Escape!
The journey back to the stairs was quiet, almost eerily so. Tomo couldn't help but notice how little was on this floor now. Given the state of the ground floor she doubted the battle hadn't spread up here yet. No, the monsters had to be avoiding something here. Tomo prayed that it was simply because the creatures could sense the fiery presence that had taken over this part of the building and not because some even worse horror had made its home here.
Despite this the journey wasn't entirely without danger. Tomo and Chiyo both spent a tense minute waiting at a junction in the corridors as something large trailed past in the darkness, holding their breath and praying that it didn't turn down their way. Thankfully whatever it was passed in the darkness.
As they walked Tomo's mind dwelt upon the task that was ahead of her. The swelling of her jaw had gone down slowly but she was still covered in bruises and the rope she'd coiled around herself was pressing down uncomfortably upon her battered torso.
It was going to be an awful climb. Tomo wasn't afraid of heights, but she shuddered at the idea of climbing down four storey building with nothing to hold onto but a rope. And she'd be carrying Chiyo…
Was this the right thing to do? Tomo was beginning to have her doubts when she realised she was approaching the stairwell.
It was too late for second thoughts, unless they wanted to go down to assembly. Tomo determinedly grasped the stairwell and was about to follow the stairs up when Chiyo pulled on her arm.
"Tomo, footsteps!" she whispered fearfully.
Tomo realised that they were coming up the stairs. She quietly had them move up the stairwell and turned off the torch. As she reached a turn in the staircase however Tomo stopped and had Chiyo crouch with her behind the solid guard rails, hidden from the lobby.
"What are we doing?" Chiyo hissed. Tomo just waited. She'd heard three sets of footsteps, walking together. None of the monsters walked in pairs. That meant that whatever was on the stairs was different.
As she heard the footsteps reach the first floor, Tomo nervously looked around the corner and back down the stairs. If there were somehow other survivors in the building then their chances of survival went up tremendously.
Tomo didn't dare use the flashlight, but hope came to her as she heard voices, whispers in the darkness but voices nonetheless. Chiyo heard them too but she didn't make a move. She'd learned from her experience in the first aid room. Both girls assumed that whatever was coming up was hostile; they dared not hope for a rescue now. Despite that, a flicker of hope began to creep into both girls. Maybe they weren't utterly alone.
That hope began to fade away as they realised that they couldn't understand what the voices were saying. In the dark Tomo couldn't make out their features but she could see three figures standing in the darkness.
Then Tomo's hope vanished and her memories flew back to the armed thing she'd seen in the alleyway.
The figures that were standing there at the entrance to the first floor were all holding long pole-like objects that ended in points. Neither Tomo nor Chiyo had to be geniuses to work out that the figures were holding spears. Furthermore, there was something horribly wrong about their proportions. The three figures were hunched over clutching their spears for support, as if they were almost too weak to stand on their own. They seemed impossibly thin, yet their chests were level with their stomachs, ruling out three starving individuals. Their arms and neck seemed far too long and thin to belong to a human.
Tomo and Chiyo both shivered in dread as they realised that they were now facing intelligent hunters. Tomo didn't know if they were aliens or something worse, but she didn't want to meet them. Both girls stayed silent as the one that was clearly in charge pointed to the three corridors and the things began to search the first floor.
This was different to the monsters and far more dangerous. Whatever the new threat was it was organised and intelligent, capable of searching a building in a systematic manner. Both Tomo and Chiyo realised that continuing to wander the building undetected was no longer an option. As they left for the fourth floor Tomo gripped the bat though. Intelligent as they were the new creatures didn't seem very strong. Tomo doubted they'd stand up to being hit by a piece of metal and after seeing what the monsters typically used as their weapons she found simple spears to be considerably less frightening. She also found anything that was capable of holding a conversation less alien than the monstrous things that they'd been chased by in the lower corridors. It didn't make them any less dangerous but it lowered the sense of being prey in the middle of a building full of predators.
The things had also split up in the middle of a monster-infested building like the first wave of victims in a horror movie. Chiyo began to suspect that they weren't all that bright.
Tomo and Chiyo were able to miss out the second and third floors altogether, but the stairwell they'd taken only took them as far as the fourth floor. The roof access itself was accessed by a central staircase that took them out into the centre of the rooftop. That meant a long walk straight into the centre of the fourth floor.
The exit to that floor was just coming into view when Tomo stood in something so sticky it nearly sent her flying onto her face as her legs were pulled out from under her.
As she grabbed at the side for balance with her hands still full she barely caught the railing. She hauled herself upright, only to have to pull hard to get the arms she'd used to steady herself free again. She'd let go of Chiyo, who'd grabbed at the rope surrounding Tomo to stop her from toppling over. Gradually, Tomo rebalanced and managed to shine the torch on her surroundings.
What the light revealed was a living nightmare.
Webs. A labyrinth of endless webs that covered every part of every surface, that glistened sickeningly in every corner. The entire fourth floor seemed to be smothered in them. A huge white mess smothered the ground, large cobwebs had been spun on the ceiling.
