Like always, thanks to zerowing21 for beta reading!
He didn't understand. It was just one instant of befuddlement. Everything was so confusing. Holden's drowsy eyes slowly came to life, but the area around him was all still a blur. It hurt to move. He rubbed his eyes and began to sit up as he looked around the room. It was the same room he was in when he was knocked out. The back of his head ached with pain, and he soon began to cough up blood.
The bookshelf in the back of the room was now empty. Almost as if nothing had ever been there. The file he was going to read was missing, as well as the note that fell out of the file. Holden began to search around the room, but was forced to decide against that when the pain in his head spread to the rest of his body. He slowly returned to his room, locking the door behind him.
It was four thirty in the morning. He was unconscious for nearly four hours. He lay in bed, wondering what had happened. What was in those files? Why did someone knock him out? What was the mastermind's goal? Why did people have to die? Holden sighed, thinking of the tragedies that had happened so far.
They were trapped in a school. Roxie Leeblossom; killed by Silvania Romanov. Silvania Romanov; executed by Monobear. Kyle Skyes; killed by Elyon Von Abyssal. Elyon Von Abyssal; executed by Monobear. Vashti Jikin; burned by Hannah Orion. Hannah Orion; executed by Monobear. Would this happen again? Who would be next?
Which brings them here; the students awoke the next morning to a new area opened up to them, the fourth floor. It all seemed so surreal. How many floors were there? Without question, the nine remaining students left to explore the fourth floor. Ariana and Ace, who were actually getting along, went to check out the classrooms. There was nothing in them, but poorly drawn pictures of the dead students on the chalkboards. There was a box of crayons lying on the floor that was missing a pink, blue, and green crayon.
Grey and Jade were looking in the newly opened chemistry lab. It was bland looking and had a few lab tables with beakers on them. In the back of the room was a cabinet full of bottles. Jade opened the cabinet, examining what was inside.
"Vitamins, minerals, amino-acids..." he muttered, "It's full of different kinds of supplements."
"Why would we need those?" Grey asked as he picked up a bottle with the letter X on it topped with a skull.
"Sophie might enjoy them." Jade said as he closed the cabinet. "She's an athlete, so I'm sure she'd like to use them."
"This one looks like poison." Grey placed the strange bottle back on the shelf.
"I'm sure it's not, but we can ask Monobear when we see him." Jade said. "Come on, let's see what else there is."
"Whatever." Grey muttered.
Meanwhile, Sophie, Amy, and Amp were exploring a huge room that reassembled a small auditorium. It was labeled the music room, and a grand piano sat on the stage. Amy, the Super High-School Level Musician, was ecstatic! She immediately sat down and played a classic song, while her two friends stood and listened.
"Amy, you're so good!" Sophie cried out.
"Maybe we can play a song for Monobear and he'll let us out!" Amp suggested.
"I highly doubt that." Amy said as she walked away from the piano and towards the two. "He's stubborn. He wants to watch us die."
"But we won't fall victim to him again." Sophie cheered. "I am done with that bear's petty little shit! I refuse to be used as some pawn in his demented game!"
"Girl's got balls!" Amp cried. "I like that! Down with the man! Or woman. We don't really know who's controlling the bear."
"We need to get with the others." Amy said. "We have to figure out how to find out who the mastermind is."
"Violence against the principle is against the school rules!" Monobear voice rang throughout the room. The three looked around and couldn't find the bear anywhere.
"He's listening." Amy growled. "Come on, we're going to the cafeteria. I don't want to stick around here anymore."
The two agreed and headed down to cafeteria. Grey and Jade were in the hallway by the chemistry lab, passing by a locked door labeled as the data processing room. Ariana and Ace tried to get into a locked room labeled as the headmaster's office, but failed. Valerie was examining a room labeled as the faculty room. There weren't any teachers around, but there were several grey desks in the room, each with a vase of flowers sitting on them. Holden entered the room, wanting to talk to Valerie about the night he had.
