After ten minutes of searching, the exasperated Hope flung her long dark brown hair behind her as she slid down the wall to the floor. She rested her head on her knees, then saw a few droplets slide down the tip of her nose and land on her jeans. She angrily wiped away the tears of disappointment, frustration, and anxiety, since she heard heavy footsteps trod down the dark and deserted hall.




*




*





*





*




*
As the snow began to float down, flakes stuck to Hope's dark brown curls while she walked to the bus stop. She was thankful that this was the last Tulsa winter she would ever have to endure. Her neighbor, Jake Roberts, had been in Hope's class for the last three years. He moved from North Dakota during their freshmen year. They had been friends from that first summer when Hope invited him to an end of summer party, where he met his future girlfriend Danelle. He hollered, "Hey, Winters! Looks like you finally showed up!" Jake grinned as he sped up to catch Hope. He shook his floppy black mop out of his bright blue eyes and snow flakes shifted off his shoulder as he moved to put his arm around Hope. She playfully smacked his chest and smiled up at him. He was at least three inches taller than her, but he was 6'3", so even Hope was short to him. "Ouch," Jake said with a mock expression of pain, "you are pretty and deadly. Remind me to not get on your bad side."

"You should know by now. I hate when you call me Winters."

"Well, in case you didn't know, that is your last name," he said in a very intellectual tone.

"Thanks, I forgot. What a nice guy, no wonder my best friend seems to like you." Hope kept up the sarcasm.

Just then, the bus pulled up and they continued to bicker as they boarded and both squished into the same seat, which was the only way that they could talk. Before they knew it, the ten minute ride was over and the whole bus arrived at Tulsa High School. As soon as Hope stepped off the bus, she was surrounded by other members of the student council, asking if Hope, the Student Council President would talk to the school board to see if they could get out of school since there was so much snow and it was only getting worse. She was getting bombarded with questions and people talking to her all at once, so she turned around looking for Jake, but she couldn't see him. She screamed out, "Its not up to me! If it were, we wouldn't have school if there is snow on the ground!" Every one shrunk back and was quiet. They new it was rare that Hope got loud. Just then, Danelle pulled up to the curb.

"Hope, chill!" She giggled and peeled away in her 1972 candy apple red Mustang that she got for her sixteenth birthday. Danelle has been Hope's best friend since they were two. She was short and slight, with cropped, platinum blond hair and emeralds where her eyes should have been. A few moments later, Danelle walked up with her arm around Jake's ribcage, seeing how that is all the higher she can comfortably reach. They meet up with Hope and the three best friends walk into their high school. Jake walked the girls to their lockers, Hope first. She was just putting her backpack in her locker when she heard someone cough to her left. She peaked around the her locker door to see Drake Marshal leaning against a locker with a bright yellow daisy.

"Here. I was in my neighbors kitchen, stealing an apple when I saw this flower. It reminded me of you, so I grabbed it," he said in a very hushed voice.

"Uh, thanks?" she stammered, unsure of how to respond. She didn't know if she should take the flower, seeing as how it was stolen. "I just have one question, how does it remind you of me?"

He replied curtly, "Its bright and obnoxious, but in a nice way."

She took the flower with a shy smile and gushed out, "Thank you! It's really pretty." Although Jake complimented her all the time, it wasn't the same as a compliment from Drake. She twirled the daisy in her hand and grinned down at it as she thought of how sweet Drake was. Hope looked up at him and Drake looked like he had something on his mind. Just then, Dylan Sanders, captain of both the wrestling and baseball teams, walked up to Hope.

Dylan ran into Drake and said, "Whoops, I didn't see you. BTW, you are so not good enough to be talking to my date."
Hope asked, "What date, and you can't tell me who I talk to. I don't see what gives you that idea."
"Hope, baby, come on! I was gonna ask you if you wanted to go to the movies tomorrow night when I'm done with practice. I'll be at your house around 7? Great! See you in history." Dylan grabbed her books and started to walk away.
"I can't go to the movies with you. I have something better to do."

He turned on a dime, "What do you mean 'I have something better to do?' Cause there ain't nothin' better than me!"

She chuckled, "Oh, I beg to differ." At that moment, the whole school goes black as night.

Screams come from everywhere and Dylan yelled, "Hope, you're smart. Fix this! I can't talk to Mr. Danver if I can't find his room! My grade needs to get up to a C- by this weekend!"

"Why would you think about your grades at a time like this? I don't know the first thing about electricity. Plus if you want a higher grade, turn in some of your assignments. Drake, do you know anything abou... Where did he go?"
"I have a huge wrestling meet this weekend! Anyways, that loser is probably with his no good, druggie friends." Hope punched at Dylan, but the only thing she hit was the locker. and a piece of paper. She grabbed her phone and held it up at where she hit, and hoped to see Dylans white and blue Letterman jacket. Instead, she saw the paper she hit. It was white with calligraphy in purple ink. It read "You are way to pretty too be with people like them." Taped on the locker with note was a red rose made out of tissue paper. Hope added the note to her purse and the flower to the real one in her hand. Not only was the whole school dark, but Dylan disappeared with her books for first hour. A sweaty hand grabbed Hope's.

