Drip
The stairs were filled with blood, flowing red blood
The red light shone on the puddle of blood making It look brighter, Seeing his bright reflection on the wall painted with red
Looking to his right, he saw a similar scene. Blood moved through the small gaps of the Classroom doors at the end of the hallway
THUD
Loud noises were heard from the classroom, each loud thud made even more blood force its way out the narrow gap
The sensation of his mouth feeling dry pounded in his mind, both hands numbed with fear, a certain cold penetrated through the skin, on the staircase fingers trembled and wiggled, Cale's fingers shivering along with them
The calm and collected mind Cale had mustered moments prior blanked at the scene, his vision filled with hundreds of thick pitch black lines pointing at the classroom doors while the other few that remained all pointed at the stairs next to him.
Gulping down his fears, he drew a cold breath through his cracked lips and down the parched mouth begging for moisture.
The room had turned so cold that Cale started shivering not out of fear, but out of the sudden drop in temperature
Taking a soft step backwards, his legs felt weary with heaviness, the shivering threw Cale's mind into even more panic and chaos
Step
"...."
Nothing, complete and utter silence, cold air kept on filling the constantly burning lungs
Step!
Another step was taken backwards which was not as soft and gentle as the previous one
No reaction... it was deathly silent. Normally, happiness would prop his spirit up for the silence, but instead a certain creeping unease crept on him
"...."
Standing there for what felt like hours, Cale waited until the loud thudding against his rib cage calmed
"Huap!"
Taking a deep cold breath. He turned around lightning fast and started running faster than ever before
Thin Pitch black lines started to appear out of thin air as feet moved erratically towards one singular goal
Cale attempted to retrace his steps to the staircase he had gone down before
'I'm running out of time!'
It seemed that whatever was holding them back before either escaped to survive or got neutralized by these things, or so Cale theorized in his mind
'The latter seems more plausible'
Even though these pitch black lines started appearing, They didn't react to Cale's running at all
'Are they cautious of me? or are they conserving their strength'
Such useless thoughts were not entertained for long
"I'm not sticking around to find out"
What kind of idiot would wait for a monster that looked like an amalgamation of humanity's biggest fears to catch up and eat him alive?
'I should have just gone the same way I went down, why did I have to do that?!'
Reaching the stairs before long, cursing and disciplining himself not to repeat the same mistake as before Cale made an ironic thought
'First used to get down a floor, then used again to go up the same floor? This might just make me laugh'
Fortunately there weren't any pitch black lines pointing directly at the stairs this time
Quickly rushing up the stairs, Cale took one last look behind
There was a trail of blood following, It felt truly and utterly disturbing to his eyes, but Cale knew he couldn't focus on something like that when even a second wasted could cost his fragile life
Resuming his movements, a sharp turn right was executed smoothly, his legs kept drawing closer to the corridor
"Classroom 23!"
Finding the classroom and the Closer he got to it, The quicker Cale's heart beat
His curiosity forced him to look behind, the same blood trail was seen following, as if something were dragged across the floor
Cale's left dominant leg felt numb, tingling with a certain prickle
It made him look down at his leg
BA THUMP
A speeding heart beat started accelerating across the nonexistent asphalt road
BA THUMP
It gained traction with each passing second
BA THUMP
His stomach churned wildly at the disgust he felt
The bones were exposed from his foot, blood shot from the gaping wound like a river, by the time Cale had reached classroom 23 and passed the red painted broken door
He was accompanied by a familiar darkness before he could even process what had happened.
Everything was engulfed in darkness and when his eyelids shot open with, Cale saw desks lined in formation with books on top of each one.
"Huh"
'My theory...had been right?'
Gazing at his foot, he saw it completely untouched and pure without any bloodstain or bone exposed
"H-Ha"
A sigh of relief flowed naturally through his lips
'Thank god it was a hallucination'
It was just an unsavory illusion caused by panic
'Right, If something like that really happened then I wouldn't even be able to walk'
There wasn't any pain as well, supporting this claim more, his mind then drifted from the nonsensical illusion
'That was... easier than I thought?'
While his life had been in danger just moments ago, this feeling...
"I'm a bit disappointed?"
Survival? Just like that? So suddenly?
"Unless..."
"!"
Eyes widened at the thought of what Cale's brain created with realization
'Damn it! why didn't I think of something so obvious before!'
He ruffled through his slightly messy hair
'The reason they didn't attack me before as I was running up the stairs to reach classroom 23....'
It felt obvious what he had to do next
'I still have to leave the school!'
