Jem. Easily depressed. Weather manipulation.

Maya, who'd introduced herself almost immediately, was uneasier than the rest of the group. She seemed to be looking around, as if searching for something - maybe for the answer to the question everyone was asking. What's happening?

The alarm was still ringing, but it couldn't drown out the screams coming from the school building. More students were running out, their faces white, some of them falling onto their knees. Yet nobody moved to help them up; instead the crowd stepped backwards. It was as if the newcomers were diseased.

The rain had long since stopped and a deathly cold hung in the air. Jem could feel it stroking her skin and hugged herself warmer, somehow knowing that this sudden drop in temperature had some connection to whatever was in the school, whatever was drawing closer to them as the minutes passed.

All around Jem's group, people were muttering about pranks and jokers and idiots, but underneath all of it was fear. The screams were real, that was for sure: you couldn't fake it. Jem was silent, and so were the students she'd followed outside. Even Claire, usually so cheery and talkative, wasn't laughing now. They were all holding their breath, and when they released it, the air was white in front of them. Jem noticed she was shivering again.

And what about the boy she'd bumped into earlier, the one whose name she'd remembered a few minutes later? Donald. Where was he, and that girl he was talking to? Were they still inside? And on top of all those questions, at the very forefront of Jem's mind, was another one.

What, Jem asked herself again, is happening?

Claire- Happy One-Power negation

I was in among the desperate cowd of students screaming and shuting, other laughing and making jokes, but I felt it in my skin. There was something about to come, something I wouldn't like and somehow already knew. My cheery mood succenly went away adn I turned to see Jem who turned to look at mee at the same time I looked at her. There was something in her, expectation, unease and as i turned to look at each of my friends I saw the same expression. I fetl stronger by the minute and eventually our of fear grabbed Farrow's hand as hard as I could. Jazz and Maya were by my side,Maya was very uneasy.
"Do you feel it" I asked Farrow.
"Yes" he answered me solemnly.
"Des, do you?" I turned to desmond who was frozen in his place. "Desmond!!"
"There's something" He replied in a whisper.
Yes, everyone felt it, it was like an extrasensorial thing that even that girl Julia showed. Could it be them. I thought, suddenly too concerned to care about my surroundings. Could it be the...
But I couodn't finish the sentence.

Julia:

"Spit it out honey." Julia said softly, unusual for her. "There's something we share, come over to my house tonight." Grace was never Julia's best ability, but sometimes, bluntness was the best way to go.

Everyone looked at her for a second. First impressions seemed to be everything to this group of people. Julia rolled her eyes.

"Here's my address, be there, okay?" Julia spun around on her heel, "I'm going to be late getting to the last 20 minutes of second period, bye guys." she said as she left.

Helen- quiet- technopath- fire drill

She struggled for a moment to get control of her powers, then gave up and focused on just not letting it go beyond making the lights flicker.

"That's okay, I'd rather be a little cold than burned to a crisp." She frowned slightly at Donald as they made their way out the door. "Are you okay? You seem a little tense."

"Nah, I'm fine," Don assured her. "Don't worry about-"

He stopped mid-sentence and looked around with a furtive wariness.

"You feel that too?" Helen asked, voice husky with anxiety.