Chapter 1
I hate planes. They're big, they're loud and the food on board is always awful! It surprises me people even order anything with how poor the quality is, I mean, I don't want my first taste of Japanese food to be what the flight attendant tries to serve me.
Oh yeah, I'm going to Japan. Well, more like we are going to Japan. It's a group holiday, just me and a couple of friends, no parents, copious amounts of alcohol, I'm not sure why it had to be Japan though, I just think Michelle has an obsession with the country.
Now that I think about it, this entire trip was Michelle's idea. Really, most of our excursions are hers since she's the only one with enough 'motivation' to get everyone to leave their houses. She's an odd one, that's for sure, but the group is a mish mash of misfits you wouldn't assume would ever hang out together.
Take me for example. I don't want to label myself or my friends, because we really aren't that easy to classify, but some of the meaner kids in school would definitely call me a goth. Or emo, whichever group is the least coolest at the time of the insult, I guess.
So, it kind of doesn't make sense that I hang out with who I do. I'll use Tom, he's your standard jock. He's well liked, great at sports, really good looking, the whole shebang. Yet, we're friends.
I guess you really can choose who your friends are, huh?
Anyway, tagging along with me on this holiday are Tom and Michelle, whom I've already mentioned, along with Dylan, Jack, Alyssa and Jaime. I'll give you a quick run down of each.
Tom: Jock, as previously stated. He's the eldest of our group at 17, his birthday being in January, and when I said he was good-looking, I really meant it. Not to seem like a massive pervert or anything, but all that time at the gym definitely paid off for him, if you know what I mean.
Michelle is also really pretty. She keeps in shape by running all the time, she always invites me to join her on her runs but I can't keep up with her, the girl has bucket loads of stamina. The fact that she's from Spanish descent doesn't hurt either as it means she's inherited a really beautiful skin colour and gorgeous black hair… I get jealous sometimes, being so pale and all.
Who should I describe next… hmm… Dylan. He's not muscular like Tom, but he matches him in height. You should also see some of his baby pictures, because he was adorable, especially because of his blonde hair and green eyes which just made him look like a freaking cherub or something. He's living with Tom and his parents at the moment since his own folks kicked him out. We thought it was because he came out as gay, but it turns out that Dylan had a major addiction to drugs. I don't know what kind since he doesn't like to speak about it but I think Tom helped him and he's clean now! I think…
Alyssa and Jaime are twins, but they try their best to make themselves look different. Alyssa is definitely the more feminine of the two, in fact, she's probably the most feminine of the group. She kind of has a reputation, if you know what I mean, but you could hardly blame her, all the guys are after her it seems. I think it's the hair, all long and blonde, although, it could have something to do with her chest size…
Jaime, on the other hand, is quite the tomboy. She used to play football when she was younger but then the boys stopped letting her play because she kept on beating them. That was funny. She cuts her hair short to differentiate herself from Alyssa and while she's not exactly masculine, she's not as into skirts and make-up as Alyssa is.
Finally, we have Jack. Jack is really smart, I reckon he's going to be the most successful out of all of us. He used to be bullied quite a bit when he was younger because of his skin colour, but he started to take some Tae Kwon Do lessons and now nobody messes with him! He's such a sweet guy though, don't let his image fool you because he's just the best…
So that's it… wait, you want to know who I am? Well, the name's Charlie. I'm, uh, relatively normal I guess. I'm kinda quiet, I can admit that, I'm the girl that sits at the back of the class who never answers questions and hides behind their fringe. Yep, that's me, let's move on now…
So, now, I'm sat in a taxi, making its way towards the hotel we were rooming at. Because our group is so large, we had to take two cars. I'm stuck in the middle of the back seat, squished between Jack and Tom whilst Michelle sits in the front, speaking to the taxi man in broken Japanese.
I chuckle at her attempts, but at least she tried to learn some phrases before we came here, I didn't even bother beyond learning, 'Konnichiwa' and 'Sayonara.'
