A/N
Here is chapter 10. Just a heads up, I probably won't be updating over the weekend, but then again I may. I still haven't decided.
Struggling to keep her balance, she staggered back, ready for something to attack, yet nothing happened. Peeling her eyes open, she stared down at the floor and bent beside the man who lied on the ground. He breathed shallowly, just enough to keep him alive.
"Sir?" She reached a hand out. His eyes stared up at the ceiling. His mouth hung open. As soon as she touched his shoulder, he jumped back, screaming.
"No! No, get away from me! I don't want to end up like them!" He flailed his arms at Gaz who moved back just in time.
"Sir, wait. It's okay, you're safe," she hollered above his disturbed screams. She recognized the man to be the one she saw when she was trapped in the closet.
He covered his face, curling into a fetal position. Blood trickled down his face as it flowed from the gashes along his temples. He held his arm awkwardly. The bone was bent backwards. It must be broken, she concluded.
"My name is Alice," she said lowly. She may as well use the name given to her by Wonderland."I don't really know what's going on here. I thought this was just a nightmare, but now I'm not so sure."
He sobbed gently, whispering, "It always starts out as a nightmare, coming back every night. Then after you've gone days without sleep, the scratches start appearing on your arms, your legs, your stomach, your back…" His jaw trembled, chattering his teeth. He slowly peered up at Gaz, as though just realizing she was there. "No, get away from me!" he cried again, struggling to back away even though he was already pushed into a corner. "Don't hurt me!"
"Hey, it's okay," she said, waving her hands to calm him. "I'm not going to hurt you, okay? What's your name?"
He did not seem to hear her. "I don't want to die," he whimpered over and over. "I don't want to die…"
Her hand crept forward to his green uniform, lifting the nametag into view. "Daniel. You must be the janitor of this place. Daniel, I need you to listen to me." It took a long time but eventually, she got him to focus. "Who did this to you?"
He shook his head. "N-Not who…What…And i-it's still here…" He peered up at the ceiling. "He's in the ceilings, the walls, everywhere. You can't escape him."
"Who's he?"
His eyebrows furrowed and a tear slid down his cheek. His voice cracked, trying to get the answer out of his throat. "T-The 'monster'," he whispered.
She frowned. It was obvious that he was delusional. The fright must have gotten to him. "The fear has gotten to your head. Just try to calm down and then tell—"
His hand jerked up, grabbing her and pulling her down. Her ear was next to his mouth when he whispered, "This isn't a nightmare. You can die. You really can die. If you see him, run. He feeds on us. That's the only way he can survive. The more he eats, the more he wants. He's the doorway to and from this place; the only way to come and the only way to leave."
She pulled away, her heart racing. "He's the doorway, what do you mean?"
"This is all just a mind game. He's playing with our head. He plants fear within us and then watches as we slowly fall apart. Once our fear consumes us completely, he comes."
"If he's the only way out of here…" she said, more to herself than Daniel. "Daniel, I need you to tell me where to find him."
He scrambled up till he was sitting. "Why would you look for your death?" he exclaimed fearfully. "He will find you. Why speed up the inevitable?"
"Because if he really is the only way out of here, I need to find him. I need to return to my world. Where is the last time you saw him?"
He lifted a shaky finger while minding his broken arm. "O-Over there, in the Biology room. He was e-eating something, s-someone…"His speech was becoming more delayed.
"Shoot," she grumbled. "I can't go in there. All the doors are locked. I don't have the key, and I don't know where to find them."
He squinted his eyes. "The…keys…they're…they're…" His mouth wobbled open and hung. His head wilted to the side. His eyes closed.
"Hey, Daniel!" She snapped her fingers. "Wake up!"
He gasped, nodding, but his eyelids still hung wearily. "Here," he said, his face tightening with pain as he dug through his pocket, "I have the keys. I have the keys to almost every room on this keychain. The janitor's always have to have the keys—that way they can get in to clean. The janitor's always have to have the keys…"
She grabbed it from him, nodding solemnly. His speech was beginning to wander to pointless, unrelated jibber. His life was fading. She'd heard before that people nearing death usually did this. Their minds would focus on memories to distract their brain from the pain and trauma of death.