Tomo and Chiyo had both gone pale.
"Chiyo, are you afraid of spiders?" Tomo said, gaping.
"Spiders didn't make this." Chiyo replied, but her voice still rose dangerously high.
"Then what did?" Tomo asked nervously.
"I don't know, but it wasn't spiders." Chiyo insisted. "Spiders can't grow above a certain size without dying from lack of oxygen. You don't get giant spiders."
Tomo wasn't comforted, nor was she entirely convinced. Bound up like a ball of yarn, the last thing she needed was a mess of cobwebs that threatened to trap her if she fell over. If it wasn't a spider then it was something else and Tomo doubted it would be slowed down the way they would be. It was a long way to the exit and if they met anything in the corridors it would mean certain death.
"We could set it on fire." Tomo suggested desperately.
"Do you want to burn the entire building down with us inside?" Chiyo replied. Tomo quickly shelved the idea.
"Then we don't have any choice." Tomo said decisively. Slowly, she began to pick her way forward, followed by a very reluctant Chiyo.
It was impossible to hold hands like that, with both of them using their arms to balance. Tomo and Chiyo both picked their way slowly through the mess and kept as close to one another as possible, trying to make as little noise as possible as they repeatedly entangled and disentangled themselves from the mess of cobwebs. Still they left loud ripping sounds in their wake as soon their feet were caked in a disgusting mess of cobwebs that made the going even harder. Tomo in particular was having trouble balancing. In addition the adhesive became stuck to their feet, making each successive step harder and harder to disentangle themselves from. It was slow and tiring work, and before long Chiyo was panting heavily.
Still they made their way through the darkness. Several times Tomo nearly overbalanced, saved each time either by her own quick actions or by Chiyo grabbing her and helping her steady herself. They were about a quarter of the way to their destination when they saw something that filled them with dread.
They'd almost walked straight into a massive cobweb that occupied the entire hallway. Tomo and Chiyo just looked at it dumbstruck, wondering what kind of creature could live in such a massive barrier. They clumsily turned around and stumbled away as fast as they could manage.
Steadily they made progress through the webbing, but as they came closer to the roof the webbing on the ground seemed to get thicker. Soon they were pulling their way through thick webbing that came up to their ankles. They also had to double back more often as cobwebs blocked their paths, and as they got closer Tomo was beginning to wonder if there was a clear way to their destination at all.
It was also exhausting them. Several times Tomo had to hurry Chiyo on as the younger girl began to run out of strength, unable to haul herself out of the cobwebs any longer. Tomo wondered how on earth whatever had made its lair here hadn't come across them yet. For Chiyo that was an even better question. Memories of how spiders could detect vibrations on their web caused by prey had come back to her long ago, yet they were too far in for there to be any value of voicing that to Tomo. Miserably she stayed silent to avoid a panic, but the fear also kept her moving.
It was as they came into the final corridor that the true horror of the fourth floor revealed itself.
It was the cocoons that sent warning sirens ringing through their heads. Massive pupae hung above them, slime dripping onto their heads, soaking their hair. There were other things too; caught monsters bundled up in silk. It was just as they reached the blessed stairwell itself that they saw the massive shape rising and falling just behind it.
Their faces contorted in horror and revulsion as they realised Chiyo had been right about the web not belonging to a spider.
A gigantic worm, fat and bloated, was sleeping in the centre of a junction. There were things in the webbing around it; the bones and skulls and rotting pieces of gristle discarded from the various monsters the thing had caught and consumed in its net. Somehow Tomo and Chiyo had made it to the very centre of its lair without disturbing it.
Slowly, quietly, Tomo and Chiyo moved towards the exit.
Forty yards. The beast didn't stir. Thirty yards. Tomo thought she saw it shift slightly. Yet it remained as it was. Twenty yards. They were getting closer.
Ten… five… two… and then they were at the stairs. At the top was the blessed door. Tomo and Chiyo began to climb it, determination overriding the fear on their faces as they saw victory lying right in front of them.
It was when they reached the fourth step that they heard something shift behind them, and begin to slide, a nauseating, terrifying shuffling sound that was unmistakeably angling itself towards them.
They began to move as fast as they could up the stairs. Then they nearly fell over as a horrible screech sounded out. Tomo made the mistake of looking back and this time she couldn't hold back the horror that she saw in front of her. She shrieked as loudly as her lungs could manage, a short sharp yell of pure terror that she was soon joined in by Chiyo.
A massive set of round jaws that led into a seemingly endless gullet were forcing their way up the stairs, progress slowed through not quite being able to fit properly. Tomo just managed to recover enough to turn and run, hauling the paralysed Chiyo up the stairs by the hand. She dropped the baseball bat in the process.
Slowly, agonizingly, they forced their way towards the door as the thing cried out behind them, the sides of the stairwell buckling as they gave way to allow its enormous muscular bulk to pull itself up towards the roof. Tomo reached the stairs ahead of it… only to discover it was locked. There was no time to use the lockpicks.
