The atmosphere grows tense with the clash of egos between the two students competing for their place in the discussion. Thomas clears his throat, climbs back onto the base next to Max, and addresses the students.
"So! Sorry for the confusion! Well, it's only fair that whoever got here first should start, right, Search Team B?"
Without objection, the crowd's eyes turn to Team B, awaiting an answer. Max looks the other way and crosses his arms, seeming bored with the situation.
A skinny girl with glasses and blonde hair steps forward from the group to speak. She swallows dryly and looks at Thomas. He nods, encouraging her to speak.
"Sorry, but, from what we can tell, we didn't find anything," she says, disappointed.
Max, watching the situation out of the corner of his eye, interrupts just as Thomas begins to gesture in response to Team B's report.
"That's what we thought until we looked on the top floor..." says Max.
Thomas looks at Max angrily but responds calmly.
"What do you mean by that? Were you in Group B?"
"Unfortunately, I was," sighs Max, looking at the ground.
Thomas looks to the girl for confirmation of what Max is saying, and she slightly raises her hands, indicating she didn't know.
"It was horrible!" yells a boy from the back of Team B, while another next to him laughs.
Thomas opens his mouth but swallows the words he is about to say, fearing it's not the right choice. The crowd looks at Max, apprehensive about what he will say next.
"Our group split up to check the floors, and I was left with the last one, the fifth floor," continues Max, looking down with his arms crossed. "When I went to check the first room, Mr. Port's, I noticed the doorknob was smeared with... blood... and that it continued along the walls of the hallway, like the tracks of an injured person who was trying to walk and stumbling against the wall."
"I thought there might be someone inside the room, so I went in, even though it meant getting my hands dirty with blood," says Max, looking at his own hand with a troubled expression. "To my relief, there was no one there. However, the chairs were all overturned, and I noticed something written in blood in the corner of the whiteboard: 'Help me' in contorted lines."
"So I ran out of the room and followed the trail as fast as I could. Along the way, I saw handprints on the walls that looked like someone trying to walk. My heart was pounding. And when I reached the last room in the hallway, there it was: the doorknob with blood on it again."
The few people who were still making comments while Max speaks seem to have fallen silent to hear the end of the story. Noah looks at Teresa and notices she is hugging her own knees.
"I quickly opened the door, and my instinct didn't disappoint me again. There was the figure of someone, sitting in the corner of the room, indistinguishable from the doorway where I stood watching." Max swallows dryly and frowns. "I moved closer and could hear their raspy breathing. Until I finally approached them, even though I couldn't identify the person with their face turned down and their head covered in blood. I slowly brought my ear close to their mouth, and then they told me something." Max glances at Thomas out of the corner of his eye and gives a one-sided smile, in a way that only he can see.
Thomas feels pressured to act fast, as his intuition seems to be telling him that something is wrong with Max's behavior.
"Okay, everyone! That's enough stories for today! Let's continue with Team A," Thomas tries, clapping his hands to get everyone's attention.
The students look at each other, but no one seems to have much initiative. A few comments can be heard:
"I want to hear the end of the story!"
"You said it yourself, we need to gather all the information from the teams!"
Thomas, realizing he made a mistake, backtracks on his decision, frustrated, and asks Max to continue.
"As I was saying, the figure told me something. And that something made me pay more attention to who is around us, to who we let speak and give us orders as they please."
Thomas furrows his brow and can't hide his angry expression as he looks at Max.
"'The result of the actions Thomas took today will prove that he is the stupidest one here,'" Max lifts his face, with a slight smirk.
The people look around and begin to argue with one another in raised voices. Chaos erupts again. The two students from the back of Team B are now laughing loudly.
"This is going to be interesting," Noah mutters.
Teresa looks around confused, seeming to search for answers in the side conversations.
"Oh, please! You know he only did that to try and slander me! You saw his malicious smile when he looked up!" Thomas shouts amidst the conversations, in a tone unusual for him.
Most of the students seem to hear what Thomas said, but many side conversations are still happening.
"'Be wary of those who seem too good. Sometimes, perfection is just a well-made mask,'" Teresa says in a low voice, but loud enough for Noah to hear.
"That thing you said... is that from that detective game, by any chance?" Noah asks.
"No... It's from a book we were assigned in literature class last month. For some reason, even with Thomas speaking well, I believe Max more... Thomas joined my class not too long ago, but he's always like this. He seems to think he's destined to guide others, and the worst part is that people actually fall for what he says," Teresa replies.
"Hmm, you said he arrived in your class recently. Do you think he's new to the school?"
"No, I heard he was transferred between classes. I just don't know if he came from C or A... He's never mentioned it."
"So I can assume you're from Class B?"
"Yes, and which one are you from?" Teresa asks, interested.
All conversations are interrupted by a loud whistle from Thomas. Everyone looks at him as he takes his fingers from his mouth after whistling. He composes himself to speak.
"So." He coughs. "After this mess created by Max's fake story to scare you, why don't we continue with the reports from the other groups? Group A was the second to arrive, but I wanted to give Group C the honor of presenting first."
Thomas, without waiting for objections, sits down on the base of the statue and waits for what Group C has to say, but without seeming very interested, somewhat lost in thought. Max lets out a soft laugh, unnoticed by many, steps down from the base, and talks with a few nearby students.
