Chapter 21

I'm back in the darkness. A foul scent lingers in the air. The drip drop of blood echoes in the empty room. This is the same room where that thing grabbed me. I look around to see if Sachiko is here. I'm all alone. I run to the door. I am not going to take any chances with that thing. I continue running until I have a few good feet between that room.

I take a moment to sit down and catch my breath. As I sit the pain starts to settle in. The adrenaline has disappeared leaving me tired. I look down at my injured arms.

"What!"

It's healed. Well not fully. Huge scars run down my forearm where the injury was. I could have sworn the skin was completely torn off. The feeling of ice cold hands grabbing me brings me back to Sachiko. She grabbed my arms when she surprised me. Did she heal my arm when she grabbed me? I have to thank her when I see her again.

I get up and start walking around the school. More bodies lay rotting. I swallow the puke down. My hands tremble on it's own.

"Okay, Marie. Calm down. You need to be strong. Those two knuckleheads won't last long if you aren't." I say to myself. I look straight ahead to avoid the corpses. As I continue to walk my thoughts drift to my friends. I hope they're alright. I'm sure they can all handle themselves until I found them. I shake my head thinking to myself. I hope those two idiots don't do something stupid. Where are they anyway?

The darkness lingers everywhere. It swallows me up as I continue on my search.

~/~

I have no idea what time it is or how long I've been walking but it feels like hours. I've passed by four rooms in total. All of them we're classrooms, except for the infirmary. Right now, I'm looking for the staircases. Since none of my friends were in any of the rooms they must be downstairs or upstairs. I find one easily near classroom 2-A. But I don't go too far up. They're barely noticeable. Extremely thin wires criss cross across the staircase. There's no way in hell I'm going to be able to pass all of them. I go to the nearest one and touch it. I wince back, clasping my finger. Blood drips from the invisible cut. I stare at them, agitation growing.

"You've got to be kidding me."

A sound catches my attention. I lean as close as I can get without touching the wires.

"Is someone crying?"

I listen for a little longer before going downstairs again. I'm sure the crying was just in my imagination. This place is starting to get to me. Before I exit the staircase the sounds of footsteps catches my attention. I press myself to the wall. The footsteps come closer and closer and…

"JOEL! Where the hell are you?! Don't fuck with me, Joel! Come on man, cut the crap out! Just get your damn ass over here!"

I want to strangle him on the spot. What is he thinking?!

I peek out from behind the wall to find Lenny in the middle of the hallway. His back is turned to me and he's not paying much attention to his surroundings. Getting out of my hiding spot I sneak up right behind him. He doesn't even notice. He continues to curse under his breath. Rolling my eyes I tap Lenny's shoulder.

"YAAAGH!" Lenny screams. I let him flail around in a really bad attempt to protect himself.

"Please don't kill me!" He cries out.

"Really? Because you're about to get it from me." I growl at him.

He opens one eye and peaks between a slight crack between his hands.

"What is wrong with you?! What if something or someone heard you? You're yelling so loud that I bet anything in this school could hear you!"

I wait for Lenny to react but all he does is stare at me, his mouth hanging open.

"I can't believe you! Do you have any common-" I stop mid sentence at the feeling of his arms around me.

"Marie, you're...you're alive. I thought that… that." He hugs me tighter burying his head at the nape of my neck. I stand there too shocked to react. My face burns from his contact. Oh, God. What's going on with me?

"Le-Lenny, um." I stammer out.

He laughs nervously. "Oh! Sorry." It might be dark, but it looks like he's blushing.

"You okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, I just... When that thing took you I thought it… that I never would see you again."

"Really?" I say teasingly.

"Don't tell Joel I said that or-"

"Or what?" I challenge.

"Just don't, please."

"Where is Joel anyway?"

"That little bastard ran off. We were looking for you everywhere. And then all of a sudden he just stopped and started saying shit. He was acting weird. And he looked really weird. And then he just ran off laughing like a fucking maniac."

"Well, he has to be here somewhere. Let's go."

Without waiting I head down the hall.

Yeah! Two people have reunited! :) Now they just need to find the others. But will they find everyone and make it out alive? It's already too late for someone. Find out what happens in the next update. Until next time...

-P.V.J