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// Cato I - The Morning After 
// Story: Calling Card 
// by TheGathering 
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Clove and Jackie just kept silent as I drove my motorcycle to school with them on board. In my mind, I couldn’t stop thinking about that dream. What the hell is underneath Canterlot High? Are there answers down there that could help me understand what that nightmare meant? I was confused, not to mention still getting chills on my neck from the sound of that diabolical laugh ringing in my head. What the hell was created in that audio? I needed answers, and right now, it seemed the best place to be looking for them would be underneath the High School me and my friends went to. I knew Clove and Jackie would be going to the Winter Formal soon, so I couldn't bring them with me. So instead, I was going to ask some of the guys if they could come along.

Needless to say, they were about as confused as I was when I told them about the nightmare and audio.

"So, let me get this straight" Marvel says as me, him, Ryan, Jason, Flash, Thresh, Noah, Urchin, and Thaddeus were all hanging around my locker. "You saw ghosts coming up from the old building underneath our feet and think that is a place where you can find at least some answers to explain what the hell happened last night?" 

"As weird as it sounds, Marv, yeah I do think so" I replied, to which the others still looked at me with confused faces. "I honestly have a gut feeling that if we don't find some answers soon, we'll be in worse shape down the road." 

"Cato trusting his gut instinct.. yep, usual indicator that isn't a joke" Thresh sighed. He was right. It was my gut instinct that had lead me to send Rue to spy on Cinch during the Friendship Games, and it was right. It was one of the weird traits that ran in my family. Whenever a Hadley's gut instinct was acting up, that was a sign that things weren't a joke and were actually serious. My friends knew of this, and it had gave forewarning of many things in school back in Panem Central Elementary, District 2 Middle, and District 2 High, and now here. 

"Cato, on a scale of 1 to 10, how bad does your gut think we'll be worse off if we don't go searching down there?" Thaddeus asked me. 

I took a gut check. "About 9.5" I replied, groaning in temporary pain. 

"Shit" Marvel whispered to the others, who nodded. The look on their faces turned from skeptical to serious. 

"Well, if it's that serious, I'm in" Thresh said, much to my surprise.

"But what about Rue-?" I started, but he interrupted me. 

"She'll be fine with Jackie and Clove and Finch, and the others going to the Winter Formal" Thresh said, and I nodded.

Flash then spoke up. "Cato, as your most loyal friend from this school, count me in on this, bro. I'm with you all the way."

Urchin looked deep in thought. Finally, after a while, he sighed. "I know Adagio will probably be mad that I'm not going to the Winter Formal with her, but after all that effort to save her and her sisters, I'm not going to let myself become complacent and lose all that I have gained" he spoke with determination. "Count me in, Cato." 

Thaddeus wisely opted out, which as stated, was a wise decision, given the state we found the building underneath us in. Jason nodded his head to say that he was on board, while Ryan only gave a thumbs-up. Noah, on the other hand, couldn't help but make a single comment before joining in that was soon be haunting me for the rest of the time I was in Canterlot High. "Seems like fate can't give you a break, Cato. Count me in as well."

Marvel, meanwhile, really looked reluctant at first, but as the others started joining onboard this idea, he finally sighed. "Oh boy, here we go again with this" he stated, before looking at me. "I'm in." 

I could only smile for a few seconds. "Excellent. Gentlemen, it is time to stock up on knowledge and prepare. We move next Friday night." 

We all headed to our classes that Friday morning, knowing full well that all we had worked for, all that we made for ourselves at Canterlot High, hung in the balance. Failure was not an option here. We had to find some answers down there, or we were done for. Little did any of us even imagine what we would actually find down there.