The drum of inconsistent patter in the form of an unexpected rainstorm arrived at an inopportune time. Although it may have been the cause of disarray, it calmed Michael to look at the drops accumulating into one another on the window’s surface.

Skylar walked up to Michael, who was staring out the window.

“It didn’t save!” Calvin cried out. “All of that progress…” he pouted, looking at the black screened monitor.

“Are you serious?!” Rebecca shot up from the couch, frantically pacing. “I told you to save the document!”

“I swear I was about to!”

“I’ve told you like… a bajillion times!”

“We were already pulling an all-nighter, now we have to pull an all-nighter squared.” Dylan snickered.

Everyone groaned.

The sound of his friends arguing was oddly pleasant to Michael, even though all that work was now lost; it just meant he got to spend more time with them.

Levi, however, was not content at all. He took his glass and lifted it in the air.

“Woah! It’s not that serious.” Skylar placed her hand on Levi’s shoulder.

He sighed and lowered his hand. “Can I still throw it?” He gave puppy dog eyes. “Please.”

“No?” Skylar asked in a confused way.

A shattered glass interrupted the rain. “Sorry.” He gave a sly look. “I feel better now, though.”

Skylar sighed, searching for the dust pan.

All-nighters are something college students are accustomed to, but one of the members, Rebecca, had already spent the last two nights pulling all-nighters, running solely on Red Bull and bitter coffee.

“G-guys, I don’t know if we will finish in time.”

“Don’t worry,” Calvin said. “It’s going to be okay!”

The lights suddenly went out, and they were all plunged into darkness. Everyone took out their phone flashlights.

“Or not.”

“You fuckin’ jinxed us, man,” Levi snarled.

“I may actually kill myself if I have to stay up one more night,” Rebecca said, hands on her head, rocking back and forth.

“No, no,” Skylar said, placing a hand on Rebecca.

“Dylan, set up a hotspot on your phone, and we will continue on my laptop. We will see if it saved to the cloud.”

“Aye, aye, captain!” Dylan saluted.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Michael left his nook by the window.

“Yeah!” Dylan handed him his phone. “I don’t know how these iPhones work. Set it up for me.”

“Alright…” Michael checked the settings, but the signal wasn’t there. “Hey Dylan.”

“Yes?” He said, walking in with a lit candle. “Does this make you guys feel romantic?”

“Ugh, shut up, Dylan,” Skylar said, trying to get her laptop to turn on.

Rebecca only nervously looked towards Michael.

“Anyone else cold?” Calvin shivered. 

“Heat’s out cause the power’s out, genius,” Levi said, wanting to throw a second glass.

A flash, then a boom of thunder, startled every person. 

Weightlessness overwhelmed them. A glowing red circle made of intrinsic symbols encompassed the room and shrank around the five of them.

 Except for Michael.

“What the hell is going on?!” Dylan fell down the gaping mass that swallowed the room. Soon, the rest followed.

In her panic, Skylar reached out her hand towards Michael, who was just outside the circle. He reacted at the last moment, their fingers interlocked.

When they did, the circle widened just a hair, just enough.

Then they were falling.