So it's been a few months since I updated and I apologize for that…

But I decided to hole myself up in my room and write to hopefully make this as an apology to bae (Who I now began to call ''dear'' now) Since I forgot that it was today (May 1st) that we first began to seriously chat to each other. Sorry not sorry - but she was seriously mad when I forgot, hehe. Somebody, go calm the coffee loving person before she makes me die of laughter.

But I have no excuse for not updating other than that, so get mad at me later… Though I do promise I will try to update more frequently now, though I will mainly update another story I've published here, but I won't abandon this.

And oh, I still need some more answers with all the Cocoa's Fate thing in the previous chapter – More details there.

Jesus, going to be a lot of watching walkthroughs on me again.

So, onward!

Chapter 3: Part Two

Masato glanced up from his position, still comforting his crying sister. His eyes widened and his breathing stopped short when he noticed a spirit by the corner, looking at them with a smirk before vanishing behind the wall. That… A child spirit? And that red dress looked pretty old-fashioned.

"The almighty Jinguji Ren is back," Masato nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a voice come from behind, "Already done?" he asked, and the strawberry blonde nodded, "Yup, though I saw a board at the other end of the classroom, just going to enter it from the other door, hold on sec," Ren said before entering the classroom, not a minute had passed before he came out again, a look of confusion spread across his face.

"What's wrong?"

"That board moved, like seriously. It was on that spot a second ago and suddenly it's on the other side of the classroom. I hate to do this to Mai, but can you both follow me? If we take it on the spot it was before then we can continue," Ren gestured for the two to follow them. Masato picked up Mai and walked into the classroom, giving a quiet order to her to close her eyes.

"Now just stand there, alright? I'll go on the other side, again and then it will hopefully come here."

Ren re-entered the classroom from the other end and saw the board right under Masato's feet, "Hey, Masa. Take that for me will you? If we can get that lose board we can cross over to the other side of the corridor where the hole was."

"Sure, meet you outside."

When Ren walked out of the classroom he could see Masato and Mai at the end of the corridor. Masasto was currently placing the loose board across the other side of the corridor so they could cross, "Alright then, let's cross to the other side."

Once they were over, Ren was surprised to not see any more piling dead bodies along the way, as the neared a corner and went down the stairs, he clicked his tongue when he saw that the room was once again split in half, "Dammit-" before he could voice out his frustration, he felt the ground shake roughly beneath his feet, "Woah- another earthquake?!" Masato hissed, grabbing onto Mai and pulling her to his side, "We just got to hold on, alright?!"

When the shaking stopped, Ren let out a sigh of relief, "Well it looks like it's dead end…. Here?" when he looked across the floor again, he saw that it was now repaired, still missing a few boards, but repaired enough for them to cross over, "How?"

"I don't know, but we can at least get to the other side without having to take jump, how are you holding up, Mai?" Masato asked the girl beside him, who only gave him a tense nod, "I-I'm fine big brother."

As they proceeded down to the ground floor, well Masato hoped that it was the ground floor, he and Ren noticed that there was another remains of a high school girl at the corner. Upon closer inspection, Ren found a note attached to her boney fingers, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry everyone. If I haven't found that stupid charm…" Ren read out loud, before he sighed, placing the letter beside her body, "Let's go."

They didn't reach far before Masato noticed a paper hanging on the wall, stopping in his tracks he turned around to look at it.

You missed the final bell…

You missed the end of school…

If you're still here…

… then you always will be.

"Uhm… Masa?" Ren called out from next to him, "Hm? Wha-" Masato shut his mouth when he saw what Ren was staring at. The hallway was split in four, one corridor where they were currently at, and two horizontal corridors leading to their own rooms. At the upper corridor, to the north, they saw a boy sitting beside a black hole, staring down at it. He had a blue hue to himself, and from their angle they could only see his blood stained shirt.

"Well... I guess as long as we don't approach it, we will be fine?" Ren tried to lighten it up, while Masato could feel his sister squeezing his hand a bit tighter than usual, "Let's just go down," Masato whispered, the trio pressing themselves along the wall, "Hey, look. Indoor shoes, this must mean we're close to the entranceway!"