"Valerie?" Holden asked as he closed the door behind him.
"Oh, Holden!" she cried out in joy. "How are you? Did you go where I told you about?"
"Yes, I did..." Holden muttered. "But I wasn't able to explore much of it. Someone attacked me."
"Oh no... Who attacked you?"
"I'm not sure..." Holden scratched his head. "They came up from behind me and knocked me out. When I woke up, all the files were gone." Valerie crossed her arms and looked like she was in deep thought. Holden stepped closer to her. "I'm sorry... They were important files, weren't they?"
"That doesn't matter. I already read them all." Valerie looked back to Holden. "But I knew this would happen. You being confronted by the mastermind, I mean."
"What?!"
"When I found that room, the mastermind was probably watching the hallway outside of the restroom through his security cameras. I went into the boy's restroom and didn't come out for a while. That's just one reason why I wanted you to go there. I wanted to see how important that room was to the mastermind. I wanted to know if he even knew it existed. This means that room contained information the mastermind didn't expect we'd find."
"You knew I was going to be in danger!?"
"I wasn't worried." Valerie smiled. "Holden, you're a fighter. You're man enough for anything. You're probably the only one in this whole school who's been positive we'll get out from the very beginning."
"Never mind that," Holden looked around, "Did you see the note in that room? The one that said we must not leave this place?"
"That's not something we should discuss here." Valerie gestured to the camera spying on the two. "I'm still investigating the situation. I'll let you know when I find out more."
"Ok." Holden nodded. "We should head down to the cafeteria. The others are probably waiting."
"Let's!" Valerie said before leaving the room with Holden.
As Holden and Valerie neared the cafeteria, they could hear the faint bickering of teenage girls. They entered the cafeteria to see Ariana and Amy yelling at each other, while Sophie and Amp stood by Amy trying to hold her back. Grey and Jade stood in the middle of the two, while Ace was off to the side laughing his ass off.
"Well excuse me for being smart!" Amy yelled at Ariana.
"Your idea is stupid!" Ariana yelled. "You're going to get us all killed!"
"What's going on?" Holden asked.
"Bitch fight." Grey muttered.
"Ariana is being stubborn!" Amy yelled. "I just suggested we try to break into the headmaster's office! The locked door upstairs."
"She clearly doesn't remember that breaking down a locked door will result in a punishment." Ariana explained.
"But the mastermind is probably in there!" Sophie cried out. "We could kill him before he punishes us!"
"You've seen what that bear is capable of, I don't want to take my chances." Ariana said. "I want to get out of here alive, not in a body bag."
"Ladies," Valerie began. "I know you all want to get out of here, but you must adapt for the time being. Now, if you two are done bickering, we have to discuss something I found."
"Whatever, we'll settle this later." Amy growled.
"Well, gather round, equals." Valerie said. "I found another photo." She pulled out a photo similar to the one of Roxie, Fire, and Kyle, but this one had Vashti and Hannah with their arms around each other, with Elyon, who was smirking behind them. They were all wearing similar school uniforms to those in the previous picture, and they stood in a classroom with open windows revealing a beautiful baby blue sky. The three girls were also smiling.
"Another one?" Jade asked.
"But they're dead." Holden muttered. "It's a fake."
"Do you really think it's a fake?" Monobear's voice giggled as the bear appeared and snatched the photo from Valerie hands. "You're all just little babies, seeing conspiracies all around! What is your paranoia gonna make you say next? That the moon landing was also faked?"
"So it's real?" Sophie asked.
"Let's just say if they gave out a noble prize for honesty, I'd win it!" Monobear laughed. "Just kidding!"
"Can you just tell us if it's fake or not?" Grey asked.
"Of course!" Monobear placed his paws on his face. "This photo is real! Nothing more, nothing less!" The bear giggled before disappearing again, taking the photo with him.
"Where are those coming from!?" Sophie asked.
"He probably has them in that office." Amy said. "His office."
"He'd kill us, I already said so." Ariana said.