"Help me," Danelle said in a hoarse voice.
Hope put her hand on her best friends shoulder, "You will be fine, I am right here. Don't worry."

"Okay," was the only reply Hope got and she knew that was a feat. Danelle has always been deathly afraid of the dark and today was no exception. Hope took her phone out again and set it on flashlight mode. Danelle got the hint and did the same thing. Hope could tell that even those five inches of light was helping to calm Danelle down.

"See, that's better," Hope said with a soothing voice. They noticed that the hallway started glowing as the students that hadn't left with the teachers took their phones out for light. Since there was no power in the school, a majority of the teachers left, along with most of the students. Some stayed behind just in case the power came back on, and teachers were supposed to be combing the halls for students, but Hope had not seen any yet.

Hope could tell that Danelle was still shaken, so she decided not to tell her about the note she had been given.
"Those are pretty flowers, did Dylan give them to you?" asked Danelle, obviously trying to desert her attention from the dark.
"No. One I found and the other was given to me."

"Ooooh. By who?"
"Drake Marshal."
"Is he not over you yet? That was one kiss in 8th grade!"
"What are you talking about? That was Drake Colt. He moved the next year."
"Oh, so who is the guy who gave you that flower?"
"Tall, skinny, wears black all the time, great at art?"
"Him? Why did he give you a flower?"
"Cause I'm a nice person and he felt like giving me a flower? I don't know."
"But you and Dylan are a thing."
"No, we are not a thing. I help him study some times and he bought me food one day. Plus, he is in NHS with me, and he was voted prom king, and I wasn't gonna deny him a dance."
"Okay, okay. Hey, have you seen Jake? After we turned down the hallway, he said he had to go to the bathroom. Then the power went out, so I came to find you."
"I haven't seen him, sorry."
"Alright, I guess I'll talk to him later. I have Stats homework to finish before class. I'll talk to you later."
"You don't honestly think I am going to leave you alone like this, do you?"
"But, you aren't in Stats, so why would you help me with my homework?"
"Two things you might not have noticed. One, there is no power to the whole school, so lights in the rooms will not work, either will the computers. And two, it's dark. You hate the dark."
"Well, I guess I wasn't thinking about that."

"Jamie, where did you go!" someone screamed. Hope came running and saw that the head cheerleader, Kristin, was crying in her normal spot on the window sill.

"What happened?" asked Hope.

"We, we were just talking-ing-ing about the Winter Formal. He sa-id he had to use the bathroom. That was like ten minutes ago," Kristin managed to sputter out between sobs before her courtiers surrounded her. Hope walked away unnoticed, but on the corner across from the group of people all catering to the sobbing mess that was their leader was a note. She realized that it was the trademark colors and style of her other notes. This time, it said, "You are smarter than them." Next to the note was an orange rose. Inside of the flower, Hope saw something gleam. She uprighted it and gave it a gentle shake. Out fell a simple silver chain with an H hanging from it. She added the note to her purse and the flower to her hand. With the necklace, she handed it to Danelle, but she was still gone. Then she saw a flower, as green as Danelle's eyes, taped to the wall behind the last place where Danelle was standing. No note, but this time she received a letter O painted on a small square of cream paper with the same purple paint that the letters were written with. Hope was waiting for the next person to disappear and note to appear.

Soon after, one of the few people left at the school said "Hope? I found something. I think it's for you." She hurried over and found another note taped to her locker. This time, it said "You are too pretty, but I won't let it stop me." She found a blue rose next to the note. She asked if anyone had seen any of the missing people. Every one said no.
The straggler said, "I haven't seen Drake either."

"Drake who?" Hope asked.

"Marshal, but why do you want to know?"

"Trying to keep track of every one that was missing."

"Makes sense. I saw you two talking this morning so I didn't know if there was anything going on."
"I don't know what you mean. He had a question, is all. So, I answered it." Hope was really defensive.
They wandered down the hallway, all six people who had someone stolen from them. The group got to a split, and there was a purple paper rose taped to a locker and a note that said, "Only your beauty will find them."

"'Only your beauty will find them'? Whats that?" asked Kristin.

"I'm not sure," Hope was very uncertain about what was going on.

Someone asked, "Do you know who is leaving them? And how do you know they are for you?"
Hope grabbed the purple flower and shook it. Out fell a little wooden carving of a P. "Cause all I'm missing is an E," she pulled out the other two letters of her name. The minor crowd gasped.