I sighed and tapped on my phone, opening a game of Tetris as I waited for the cab to make its way through the awful traffic. Tom and Jack seemed to talk over me as I focused on the brightly coloured blocks on my screen. Fortunately, my phone was silenced so the rest of the people in the taxi were not exposed to that awful theme tune.
It took over an hour, apparently, it felt like 10 minutes to me since I was so engrossed in my little game. I crawled out of the cab after Tom shuffled out, letting Michelle deal with the money issue as the taxi driver handed us our luggage. I followed Tom towards the hotel's entrance, where Dylan, Alyssa and Jaime were stood, waving at us.
We had rented two rooms for this holiday, one for the boys and one for the girls. Jaime tagged along with Michelle as they went to the receptionist to get our key whilst Dylan went to get the guy's key. That left me stood there with Alyssa, who was practically buzzing.
"Hey, Charlie, are you excited?" Alyssa asked me, her green eyes shining as she bounced back and forth on her heels.
I smiled at Alyssa the same way one might smile at a barking puppy, "Sure, maybe not as excited as you" I teased the blonde girl, flipping my fringe out of my eyes so I could properly look at her.
Alyssa stuck her tongue out at me, "Don't be like that Char, I know you're excited, you can never be too cool to be excited."
I laughed at that, "Wow, cool? I don't think that's a word that has ever been used to describe me before."
Alyssa rolled her eyes, "Whatever, come on, they're coming back" she motioned with her head to Michelle and Jaime, grabbing her suitcase with one hand and meeting the two of them.
I followed Alyssa as we managed to squash ourselves into an elevator. All four of us were pressed against each other as we sent the lift up to the 3rd floor, were out room was located. I stumbled out first as the elevator doors opened, narrowly avoiding a Japanese businessman.
"S-Sorry" I smiled apologetically as I walked past him, hearing Michelle utter a "Gomen" behind me. I guess I know how to say sorry in Japanese now.
I waited by our room door as Michelle struggled to fit the key in. She turned the key and walked in, leaving the door wide open for us.
I walked in second, followed by Alyssa and Jaime. The room was kind of small, but it had two double beds and it wasn't like we were going to be spending a lot of time in here. I heaved my suitcase onto one of the beds, claiming it as my own.
The other girls did as I did, apparently I'd be bunking with Jaime, before sitting themselves down wherever they could. I sat on the desk of a small vanity we had in the room and looked at the others.
Jaime was lying down between our cases on the bed, tired out from the long journey. Maybe she had jet lag? Alyssa seemed okay, she was sat on her case with just as much enthusiasm in her as earlier and Michelle had her head stuck in the bathroom, checking it out.
There was a knock at our door and Michelle skipped over to open it.
"Yo!" was all I heard before Dylan pushed his way in, a grin on his face. He was followed by Jack and Tom before Michelle shut the door behind them. They stood around as Michelle locked the door, chuckling ominously.
"Now that we're all here…" Michelle shuffled closer to the group, "We can do this!" she yelled, pulling out a piece of paper from her pocket.
We all stared at her weirdly, Jaime even managed to sit up to give Michelle a confused look, "Why is that piece of paper shaped like a man?" she asked, her tone of voice telling us she was clearly just humouring the other girl.
Michelle rolled her eyes, "It's a charm, obviously" she sighed, "Come on Jaime, you need to keep with the times."
Jaime looked at me, as if to say, "What the hell is she talking about?" I just shrugged my shoulders at the other girl before turning my attention back to Michelle who was explaining the charm.
"It's called Sachiko ever after" she started, "It's supposed to ensure that whoever takes part in it stay friends forever" she smiled, "We'll all be going our separate ways eventually, I just thought it would be nice to do this, to make sure we're always friends."