"We have to figure something out." Amy continued. "We all want to get out of here, but we can't get anywhere if we don't take risks."
"Taking risks is going to get us killed!" Ariana screamed.
"Chill out." Ace hummed from behind her. "Jeez, you act like everyone's against you suddenly."
"I'm paranoid, ok!" Ariana yelled. She sighed before taking a seat. "Every damn thing we do in here always leads to someone getting killed!"
"Speaking of getting killed," Monobear's voice called from the television that flipped on after Ariana spoke. "I have a feeling we won't have another murder for a while. You hope filled bastards are down to single digits, and you've all become very close. I hate it."
"Do you think he has an off switch?" Amp asked Sophie.
"We're going to lay down some basic ground rules, ok?" Monobear began before baring his claws on the screen. "Those two doors on the fourth floor, the locked ones, are off limits. Touching them will result in a brutal, painful punishment."
"There must be something in those rooms he doesn't want us to see." Valerie said.
"Or maybe he's in one of them." Grey said.
"Furthermore, since you bastards are going to be all friendly and disgusting, I have another motive." The bear's giggled. "In your dorms, you will all find an envelope with a letter inside of them! These letters are from your family and friends. Most of them are alive, probably, and I know where they are. Any killer who successfully Graduates will be reunited with their loved ones! You have one week, because I'll execute them if no one murders by then!"
The television flipped off as the students stared at each other. They quickly all got up and dashed to their rooms, finding envelops on their beds. Holden ripped his open, seeing Bubbles' familiar handwriting telling him how proud she was. Ariana had a letter from Chad, who told her not to be so bossy. Sophie had a letter from her family, who were so glad she was doing well in school. The students all read their letters and met in the hallway outside their dorms.
"It's from Bubbles." Holden said as the other came out. "It's her handwriting."
"I don't think they know what's going on in here." Ariana pointed out. "My friend had told me he wished he was getting straight A's like I was, but we aren't even taking classes."
"But my letter is dated two months from now." Amp said. "They're from the future!"
"No, it's Bubbles' handwriting." Holden said again. "I know what her handwriting looks like and this is spot on. There's no way Monobear faked this."
"These are real, but they're all dated two months into the future." Valerie said while looking at her letter. "At first I thought it was just my brother messing up the month, but his husband would have corrected it. Or his daughter, they're both intelligent."
"But now that we know everyone's is dated later into the future, we know something's up." Jade said.
"W-What are we supposed to do...?" Sophie asked as she held onto her letter tightly. "Monobear said he'll kill them if we don't murder...I-I don't want him to kill my family..."
"Sophie, it'll be ok." Amy said as she wrapped an arm around her. "We'll be ok."
"Down with the bear!" Amp cried out. "We gotta take down the bear!"
"I heard that." Monobear's voice rang out from the television speakers. "I hear everything."
"I need a moment." Sophie cried before running back into her dorm, locking the door behind her.
"Sophie!" Amy yelled as she pounded on the door.
"Is she going to...cut?" Amp asked with a scared tone of voice.
"No." Amy sighed. "I took the razors. She'll be fine..."
"Ding dong! Ding dong!" Monobear's face glared at the nine from the screen. "This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. Night Time begins now. The cafeteria's doors will be locked shortly. You are forbidden to enter it. Well then, good night. I wish you all have pleasant dreams..."
"We'll be fine." Valerie said. "Let's just go to bed and regroup in the morning. The rest of the students agreed and headed back into their dorms.
Things were rough. Three days had passed by, and Sophie wasn't talking to anyone, not even Amy or Amp. Ariana and Ace were no longer bickering all the time and were actually becoming friends. Holden was still very paranoid. He was wondering if there was another secret room, and also wondering what else Valerie knew. The students were all sitting around the library on the second floor. It was late, about an hour after Monobear's Night Time announcement, and Jade exclaimed he found something while reading.
"Look!" Jade yelled as he pointed to a page in a book. "Hope's Peak Private Academy's Worst, Most Despair-Inducing Event!"