Some one down the hall yelled, "QUIET!" Everyone was silent but you could faintly hear a pounding. Hope followed the noise. It lead to her first hour room. She knocked on the door softly and heard someone scream.
"Danelle, is that you?" Hope asked.
Mr. Danver yelled from inside the room, "the door seems to be locked from the outside, let us out!"
"Its not locked. There is no handle out here. I can't open the door." Jake appeared suddenly and opened the jammed door as if by magic. It slowly opens, revealing Danelle, Sadie and Mr. Danver.
"Any one else in there?" whimpered a scared Kristin.
"Yea, Jake wa... How did you get out?" asked Danelle.
"I wasn't in there with you, I called you. I know how much you hate the dark, so I figured I would call to keep you calm as I tried to figure out where you were. You were probably so scared that you thought I was there," Jake huffed.
"Whether or not he was in there is another mystery," Hope said distractedly.
"Well, fine, we have to find all the other people."

Hope saw a dark purple flower taped to the inside of the door. She ripped it off and out fell an origami folded E.
"See, told you this was for me," she said exasperated. "Why don't we split up, since every one left, the halls should be quiet enough to hear any pounding. I'll go this way," Hope said. She wandered off by herself, looking at the eight flowers in her hand. She meandered for a while, listening to other searchers yell out names of the missing. After ten minutes of searching, the exasperated Hope flung her long dark brown hair behind her as she slid down the wall to the floor. She rested her head on her knees then saw a few droplets slide down the tip of her nose and land on her jeans. She angrily wiped the tears of disappointment, frustration and anxiety, since she heard heavy footsteps trod down the dark and deserted hall.
"I know what's going on," Jake said, "and you have to know that Danelle will not approve."
"What are you talking about>?" questioned Hope, her voice thick with tears. "I'm just confused who is leaving me all these things."
"Obviously, Drake is. He talks about you all the time."
"But, he is missing too. How could he be leaving me all these things?"
"I was the one who talked to him. I told him where your locker was and that you love things with your name on them. You also love yellow daisies and home-made gifts. Your favorite color is purple and you put on a brave face the most when you are scared. You always are selfless, and I love you for it. You are like my little sister." Hope burst into tears.
"Jake, why would you do this? There are so many people missing, with people looking for them."

"I didn't have anything to do with the missing people. I just wanted him to know more about you, but I didn't give Drake the idea to kidnap people."

Suddenly, there is someone pounding on the door across the hall.
"Sorry to break up this great bonding moment, but can I get out?"
Jake opens the door with his locksmithing magic and out comes Dylan and Jamie.
"So all that's left to find is Drake. Great."
"Marshal? He was with us," Jamie confessed.
"Why do you sound so guilty?" asked Hope, confused.
"Cause I punched him since he wouldn't stop tapping his feet. He was really quiet after that."
Hope rushed into the room, excited that she would finally get to ask Drake what he wanted to say that morning. She pulled out her phone and the light pierced the darkness. Drake was in a heap on the floor. She turned around to yell at Jamie for hurting Drake, but he looked really sheepish.
She asked Dylan, "Who put you in here?"
"Um, I'm not sure. Some really tall guy. Buff."
"Great. So, you have no clue?"
"Did I not just say that?"
"Clarifying! Jeez, trying to find the guilty guy here."
"Sorry, but ever been locked up in a room for what seems like forever? And with them? Jamie and I kinda get along but I've never talked to Drake."
Jamie looked more and more sheepish by the minute. "What is going on here?" Hope said with fear, directed at Jamie.
"Alright, I did it. I shoved everyone in their rooms. I was told to. I found a note in my locker and it told me to make it look like I was kidnapped and to steal everyone else. The other people all were super easy to convince that they had to come with me. But him," He jerks his thumb towards Drake on the floor. "I avoided talking to Kristin too much, but I usually never get to say much in our relationship. I took all the people I was supposed to when I was told to."

"What do you mean, 'When I was told to'?"

"The note said 'If you don't do what I say, Coach Danver will find out about your partying.' I can't lose my basketball scholarship." He was very scared as he spoke, like he thought that someone was listening that could tell head coach, or the superintendent.

"So, what did the note look like?" Hope asked. He pulled out a piece of paper with purple with the same calligraphy as Hopes note. She took out her notes as well. "They match."

Drake stirs and mumbles. Hope rushes to his side, "Are you okay. Come on, wake up," she desperately goads.
He murmurs, "Sorry.. beautiful. Wanted to know.. Winter Formal?"
"Of course I will go with you. Now, why did you leave notes for everyone?"
"Notes?"
"Yea, all of these." She grabbed her notes and snatched the note from Jamie's hand.
"I didn't do that. Just the flowers and your name."
"Then who did?"

Jake asks, "Great, you are together, and Drake didn't kidnap leave letters for everyone. So who did?"
"I don't know".