When they entered the room, it was dark, but they could still see some things like the shoe lockers and the doorway in the middle, "That got to be it!"

Ren at that moment, when he tried to push the door open, swore that he was one of the most unhappiest people in the world right now, "It won't budge. The door won't freaking budge! For gods sake are you joking?!" he hissed, rattling the doorknobs but the door didn't even make a sound, "God-"

"Should've known that, every single window that leads outside was sealed shut too, wouldn't surprise me to see that the door was too. But look at this," Masato said, gesturing to a paper lying on the floor, "I read it while you were having your face off with the door. Apparently one of the victims saw a hallway in this school that changes it size, appearing longer or shorter pretty much on a whim, but they didn't find it in time. There's also a sound that won't stop somewhere around here too, keep a lookout for that, alright?" Ren stared at Masato for a second, before he sighed and released the doorknobs, "Was that your way of trying to calm me down, Masa?"

"I don't want to take care of two people, alright?" he hissed, before he went up, I'll check the east side, you check the west side," Masato told him before he tugged Mai to the other end of the entranceway, seeing another paper hanging on the wall.

Every shelf of every cabinet you must turn every page and rifle through if you wish to learn more about this school. To those who has become trapped within these walls, there are many messages that has been left behind by the others. Free of the curse, may you use their words as a guide to help you break free.

"Find anything over there?!" Masato heard Ren's voice, "Nothing, just a message on the wall, let's go back."

When they entered the large hallway again, they saw that the boy still hasn't moved an inch from their spot, still staring into the dark abyss with his lifeless eyes. Watching him from their angle now though, Masato could see the blood running down from his lips. He's no younger than Mai… Masato glanced over at Mai, who refused to look at the boy and instead chose to look down on the ground, shuddering at the thought of the same thing happening to her. No, no. It won't happen, not as long as I'm here.

"Well even if we did get by him, I don't think there's a way we can even proceed further. There's a huge cabinet blocking the only path we can cross, and I'm pretty sure we're taking quite the risk of trying to crawl over it without the floor breaking under our weight. So our only option is the east side," Ren explained briefly, "We're taking a risk now by the fact that the boy can clearly see us moving from his view."

"Well it's that our risk our lives crossing the cabinet."

"… They're both bad."

"Which is why we can try going the not so bad way, let's just go," as the trio managed to pass the boy, they halted when they heard a slight shaky, but emotionless voice coming from behind, the words dripping with sorrow, but most of all, venom as it hissed behind them.

Why ihh you kihh me?

Masato gulped, looking behind him, the boy was now staring directly onto his eyes, but he didn't budge from his spot, so they proceeded to go further down the hall, only to hear the same voice again. Filled with even more hate than before.

Youhh pay

"Ah crap he stood up! And he's coming here, quick!" Ren hissed, making sure that Masato and Mai was in front of him before he proceeded to run down the rest of the corridor as well, when he passed by another note he could only make out the word salvation before he had to turn the corner.

When they got up the stairs, Masato could see that the boy wasn't following them anymore, "Maybe he only follows the people in… that area?" he breathed out, straightening his back, "Ready to go further?"

"Y-Yeah."

When they got to the second floor, Masato noticed the sign infirmary hovering above one of the doors, "Oh, maybe they have beds here?" he murmured, trying to pry the door open, but it didn't budge, "No key."

"Well maybe we can find a key further up, let's go," Ren said, passing by a small corridor not so far from the infirmary. Well no dead bodies are blood splatters anywhere. That's a relief, I don't think either Masa or Mai could handle any more. Not like I'm any better though.

The new hall was split in two, one going west and one going north. Masato took note of the loose board that was connecting the two sides on the north side. Maybe there were someone here before us?

The trio proceeded up, and when arriving at top, they could see the remains of another high school girl, wearing a different uniform. Mai turned her head away, still not used to seeing any more corpses, but when she did she saw something glint by the other corner, "Big brother, there's something shiny over there," she said while tugging Masato's sleeve, pointing where the object was.

"Oh, it's a key, but a key to what?"

