Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold, its characters, and setting.
A/N: This is an AU horror fic that I had been developing for quite a while now. This is based on the anime "Jigoku Shoujo (Hell Girl). For those who are not familiar with that anime, fret not, for I have written this fic to be enjoyed by both anime fans and non-fans alike.
Prologue: The Longest Monday
"RUN!"
Harold screamed as they dispersed in the school yard, running away from the fifth graders bent on shoving them into the trash cans. It's the day of the year where tradition dictates that the fifth graders would shove fourth graders into the trash cans, while the latter do the best they can to escape them and survive that day unscathed.
The escape plan had been laid out to the gang early that morning. The moment the bell rings, they are to run as fast as they could out of the classroom, make their way into the dangerous hallways, and make their way out of the building and split into three groups. The first group would be made of Rhonda, Nadine, Harold, Sid, and Stinky, while second group would be Gerald, Arnold, Eugene, Lila, Phoebe, and Sheena. The third group would be Park, Joey, and Iggy.
The first and second group would take different routes, and later rendevous at Park's safehouse near the pawnshop, while the third group would get the attention of the fifth graders, and draw them away from the first and second group. From there, they can plan their next move and make it to their homes unscathed.
Even before they even made it out of the school building, there were already "casualties". Eugene, being a jinx he was, tripped just as he made his way out of the classroom, where a fifth grader picked him right away and stuffed him into a waiting trash can. The gang was ambushed on their way out of the hallway, and Joey was the one unlucky enough to be picked out of the group and was stuffed into a trash can nearby. At the schoolyard, Arnold managed barely to rally the panicked group around, and executed their escape plan.
Arnold and his group made their way into the winding back alleys, and into the backyards of different houses. As they followed the complicated winding route, Arnold silently hoped that the other group was not ambushed or encounter any fifth grader along the way and make it to the safehouse in one piece. The reason the group was divided this was that if they should encounter any fifth grader along the way, the boys could easily hold them off and allow the girls to run towards safety. Arnold hoped Harold would be not the first one to run screaming "Mommy!" if their group should encounter any fifth grader, being a big coward that he was.
"Guy, we're here. Stay here. Arnold and I will check if the coast is clear," Gerald said to the girls hiding behind a dumpster. They then headed out of the alley, and looked left and right for any signs of fifth grader who might be patrolling the streets on this ominous day.
"Clear!" Arnold called out to the girls, and they dashed across the street and into the alley beside Mrs. Vitelllo's flower shop. Behind the dumpster was a confused pile of corruggated metal sheets and cardboard arranged to make a makeshift shack. Arnold headed to the small door with a "Biohazard" symbol painted on it. He knocked on it three times. The person inside replied with two knocks, to which Arnold replied with three. The door swung open inwards, Park holding it open for the group.
"Come in, come in, hurry! Are you complete? Was anyone left behind?" he asked as he turned on the light.
"As you know, Eugene never made it out of the school. Aside from him, we're in one piece," Gerald replied as he reclined on a beanbag couch.
"Yahoo soda?" Park handed a bottle to Arnold from an icebox in the corner of the shack.
"Thanks, Park," Arnold said, and assisted in handing out Yahoo sodas to the girls.
After a few minutes, a furious knock came on to the door. Before Park could even respond with a "challenge knock", the door flew open and Sid, Harold, Rhonda, and Nadine rushed in, all sweaty, panting heavily.
"Guys, what happened?" Arnold asked, looking at each and one of their faces. "Where's Stinky?"
"He...he didn't make it..." Sid said sorrowfully, shaking his head.
"They got him! Right at the corner of Vine Street, they came out of nowhere, and...and..." Harold hung his head in sorrow, unable to go on with the story.
"Animals!" Gerald cursed beneath his breath.
"And look what they made me do with my dress!" Rhonda bawled out, pointing to the torn spot on her dress. "Mom just got it from Paris! I swear, when I get home tonight, I'll write all of the fifth graders' names on the Hell Network Portal."
There was a collective gasp among the fourth graders as they looked at Rhonda in horror. Rhonda scowled at them.
"What? I'm just kidding! And for all they've done for today, they all deserved to go to he-"
"Uh guys...what's the Hell Network Portal?" interrupted Arnold.
All of the eyes switched from Rhonda to Arnold, looking at the blond boy incredulously.
"What?! Boy howdy! You mean, you don't know about the Hell Online Portal?" Sid asked him, looking at Arrnold as if he had grown a second head.
"Uh, no. Never heard of it," he replied, shaking his head.
"That's a legend in our school that has been passed from one kid generation to another kid generation. And I guess it's up for the Keeper of the Tale to tell you about the Legend of the Hell Network Portal. Take it away, Gerald," Sid said as he presented Gerald a wooden crate for his "podium".
Gerald cleared his throat as the fourth graders gathered around him, eager to hear the legend, even those who were familiar of it. He stepped on the wooden crate and went to his "storytelling mode".
"They say that if you hate someone enough, and you want him to disappear from this world, then you need to put his name on the Hell Network Portal. It is a website that one could only log in to at the stroke of midnight. Once you put the name of person yoy're really mad at, a girl will appear to you..."