"My dad wanted me to become a pilot, just like him. I never thought I'd end up being the janitor," he chuckled, his voice wheezing. "I was cleaning out the dissection trays when…when the Skool suddenly changed. It became so dark, so cold. And then that thing found me. Everyone else was already dead, s-so I was the only thing left to feed on. I was able to run from it and made it down here, but then h-he came out of nowhere. That's when I heard you calling from…the janitor's closet."
A glazed film covered his eyes. He peered up at the lights. "It's so bright," he murmured. "I told Principle Collins that he could save a lot of money…if he'd just cut down on the lights…"
"Just relax," she said lowly. "It'll be over soon…"
"A-Alice, right…?"
She nodded.
"He talks about you. The girl with the violet hair, the black dress, it's you," he coughed, strenuous breaths racking his lungs. "He wants you…"
"Who does?"
He frowned, but looked up, seeing someone only he could see. Then he smiled. "The monster…" His head teetered to the side, his hands clattering to the floor.
He was dead.
She streamed her hand over his eyelids, closing them. Unpinning the nametag from his shirt, she stuffed it into her pocket. She did not look back as she made her way down the hall.
It seemed so lonely, much colder than before. It was nice to see someone else here in this twisted realm with her. Though he was a stranger, it comforted her to know she was not alone. Funny how she always craved solitude, yet now she wanted nothing more than to escape it.
She scanned the doors, reading off the names silently. "Room 314, 315, 316, 317—" She stopped when she heard a clatter coming from behind. She turned in time to see Daniel's lifeless body climb up the wall, into the vents above. No, not climbing. A metal cord was gripping his leg. Something pulled him up.
Her legs wobbled uncontrollably, yet she forced herself to stand up straight. Her eyes trembled as they struggled to focus on the trail of blood now running at the far end of the corridor, crimson sliding from the floor up to the wall, into the ceiling.
The tiles above her crippled and poked out. Something was crawling through the vents, and it was headed her away. She knew if she didn't make it to the Biology room now, she would never escape this Nightmare Wonderland.
Her footsteps echoed, her feet pounding the floor. Eyes darting, she scanned the doors as she passed. The Biology room was nowhere to be found. The creature was still approaching, coming faster, faster. There was nowhere to go.
She was forced to run back into the janitor's closet where she slid the door shut, not quite all the way so that she was not trapped, but just enough to hide.
A low growl emitted, rumbling the aluminum piping. And then she heard him snicker. The creature laughed at her. He enjoyed her fear.
He crept away slowly.
Leaning her head against the door with a throbbing thud, she panted, trying to unscramble her thoughts. So what if I find the Biology room? So what if the "monster" is in there, waiting for me? Gaz thought to herself. Do I really think that's it; that after this is over, the nightmares will stop?
She stepped back, about to start her search once more, when she found a note tapped to the inside of the door. The tape snapped as she peeled it away.
Locker217, was all it said.
That's my locker, her mind whispered.
Scanning the hallway one more time, she jogged to her locker. The further she ran, the colder it got. Her breath puffed out in cloudy orbs.
She stopped running.
"My locker isn't here," she reminded herself. When she tried to look for it, before she even found Daniel the janitor, she found nothing but an empty slot in the middle of the rows and rows of lockers.
A faint squeak clicked in the air. She squinted, trying to search through the darkness. A door was open—a small locker door was swinging on its hinges. Approaching cautiously, she glimpsed around before reading the numbers on the small door.
It was her locker.
She reached in. It was so dark she could not see. Her hands would have to be her newfound sight it seemed.
She coughed at the musty smell radiating from the tarnished metal. Her heart slowed to a stop as her hand grasped something.
Another note.
A/N
So how are you liking the story so far? It isn't quite as popular as Gaz in Wonderland, which is a shame, but hopefully that will change.
Chapter 11, one of the most creepiest chapters yet, will be up soon. I can guarantee it will be a pleasure to read ;)