The second part of the building was rather small, there was only a corridor leading to their left and nothing more, when Masato looked at the sign it said: Lavatories. Boy's room at the right. Girl's room at the end of the hall.

"Uhm… Big brother?" Mai muttered, Masato looked behind him while Ren was inspecting the boys room, that was currently inaccessible, due to being barricaded by wooden floorboards, "I have to pee…"

"Oh, well the sign said that these rooms are lavatories, the girls room is at the end of the hall. Do you want me to come with you?" he asked, and Mai nodded, "J-Just wait outside, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just shout when you need something, okay?"

Mai came out as fast as she went in, "Big brother. I can't go."

"Huh? Why?" Masato raised a confused eyebrow, going in himself. He stopped in his tracks when he saw that the whole lavatories were indeed not accessible, due to it being a hole that in the middle of the floor, "Well, you certainly weren't joking when you said you can't. Let's search for another toilet okay? Think you can hold it?"

"Yeah…"

"Ren, we're going! Let's at least try to find what door this key opens."

"Maybe the infirmary?" Ren suggested, and the trio, with no other possible doors that needed to be open, proceeded down again to the infirmary.

When Masato turned the key on the keyhole, he heard a click and the door slid open, "Oh, it opened."

I'm sorry Tokiya... Masato blinked when he entered the room, turning his head towards the hallway, "... Otoya?"

"Well, I'm sure an infirmary got to have beds, right? Let's rest here for a while, we've been walking for gods knows how long," Ren said, having not heard the voice, made Mai rest by the wall, with Masato next to her while he sat down by the side of the bed, on the floor.

"Hey, big brother Ren and big brother… Do you think we can ever escape from here?" Mai hesitantly asked after a while.

"I'm sure we will, Mai," Ren said smoothly, "After all, everyone is trying to find and escape route, including us. So we got to stay positive and get energized, or else they will see us as slackers once they found us. So rest well, Mai, we're here to don't be afraid to go to sleep."

"Mhm… Thanks," she muttered, soon drifting off to a quiet slumber.

"You just told her that we could bypass reality. But it was nothing but empty words right? As thin as paper," Masato whispered, staring at Ren who chuckled, "I said that so she wouldn't be so afraid, but I guess that's what we're already trying to do, right? We're hoping for an escape and that alone gives us a reason to keep going, to keep living. All we can do is tell ourselves that we'll find a way out, and pray that it actually happens."

Syo groggily opened his eyes when he heard the slam of a door. His head immediately starting to pound the moment he got his senses back, "… Ouch, hell… Wh-where am I?" another sharp pain ran through his head, and he bit his lip, "Gosh, my head…. Is pounding…" he muttered.

Through hazy and groggy eyes, he could see a sudden flash, and suddenly he saw two of the kids that he saw at the infirmary only moments ago, fully aware that there was a second one behind him, "Dammit… It's you! Where… did you take me?!"

They didn't say anything.

Hahaha….

Hahahaha…. Hahahaha!

"Stop laughing and tell me… Where Nanami is!"

Hehehe….

Hehehe…. Hehehehe…

They didn't say anything again, only turned their head towards him and laughed, and he could see from where their mouths were open that it was blooded and missing a tongue, hell the ghost that had caused the death of his younger twin brother was missing half her head and had a pool of blood on the remaining lower half of her head.

They soon stopped laughing, instead letting out a startled gasp before they disappeared, which confused Syo greatly. The aching in his head being a dull ache when he heard the dragging of metal getting closer to where he was.

But he couldn't do anything.

He couldn't move his legs and he could hardly breathe from his position. He continued to struggle as he could see a pale man coming closer to him. His skin was gray like and his eyes were a dirty white, dripping from the underside was blood, almost like he was crying, the metal hammer scratching the surface of the wood as he come closer to the Syo, who was now struggling to get free, "Ugh… My legs, I can't stand up!" he hissed, and he could see the man raising his hammer up, "Dammit!" Syo closed his eyes as the man prepared to swing down his weapon.

"Dammit!"

Masato's eyes snapped open and he sat up on the bed with a gasp, sweat running down his forehead.

A/N: Oh and please give me some more answers on Cocoa's fate from the previous chapter.