Chapter 14
Behind the small girl Takuya 'locked' the computer before standing up and walking toward the library toilets. As he vanished from view Sakaki sat next to Chiyo who had been very quiet for the last day or so.
"Hi…there. Hi" said Sakaki, not quite sure about what to say. She had only known Chiyo for a short while, every now and then she felt that the young transfer student might be slightly scared of her. She guessed she was quite a tall and imposing figure- especially for someone so young…and adorable!
"Oh. Hi Sakaki" said Chiyo, forcing a smile.
"You seem a bit…erm upset?" suggested rather then stated Sakaki. "Is something wrong?"
"Oh, I'm just a bit worried I guess" said Chiyo. "My parents might have got trapped at work like I did here, so I'm worried no one's been feeding my dog." Sakaki chose to avoid asking about the parents, to prevent the small girl from facing the possibility they might have…suffered a similar fate to many others.
"Oh well dogs can be clever sometimes" said Sakaki.
"Really? He's just silly" said Chiyo nodding her head, and smiling naturally this time. "Just a silly fluffball who likes biscuits."
"Oh yeah dogs can be smart" said Sakaki, unaware she now found herself speaking more easily. "Especially when food is involved. If there's one thing dogs are good at, it's getting food. I bet when you get home you'll find the kitchen in a mess, and he'll be looking up at you guiltily."
"Yeah" said Chiyo grinning. "And I bet he'll be grumpy when he sees me again, wondering why I took so long."
"Yep" said Sakaki nodding her head. She was determined this little girl would leave this building alive. She would see her parents again; she would be reunited with her dog. For the first time in months Sakaki felt the knot of determination in her chest.
Lazily the light swung back and forth slightly, scattering shadows across the cramped room. Ryo swore as he hit his foot against metal piping, and apologised to the janitor.
"Don't worry, I hear a lot worse when I tell kids to stop smoking on the school grounds" said Tanaka glancing over at the hole in the wall on the far side.
The hole had been the first thing the duo had noticed after hastily switching on the light. They had frozen, the space behind the broken wall an unnatural dark, but nothing had come forth from the darkness beyond. Both had been certain that they heard something moving. Tanaka had been the first to enter, and had found himself waiting, feeling beads of sweat running down his face even though it was cool in the maintenance room.
Nothing had come.
"So what do I do?" asked Ryo, flicking a glance back at the hole.
"There isn't really anything for you to do" replied Tanaka, stopping in front of a machine Ryo hadn't seen before. "There's nothing in the way, nothing I need any help for. I just have to flip a few switches" added the man, lifting up a transparent plastic cover.
"Oh I see" said Ryo, feeling the lighter in his pocket, fidgeting. He normally wasn't one to fidget. Nerves. Just nerves.
"Let's just hope I've remembered which section is represented by which switch" said the man smiling. "Don't want to end up in the dark down here, feeling around the place like an idiot."
"Yeah" said Ryo, not much in the mood for speaking. Tanaka didn't flip the switches at first, instead checking on (what appeared to Ryo) a large metallic and plastic box.
"What're you looking at?" asked Ryo, not wanting to look back at the hole.
"Just checking on the generator" replied Tanaka. "Isn't in use at the moment as you can tell by the fact we aren't being deafened by the damn thing. And it's full. Time to turn off the lights I guess."
Yomi hissed out in pain as part of the shattered glass sliced across her finger. It wasn't very deep, and she couldn't see any blood but it still stung quite a bit.
"Are you ok?" asked Yusuke.
"What? Yeah I'm fine, just cut myself" said Yomi. "Guess I should have been paying more attention!"
"Well I've come pretty close to cutting myself a few times as well" said Yusuke grinning. "Guess I'm just lucky at the moment!"
"Yeah I guess…can you hear something?" asked Yomi looking upwards.
"Maybe…is it a humming type sound?"
"Yeah that's it" replied Yomi. "I don't think I've heard it before."
"The old guy's probably reached the power box thingy" said Yusuke. "Sounds electrical."
"Must be it" said Yomi looking to one side at the corridor beyond the doorway suddenly descended into darkness. She turned the other way to look at Masaaki who didn't flinch as the lights suddenly went up.
He swore as he dropped something and bent down to pick it up. He glanced upwards, towards the glass in the doorway as he heard Yomi calling something.
"Don't worry!" called out Masaaki as he stood back up. He stuck up a thumb. "I'm not afraid of the dark."
As he finished speaking he became aware of a dull thud. He didn't so much hear it, as he felt it through his feet, the floor shaking underfoot slightly. Back in the lit section Yusuke and Yomi also felt it.
"Hmmm, that doesn't feel much like electrical stuff to me" said Yusuke. "Feels more like…"
"Footsteps" muttered Yomi. "Masaaki I think you should get out of there now!" called out Yomi again.
Just through the glass she saw him seemingly shaking her head in disdain towards her.
"It's not about being afraid of the bloody dark" said Yomi to herself. She turned back to the glass as a faint motion caught her attention. Masaaki had vanished from view. The idiot had dropped something again.
"Are you done?" asked Yomi.
"Yeah" said Yusuke zipping up the backpack. "Why?"
"I dunno why, but I want to get back up to the library" replied Yomi. "I want to get out of here."
"Don't worry" said Yusuke quietly. "I'm a bit scared as well. But what about Ryo and the older guy?"
"We'll call down to them" said Yomi.
"Sounds good to me. Hey Masaaki! Hey Masaaki we're leaving!" yelled out Yusuke.
No reply.
"I hope he isn't sulking" said Yomi. As Yusuke began to march to the doorway, the girl sped up, catching up with the boy. Yusuke pushed open the door, and then they knew why there had been no reply.
His legs were slumped on the floor slightly, as though he had been standing up from sitting cross legged. Bars of chocolate were scattered across the floor. The school trousers were stained slightly, and drops of blood were specked across the floor.
That was because above the waist, just above the worn looking leather belt was the place at which Masaaki's body ended. Ragged red flesh and gleaming white bone stared the two students in the face. Slowly at first the legs moved forwards, before finally falling to the floor with a faint splat, flecking the door with blood and viscera, narrowly avoiding Yomi. Yomi was certain the far end of the corridor was somehow getting darker, and thought she saw movement. Probably just her imagination.
She wasn't going to risk it.
"Let's go!" she yelled out, turning around and sprinting for the stairway. Yusuke ran too, pausing to pick up Masaaki's filled backpack, before also heading towards the stairs. From a combination of their frenzied echoing footsteps and panicked breathing, they didn't hear the low roar from the corridor.