I looked at everyone else. They each had a look that caught between pity and sadness. We all knew the group would eventually split, Jack would almost certainly go on to an esteemed university and obtain a degree in something I can't pronounce, maybe even a doctorate. Tom would go on to play some sort of sport professionally, hopefully, heck, even Alyssa would go on to probably have her own business, I'm not sure what, but that girl could definitely do it.
I shrugged, "Okay" I broke the silence, "How do we do it?"
Michelle smiled at me, "We each hold on" she outstretched her hand with the paper man in it, "Then we each chant 'Sachiko Ever After' in our heads seven times, one time for each person holding on, before pulling the paper. Then, we can each keep our piece with us" she grinned.
Tom was the first to take hold of the paper man. I soon followed and each person joined with Jaime being the last.
"Ready?" Michelle asked, earning nods and smiles from everyone in the group.
Sachiko Ever After, Sachiko Ever After, Sachiko ever After, Sachiko Ever After, Sachiko Ever After, Sachiko Ever After, Sachiko Ever After!
I pulled, tearing a piece of leg from the paper man and holding it in my hand. I looked at everyone else. They each had their own piece in their hands with smiles on their faces.
Suddenly, the room started to shake. Alyssa screamed as she fell, holding onto the bed. Jaime tumbled backwards onto the bed as I fell into the vanity behind me. Jack toppled over into Dylan, leaving them splayed out on the floor as Michelle fell backwards, hitting her head on the wall.
Tom managed to stay standing the longest, but he too ended up falling over into the entranceway of the bathroom.
"What's going on!" someone yelled, Alyssa I think.
"It must be an earthquake!" came the deep voice of Jack, "Stay down!"
I wasn't sure 'stay down' was the right advice to give, but I had no time to react as my vision faded to black.
…
"Char! Charlie!" I heard a distant voice, "Wake up! God damn Char!"
I took a deep breath as my vision returned to me. I squinted as my vision blurred before my eyes managed to adjust to the light, not that there was much of it.
I immediately recognised the guy shaking me, "J-Jack?" I croaked out, earning a relieved smile from the boy in question.
"Char! Thank fuck!" he exclaimed as he wrapped his arms around me, "Are you okay? You're not hurt are you?" he asked as he retreated from me.
I sat up fully, only just realising I was sat on a wooden floor, nothing like the carpet of the hotel room I had just been in. I looked around at the room and recognised it as a classroom.
"Where are we?" I asked Jack, looking around, "Where is everyone else? What-" I slapped my hand to my mouth as my gaze locked onto something.
Lying a few feet to my right was a body. A rotten, maggot-infested body. A real fucking corpse!
I let out a strangled cry as I detached myself from Jack's grip and scooted backwards, "What the fuck!" I cried out.
Jack followed my gaze and sighed, his expression resigned, "Yeah, I noticed" he muttered, gesturing behind him to a pile of fresh bile. I winced at the sight and buried my head between my legs. I rubbed my hands along my jeans as I tried to calm myself down.
"J-Jack, where is everyone? Michelle? Alyssa? Tom?" I asked him.
Jack just shook his head, running one hand through his buzzed hair, "I have no idea, there's just me and you here" he sighed, "Look, Char, we should get out of here, wherever we are, we're not safe" he gulped, "I can feel it."
I nodded my head as he stood up, offering me a hand. I took it and he pulled me up, not letting go as he dragged me towards the door. It slid to the side, insinuating we were still probably in Japan.
I gripped Jack's hand tighter as we stepped outside of the classroom. There was a massive gap in the floor to our left, leaving the classrooms to our left impossible to get to. I looked to my right, past Jack as we stood there alone in the hallway.
We weren't alone. Whatever brought us here wanted to hurt us, I could feel it. My skin crawled and my hair stood on end as I felt the eyes watching me and I suddenly got the feeling that we wouldn't make it, not me, not Jack, nor anyone else who was here.
No, we weren't going to survive. I was going to die here, my corpse was going to rot on the floor like the one in the classroom. My skin was going to be devoured by maggots and my skeleton would remain lost in the hallways of this school.
I was going to die.