Alden's face paled, losing its earthly tone for a whiter shade.
He stood frozen, his mind muddled and his hands trembling.
"Alden, these computers stopped working as well…" Vale had originally intended to speak further, but noticing Alden's pale face, his voice trailed off.
…How?
How come only now he'd realized his brother was stuck in the same hell as he was?
Dark thoughts whirled in his mind.
Is his brother well, or has he vanished with the unlucky 30%?
"Alden, what happened?" Assuming that Alden had discovered something dire related to their situation, Vale inquired.
Hearing his question, Alden broke from his trance.
Swiftly looking down, he locked eyes with the child.
"Hey, kid. Do you know where Arian is? He's in your cohort," Alden whispered, careful not to startle the child.
Wiping his tears, the kid attempted to recall.
"...Which Arian? There's two," he mumbled under stifled breath.
"Altair...his name is Arian Altair," Alden replied, shaking.
"…Uhh, I'm sorry, I'm not sure where he is," he said, shaking his head.
"…Are - are you sure?" stuttering, with his face paling further, Alden looked beggingly at the boy.
Rowan, having finished checking a random phone signal - to no avail - came over. "Signals off here too… what's Alden doing?" Asking Vale, Rowan stared bewildered at Alden.
"I'm not sure; I think he's looking for his brother," squinting his eyes and caressing his beard, Vale guessed accordingly. Then continued.
"…I can't tell if he's actually lucky or unlucky; if whatever's happening in this school is only happening in the school, he's quite unlucky…"
"But if it's happening everywhere all at once, he's lucky, isn't he? After all, he gets to go through it with his own brother, of course, given that his brother is doing well," he concluded.
…
"But wait, even though I don't know which classroom he's in. I'm sure it's in this building at least," the boy, having calmed down somewhat, said.
"And why is that…?" Alden, clutching to whatever hope, questioned.
"Because I was walking with him earlier," he replied.
"...Hey, Alden. We'll take care of it here; you can go and look for your brother," looking at Alden's distress, Rowan advised him.
"...Alright, good luck," already sprinting out of the classroom, he replied under his breath.
Alden went to the first class to his right.
The crying hit him instantly; it wasn't quiet, it was panicked screeching that grated against his ears. It was filled with young kids - and luckily a teacher trying to calm them down.
The majority of them sat clinging to their desks for dear life - faces red with fear and wet from tears. A few were on the floor, their hands covering their ears, presumably in an attempt to block the world out.
The young male teacher stood at the front, his raised voice trembling, yet he tried to sound as gentle as he could, of course, to no avail.
"Everyone sit down, please. Trust me, it'll be fine; they'll come back…," he promised them.
Alden didn't believe him.
He lied.
Swiftly scanning the room, he did not find his brother.
Alden backed away from the class slowly.
The next class was different than those before; it was a class made of older students. 15, maybe 16. In this one, no one was crying - except a few with red in their eyes.
Yet their silence somehow made it worse. Because this class was missing a teacher, they had quickly split into small groups, whispering over each other and checking their phones.
"…No signal," one girl stammered.
"Mine's dead," another followed.
"Should we try the internet?" a boy suggested.
Another boy slammed his fists against the table, swearing his heart out.
Alden's chest tightened; not even bothering to look for his brother, he moved on to a different class.
This one is making his steps falter.
Younger kids again, but this time no teacher to comfort them. The front of the class was empty, with a pen on the floor.
He looked around the room quickly, half scanning for his brother, half hoping to find the teacher helping one of the wailing students.
He didn't find them, and his heart began to race. Forcing himself to leave the seemingly abandoned kids in the classroom alone, he went out to the remaining class.
This one had older kids, but again no teacher.
He did not find his brother.
Fear gripping his heart, he hurried back to the first classroom - where that child knew his brother. Only minutes had passed since he left, but thanks to the professor, from afar it sounded like the screaming had dulled significantly.
On his way back, Alden saw some of the braver older students stepping out, looking around, and their voices rising.
"Where are all the adults?" one questioned, looking around.
"Should we try to leave the school?" another suggested, unaware of the tiger roaming the school grounds.
Alden didn't tell them.
His mind paid them no heed. Only being filled with worry for his kin.
Or maybe it had and had just decided to ignore them?
Upon entering the class, The professor, Vale, and Rowan were in; Alden quickly locked in to the child he had interrogated beforehand.
Ignoring Rowan's questioning look and Vale's understanding sigh, he went to the child and asked simply.
"Do you know who shared a class with him?" Alden inquired.
"…I guess?" the kid replied, slightly confused.