Gerald paused, looking at everbody, building the tension surrounding his story.
"They say that she's a very lovely girl with a shimmering blonde hair tied in pigtails, deepest crystal blue eyes, and a cute pink dress. But don't be fooled...for she's the Hell Girl!" Gerald boomed. The fourth graders stared at him blankly.
Gerald gave them an annoyed look, failing to elicit an expected response.
"Ehem...she's the Hell Girl!" Gerald boomed once more. This time, the fourth graders gasped in horror. Gerald smiled in satisfaction.
"The Hell Girl would appear to you, and would agree to take that person straight to hell for you. But beware, for it comes with a price..."
"They say that the Hell Girl would make you sign a contract..."
"Um...what's a contract?" Harold asked stupidly.
Rhonda rolled her eyes at him, "A contract is a written agreement that you need to sign so you willl not chicken out of the deal in the future. Don't you know anything, Harold?"
"Anyway...as I was saying," Gerald said. "They say that the Hell Girl would make you sign a contract with her. In exchange of taking that person to hell for you, your soul would belong to her..."
"Which means?" Arnold asked.
"Which means that if you die, your soul will be taken to hell as well, no matter how good you were or your intentions were for bringing that person to hell."
Everybody gazed at Gerald, stunned.
"So my friends," he continued. "The moral of the tale is, vengeance may be an easy way out, but it comes with a heavy price to pay. And that's the legend of the Hell Network Portal." He then bowed down, and everybody clapped, amazed at Gerald's storytelling skills.
"Boy howdy, that Hell Girl is surely amazing and scary at the same time," Sid said to Arnold.
"Yeah, but I wonder who would actually put someone's name in the Hell Network Portal," he said.
"I'm ever so certain that if someone is angry enough, he would resort to using the Hell Girl even he'll go to hell in return," Lila chimed in.
"I have to concur with Lila," Phoebe agreed with her bestfriend. "A person who's consumed with vengeance would stop at nothing to satisfy his emotions, even taking the most irrational course of action."
Arnold nodded. He thought the notion of sending someone to hell in exchange of one's soul seemed to silly for him. If something could be settled peacefully and diplomatically, why would someone resort to violence, or vengeance, or selling your soul to some Hell Girl.
BAAAAAG! BAAAAAG!
A baseball bat busted through the door, punching a large hole on it. A face poked through hole and cackled evilly. Wolfgang!
"Here's Wolfgang!" he said, and he continued bustng down the door. The fourth graders screamed in panic. Trapped inside the safehouse, they are virtually sitting ducks in the face of the bloodthirsty fifth graders.
"Quick, to the windows! Hurry!" Park pointed to the windows, giving the girls a boost so that they could jump out first.
Finally, the door gave way and flew open, and the horde of fifth graders made their way in. They started their onslaught by grabbing the first fourth grader they saw and stuffing him into the trash can that they brought with them. Sid and Park who stood near the door were the first casualties. No mercy were shown even to the girls. Somebody grabbed Nadine as she pushed Rhonda out to the window, sacrificing herself to ensure her bestfriend to get away unscathed. Arnold, Gerald, and the other girls were able to climb out of the window and scamper to safety. Harold, who was too heavy to pull himself out of the window was left behind.
"Mommy!" was his last blood-curdling scream they heard from Harold as someone pulled him from the window.
"Harold!" Arnold said, turning around, preparing to go back to help him. Gerald grabbed his best friend's shoulder and gave him a dark look, shaking his head. Arnold hung his head, and with heavy heart, nodded, and went back on running away from the safehouse with the girls.
As they made their way across the winding alleys and streets, they formulated their plan. They were to make their way to the Sunset Arms boarding house, where they can rest and sit the rest of the day out, wait for nightfall, and go to their respective homes. Gerald would run ahead of the group to check the road ahead to warn them if any fifth grader might be waiting or laying an ambush for them, while Arnold with stay with the girls and cover the rear.
Arnold and the rest of what remained of the gang sat behind a dumpster, waiting for Gerald's "all clear" signal. They finally heard a wolf whistle. That's Gerald, and the road behind was clear. They stood up and continued running along the street.
As they passed a dark alley, something caught Arnold's eye. A blonde girl in a pink dress with a large pink bow tied up on her hair stood there, looking at him. He stopped to look at the blonde girl in pink. She seemed like they were of same age. Her golden locks tied in pigtails danced with the wind as she gazed at Arnold with her cold, emotionless, crystal blue eyes. There's something unsettling with that girl that made Arnold uneasy. Something that would make his hair on his back stand. There was something in his eyes that gave Arnold the creeps.
Something unearthly. Something not human.
Could be she's the girl in the legend? Could it be that she's the Hell...
"Hey Arnold! Are you gonna stand there and wait for the fifth graders to catch up!?" Gerald shouted at his friend, who was standing, staring blankly at the dark empty space in the alley.
Arnold turned to Gerald and shouted back, "Alright, I'm coming!"
Arnold turned back to the alley where the blonde girl in pink stood, only to see the dumpsters and the overflowing trash that filled them, and the dark, dank alleyway.
She's gone.