The attention turns to Group C, and Noah, along with the other members, look at each other to decide who will speak. Amid the confusion and lack of time, the Asian boy with glasses begins to gesture before even consulting the group.
"I can confirm that there was nothing out of the ordinary in Building C," he says, in a direct and dry tone.
When Thomas hears the boy's voice, he immediately stands up and straightens his posture, waiting to see if he will say anything else. Meanwhile, Teresa feels guilty, as if she should have spoken in his place.
"Perfect! Let's continue with Group A, then. And, since I'm part of it, I'll share what we saw, if that's not a problem for the people in my group." Thomas adjusts himself, looks briefly at the students from Group A, and continues.
"Believe me, what I'm about to tell you was a surprise to me as well. It seems all the other groups split up inside their buildings, and we did the same. I was in charge of the first floor along with my new friend Barbara, and she can attest to everything." Thomas turns and points to a girl with long, curly hair and rosy cheeks. She responds by shrugging, and her cheeks turn even redder.
"Obviously, everything on the floor was normal; there was no blood or anything of the sort. However, in the last room on the first floor, there was a peculiar sentence written on the whiteboard." Thomas pauses and then continues: "'Don't believe Class A. They are responsible for this.'"
Again, the students begin to talk amongst themselves. Thomas continues to finish his report, even with the commotion.
"Barbara and I started checking the room to see if there was any sign that another student might have entered before us, but we concluded that it would be practically impossible."
Thomas lowers his face, presses his lips together, and seems to wipe his hands on his pants. He waits a few moments before asking for Group D's report.
"Wait a minute!" Max shouts from amidst the crowd.
"What?" Thomas replies.
"What was the sentence on the board written with?"
"Chalk, obviously. What else would it be?"
"I just find it strange... You know, considering there wasn't any chalk in any of the rooms. And, you know, I don't think anyone would bring chalk on a trip to a mountain," Max replies, shrugging.
"That just proves that whoever wrote it wasn't one of us. But that was already obvious; I said it was impossible for anyone to have reached the room before me and Barbara. What's your point?" Thomas responds, annoyed.
"Exactly! None of us would do that! You know, I just find it interesting that you omitted that little detail from us," Max presses his lips together, shrugs again, and walks away.
Thomas takes a deep breath and continues.
"Okay, please!" He gets the students' attention by clapping. "Let's just finish up with Group D. Which one of you wants to speak?"
The members of Group D look at each other, pointing at one another, but none of them seem to want to take the initiative. With the tense moment, Thomas speeds up the process and insists that the girl at the front should speak. She turns to him, looking uncomfortable, and tries to begin.
"Erm... We... we were..."
"Everyone, let's hear what our classmate has to say. I ask that you please pay attention," Thomas interrupts, silencing the side conversations with the intention of helping her.
"In the last room on the top floor... we noticed there was a doorknob smeared with something red..." The girl takes a second to recover.
The students grow agitated.
"Tsk, this shit again..." Thomas says in a tone slightly louder than a whisper.
"Blood?!" shouts one of the students.
"It was blood, yeah! Ha ha ha!" yells Max, now further away, while talking with a group.
"No... it wasn't blood, we made sure. Norman confirmed it for us; he takes advanced biology," the girl replies, pointing to a quiet boy with white hair and pale skin from Group D.
"But, continuing... We opened the door and saw a sentence written on the whiteboard with what appeared to be the same red liquid from the doorknob."
The girl pauses for a few moments.
"It said: 'There is a demon in Class D,'" she says slowly, swallowing dryly.
This time, no comments come from the crowd. A mixture of disbelief and confusion takes over the atmosphere. Thomas furrows his brow and begins to think, bringing a hand to his chin. Max moves closer to see what's happening.
"Impossible..." says Teresa, speaking to Noah, which makes him look at her.
"Everyone knows that the students from Class D are the rotten trash of Grand Four. There's no way something like that could come from them. Right?" she continues.
"Erm... Yes, it's impossible, for sure," Noah replies, not really knowing what to say.
Teresa nods in agreement, and they both turn their attention back to the scene.
"One more question..." Thomas interrupts the silence. "What was the reason you were the group that took the longest, by a wide margin?"
"Oh, right. I forgot to say. Unlike all of you, we didn't split up when we entered the building. We saw all the rooms together," the girl answers.
"But why?"
"It was suggested that it would be a better option, even if it took longer. That way, there would be no way for someone to alter something in a room or lie about what they saw."
Max leaps back onto the base of the statue while Thomas is distracted.
"Grand Four!" Max shouts, opening his arms. "It is with great regret that I must interrupt this meeting!" he says with a sarcastic laugh.
"Was it you?" Thomas asks Max directly.
Max hears the question, looks at Thomas, and points at him, mocking him in front of the other students.
"I don't think I heard you right! It seems Thomas wants to ask me a question!" Max shouts, still pointing. "What do you want to ask me?"
"Was it you... who told Group D to go along with your story?"
"Thomas, Thomas... Look at me! I would never manipulate or use another person to do what I want! I'm very disappointed to know you'd expect that from me, you know?" Max makes a sad face and points to himself.
Thomas, seeming to hold back his words, lowers his face for a second and, upon looking up again, simply thanks everyone for their participation, steps down from the base of the statue with a slight smile on his face, and quickly disperses among the students.