If his schedule was finished for today, what would be the next thing to do?
Leaving school was the only thing left. Was it not?
This was a checkpoint, only meant to serve as a breather and give him enough time to be able to come up with a plan on what has to be done next in order to ensure survival, nothing more, nothing less.
'At least I was able to confirm that they were indeed following a schedule'
That thought brought a tinge of solace to his panic-driven mind but he quickly dismissed the happiness of being right and focused on the present
'Can I safely assume that when I get out of the Classroom after getting my books, they are all going to target me the moment I appear?'
It made sense when he thought about it carefully, If they were forced to follow a schedule, then what happens when the schedule ends?
Their movements wouldn't be restricted and they could do anything within that moment of freedom that would be granted upon them
'And them letting me go to Classroom 23 after that 'thing' did something to them and forced them to keep their attention on it leaving with nobody watching and paying attention to me'
"Was it to trap me?"
However, that ridiculous theory felt further from the truth deep down
"The darkness that engulfs me when I get transported to Gardenia would also engulf my vision and leave me unable to see anything, leaving me defenseless for a short period of time...."
'No maybe I'm overthinking things'
It was a leap in logic, even for Cale, of course it could be true and they really were planning something like that, however
Even if they were smart enough to pull something like that, It wouldn't matter at all, knowing they might have set a trap doesn't do anything, It just made Cale more prepared and more alert than ever
Which should be a given if he was dealing with some supernatural phenomenon
'The only thing I need to know is that those things might potentially gang up on me and start beating the daylights out of me'
Whether or not they are capable of making intelligent and strategic plans should be none of his concern
"Cale Dice! Get in line!"
His thoughts were snapped and cut with scissors that brought him out of the trance like state he was in
"...."
Quietly. Cale listened, getting in line and starting to shove the books inside of his navy blue backpack while also readying himself for a fight or flight response the instant he gets sent to Gardenia
'Can I beat those monsters though?'
Cale wasn't particularly confident in fighting a horde of monsters, but one monster? How hard could a monster masquerading and pretending to be a student be?
'No wait, hold on, that shouldn't be my goal here, should it? My goal is Survival, nothing else, so I should stick to that goal like glue'
Fighting doesn't always guarantee survival after all
'I just need to run and get out the school before anything ridiculous happens again'
The books were shoved deeply into his plump backpack, faster and faster, he only focused on putting the books into the backpack as fast as possible, impatience gnawing at his throbbing mind
"Ah"
In the end, he reached the Final book
It was a book about Essays and writing
"Ah yeah that's a new subject this year"
His lips parted in a mutter, no one hearing his leaking thoughts
The book was about Essays and overall how to write a better passage or anything involving Writing.
In primary and middle school there were many subjects that included or required knowledge on how to write good essays in order to get higher grades.
High School however had a subject completely and utterly focused on Essays
'I remember how my Sister told me to at least focus and pay attention to the Essay classes, saying that it would be important'
"Important my ass"
In Cale's unbiased opinion, he believed that the current ordeal he was faced was far more important than this random school subject.
He took one last glance at it and shoved it in the backpack along with his other 18 books that were forcibly shoved there.
"It seems like you're done?"
The person who appeared to be a teacher at this school asked him in a soft but tired tone.
"Yes I am done, So now what should I do?"
'Please, please don't tell me there is more'
His heart was already struggling and coping with this situation
'You aren't going to say I need to do more, right?'
"Well, there's nothing else for you to do but go back home and wait till tomorrow"
"!"
Triumphantly, Cale wanted to raise a fist chuck full of sheer relief but held back in the end and asked another question
"I heard that everyone's classes for tomorrow will be four hours, Is that correct teacher?"
'Gabriel had told me this fact last night, but it was always better to ask a teacher for confirmation, right?'
"Ah that, well yeah it's true but it's only for tomorrow"
'Why couldn't it be for at least an entire week?'
His lips almost parted and leaked the inner thoughts of Cale
"I see..."
Responding half-heartedly, his gaze involuntarily lingered onto the piles of paper the teacher had to sort through
'I don't know what the contents of the paper are but-'
"Have a nice day teacher"
He said, with pure intentions
"Ah, You too" The teacher said before alternating his attention to the piles of documents
Tok
Tok
Steps tapped on the floor closer to the door, It didn't take long before he stood right before the rectangular door
A deep breath like before was drawn, the warm air soothed his lungs
Cale prepared Himself to start running the moment he gets transported to Gardenia
Stepping outside
An eerie gentle darkness engulfed every single one of his surroundings, vision was no exception to this