"Despair-Inducing Event?" Ariana asked.
"It says here that ever-" Jade began before the book was ripped out of his hands.
"You know too much!" Monobear cried, holding the book in his paws. "You kids really should keep your noises out of other people's business, ya know?"
"What's this event?" Ace asked.
"The most wonderful thing that's ever happened!" Monobear giggled. "I can't say anymore! Spoilers!" The bear shrugged his shoulders and giggled again before baring a claw at the kids. "You know, there hasn't been a murder yet. We only have four days left before I rev up the old guillotine! "Spoilers!" the bear cried. "I can't say no more, nope! Now, get to murdering before I get to beheading!"!"
"The guillotine?" Valerie questioned. "You have all these super extravagant and totally unnecessary executions, but when it's not one of us students in question, you revert to a normal form of execution?"
"I can't waste the executions!" Monobear cried. "Everyone would be so disappointed!"
"Who's this everyone you keep talking about?" Grey asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"Spoilers!" the bear cried. "I can't say no more, nope! Now, get to murdering before I get to beheading!" Monobear growled at the students before disappearing along with the book.
"I didn't even get to read the rest of it..." Jade muttered.
"If I'm right, then this event you spoke of is linked to why we're trapped in here." Valerie said as she looked around the room. "Well, anyways, it's after Night Time."
"We should go to bed." Holden sighed. "I have a headache from that bear."
"Don't we all?" Ariana asked as she began to head out of the library. The rest of the students followed, walking down the stairs towards the dorms.
That is except for Sophie and Amy; who decided to stop by the girl's restroom on the second floor. Amy urgently had to go to the bathroom, so Sophie decided to join her and wait outside the stall. Amy took care of her business and walked over to the sinks to wash her hands. Sophie stood behind her, staring at her feet.
"Are you sure it'll be ok?" Sophie asked her friend.
"Positive." Amy said as she scrubbed her hands. "Monobear won't murder our families. Don't worry."
"But what if he does? What if no one kills someone like he wants?"
"We'll stop him. Sophie, there's nothing to worry about, just give it up."
"Amy?" Sophie asked while looking up.
"Yeah?" Amy replied as she turned to her friend.
"I'm sorry." the athlete muttered. "I love them too much to let this happen."
Without hesitating, Sophie threw a punch right into Amy's jaw, knocking her to the ground. Amy cried in pain as she grabbed onto her jaw. She looked up to her friend and tried to speak to her, but was cut off as Sophie swung her foot into her face. Amy smacked into the ground again, beginning to cough up blood. She opened her mouth to speak again, but Sophie lunged on top of her, swinging several punches right into her face.
"I'm sorry, Amy!" Sophie yelled as she punched. "I love them! I love you! I can't let them die!" The girl began to smirk as she kept throwing punches at her friend. "I'm not crazy!" she cried. "I'm not insane!" Sophie began laughing as she punched her friend. She was nearly in tears as she beat the living hell out of one of her own friends. "I'm saving you! No one else is allowed to touch you! Only I'm allowed to have this honor!"
Amy barely hung onto consciousness as she was punched. Her face was bleeding in many different places, and she couldn't even cry out for help because it hurt so much. Sophie didn't notice a third person enter the restroom, but Amy did. She tried to call out for help, but couldn't. The third person hesitated, but ended up swinging their foot into Sophie's face, knocking her off Amy. The third figure pounced onto Sophie as she did to Amy and began to beat her. Amy watched the scene, trying to call out. The figure threw a final punch into Sophie's stomach.
The athlete cried out in pain and also began to vomit. She couldn't move any more than Amy could, and she ended up choking on her own vomit. The third figure looked to Amy before running out of the bathroom. Sophie tried to gasp in a gulp of air for the last time before she died from gagging on her own vomit. Amy wanted to cry, but even that was too painful for her. She knew she wasn't going to make it. She was bleeding too much. Everything started to get blurry as Amy fell asleep, never to wake up again.
Number of Survivors: Seven