"Ok good, come with me." Trying to sound as gentle as possible, Alden led the kid outside. Awhile under Rowan's confusion and Vale's subsequent explanation.
This floor only had two classrooms with kids his brothers' age, the one to the right and one further down.
He entered the first room with the kid in hand.
"…Is this his class?" he asked, masking the panicking in his voice.
"No…" the kid replied.
Swiftly leaving after a glance at the teacher's puzzled gaze, Alden instantly led the kid to the only other class that his brother could've been in.
On the way he tried to convince himself of the reason he couldn't find his brother when he went to that class alone.
Maybe his brother may have left early, or maybe he had gone to the bathroom.
Maybe he was hiding under the desk?
Alden didn't believe himself either but was just trying to cling on to any hope he had left.
Upon arriving at the door, he took a deep breath before entering with the kid.
"…What about here…?" he asked, praying that his guess was wrong.
"…Yh, it's this one," the kid said, tears starting to build up again.
Alden's heart couldn't take it any longer.
"Hey!" he shouted at the top of his lungs to the still screaming children, still only barely being louder.
"Where is Arian?! Arian Altair Caelum?!" Alden screamed, his voice more a screech than a question.
"…He was just here…then he just disappeared…," one of the braver kids, apparently Ariane's friend, pointed to the seat next to him.
Alden stared dazedly at the seat the boy pointed at.
He numbly left the room, leaving the kid to speak with his friends in class.
He couldn't make it far before he sank to the floor, his feet giving out.
The noises around him blurred; both the crying of children and the older kids' discussions merged into incoherent noise.
Images of forgotten childhood memories passed through his mind. His eyes tearing up.
He didn't know what to do.
He was lost.
…
Some time later, Alden finally began to hear the discussions happening around him again. The first thing he heard made his blood run cold.
"…so the eastern gate?" someone asked.
Alden's downcast head snapped up.
"Yes, that should be the safest way to leave this place," another replied.
A cluster of older kids had come together, brainstorming ways to escape and find help.
Leave this place?
Leave?
They didn't know…
They didn't know about the tiger!
Alden used the wall to steady himself, his legs still shaking as he stood up.
"Wait - " Alden's words were interrupted.
"No," the professor, coming from afar, had interjected. "You can't," he finished.
The students all looked at him oddly, puzzlement filling their eyes.
"…There's…something outside," he continued. "Some form of tiger…and it's deadly."
Panic once again engulfed all the recently calmed students. The majority are silent, but some are questioning.
"A tiger?!" one student was filled with disbelief.
"You're joking…right?" another asked with trepidation.
"We… We're all going to die! Aghhh!" one of the older boys finally couldn't take it, shouting incessantly.
But before his crazed look had the opportunity to spread to the wider crowd, the professor silenced him.
"Enough! We stay together here. With no one wandering off! And we will be alright! …trust me," but even he wasn't so sure of that last part.
But because of his blind confidence, both the younger and older kids finally managed to find a figure of support. And at last the majority of the crying and wailing stopped.
Alden observed as the kids started to cling as close together as they could - all centered around the professor. He felt something break in his chest.
Adults had a way of calming children.
…yet Alden felt something was off. There were 5 classes in total - but only 2 teachers still present? 3 out of the 5 had vanished?
Coincidence or something else?
With the information he had, Alden couldn't put his finger on it just yet.
The professor suddenly pointed at Alden, interrupting his thoughts. Then he pointed to Vale, Rowan, and the remaining young male teacher. They all quickly gathered around him. He started.
"First priority, we have to let everyone know about that animal outside, and if there are any more around the school," the professor had already started planning.
There were 5 main buildings in this school, with 4 in each cardinal direction and 1 in the center. Each of the 4 outer buildings is connected to the center building.
"Second, we have to all gather together, every single student and teacher still here, and for that we need a large enough area," he continued.
"The cafeteria," Vale interrupted. "Not only has it got the most area, but it also has food and water supplies. Who knows how long it'll take for people to get here?"
"Yeah, the people in the other buildings will probably decide to go there too, right? It is the most logical," Rowan supported.
"Well… it's settled then. Let's start," the professor concluded.
Rowan turned to look at the kids, all awaiting their arrangement.
"Hey! To! The! Cafeteria!" Rowan screamed at the top of his lungs, hoping that his voice could travel to other buildings or at least a few different floors.
Led by the professor, the children started moving, with Rowan and Vale in the middle and Alden and the other teacher at the back.
…Alden cast one final glance at the class he'd last entered.
Towards that empty chair.
Towards where his brother should've been.
Then he turned his head, reeling in his emotions, and followed the others.