It was just as Tomo was about to throw herself back down the stairs into the thing's waiting jaws that she remembered she had the key. Slowly, fumbling, she reached inside and undid the clasp, having to let go of Chiyo's hand to do so. The thing got closer.
She searched through the keys. Finally she found the roof access. She began to undo the lock. Still the thing came closer, its cries now deafening.
She heard the click… and also the thing's hot breath against her back.
Finally, Tomo broke through the door with Chiyo right behind her, before turning to slam the door shut and lock the door behind her.
Slams and cries echoed from the other side of the door as the creature attempted vainly to get through the door. Tomo went to run towards the fence that surrounded the rooftops only to nearly go falling flat onto her face. Her feet were still covered in the webbing.
Chiyo helped her stagger to her feet as they moved away from the stairwell. They both realised that the doro wasn't going to hold out forever. Hands trembling, Tomo began to undo the rope. The feeling of it tumbling to the ground around her as she undid it was the most glorious feeling she thought she'd ever experienced. Finally she was free of that encumbering mess!
Tomo went to tie the knot but was promptly pushed aside by Chiyo, who went to work instead. "I've done this before" was all she said.
Tomo hoped she meant rock climbing and not some other knot-using sport, though anyway a simple knot was not what one normally relied upon to clamber down an enormous distance. Despite this the knot Chiyo finished looked professionally done, even though Tomo couldn't quite believe it was going to have to support their weight.
Without any means of extending the rope they were going to have to hang on the hard way. Tomo knew that Chiyo would never have the arm strength for that. It was going to have to be her. Wordlessly she took the rope and chucked it over the fence that prevented students from plummeting to their doom… and then they both looked out over the city.
It had once been such a busy view. Now there was nothing. Tomo was relieved to see that the streets at least were not a mess of monsters and giant beasts running around killing one another, but it was still a bleak and heart-breaking sight.
They didn't have time to dwell on it. The door was surely going to break under the pressure soon. Tomo allowed Chiyo to clamber up onto her shoulders, neither of them saying anything in case one of them lost their nerve and to not waste Tomo's remaining precious stamina. It was a full five seconds before Tomo began to clamber over the last thing that separated them from an eighty foot fall.
What followed was the scariest moment in either of their lives, nightmares from before not excluded as Tomo swung them out into thin air with nothing between them and a long fall down but Tomo's grip on the slender rope.
Tomo however did have one massive advantage as she began to slowly and perilously clamber down the sheer sides of the building. Her feet were still sticky from the walk through the webbing, a filthy mess of silk covering them. It was disgusting but it allowed her to grip the sides of the building, keeping her from being supported entirely from her arms. Slowly they began to descend.
The ground beneath them was dizzying. Yet there was no wind. Tomo's arms began to ache but still she clung on, slowly lowering them down. Chiyo just clung to her and tried desperately to remain still. If she fell now she might bring Tomo with her.
They were going to make it! Steadily the ground began to come into focus, the huge, dizzying distance to the ground less terrifying.
Tomo could now see the ground clearly. Then her hands were violently ripped away from the rope and something hauled her screaming into the sky, grabbing as Chiyo was lifted away from her.
Tomo screamed as she was swung around wildly only to have the breath knocked out of her as she was swung against the building. She began to slide back up it. Desperately she tried to cling on, yet as she was pulled up her hands were simply hauled off as she was pulled up by her bruised shoulder towards the top of the roof again. She looked up…
…and saw the worm standing over them, two great strands of silk dangling out of its mouth.
Slowly, surely, Tomo was pulled up the wall and back onto the rooftop. She watched, helplessly as the same happened to Chiyo. As she was pulled onto the roof once more, the thing turned to her first.
Chiyo watched as Tomo was physically lifted into the air. More strings shot out of the things mouth as she watched, petrified as her friend was wrapped up completely until not even her head remained visible. Tomo didn't even struggle, too terrified to move as the thing enveloped her and left her lying on the ground, immobile.
Then it turned to Chiyo, who just let herself go limp as the thing picked her up by her legs and began to wrap her up in the silk. Before long she too was smothered in silk, her eyes forced shut for safety by the white sticky mess that clung to every part of her. As she was dropped to the ground she waited there, in petrified anticipation of what was going to happen next.
Chiyo screamed as a long, thin object pierced her leg.
Yet she didn't scream for long. Soon, darkness enveloped her as the anaesthetic in the beast's venom took its icy hold. Chiyo drifted into darkness.
It wasn't long till Tomo too felt the sharp sting and the drift into oblivion. Once its prey was unconscious and unable fight back, the worm began to drag them down the stairs slowly, to finish them off in its lair.
Yet as it reached the bottom stair it hesitated. Some unknown command told it to stay its jaws. Instead, it just returned to its slumber, leaving the two unconscious girls lying inside the cocoon.
Thirty minutes later and clawed hands hauled them off in different directions, separated and being dragged off to some unknown fate in the dark corners of the school. Both were now at the mercy of whatever the masters of those hideous limbs had for them.