Although I gave a warning at the beginning of the story, I will do it again. This story does and will contain themes of physical assault and panic attacks. This chapter will not be a very light one. Some detail may be triggering. If this will bother you, read until you get to Six realizing she's having a panic attack, then skip until the last four paragraphs (five if you count the tiny last sentence of the chapter as a paragraph.)

-Alex

As they climbed into the window of the school, Six felt immense dread grow in her stomach. That familiar feeling she had been getting from many things hit her once again, except it was almost worse this time. She already desired to go back to five minutes ago, when the two of them were in the playground.

Six put a hand on her head and felt her body cringe a bit in hunger. Her head was pounding as well. Mono seemed concerned, but he didn't say anything, just squeezed her hand a few times gently to show he was there if she needed him.

The two of them walked down the opening halls of the school. Six had such a heavy feeling inside, and she pulled her hand away from Mono's and curled quietly against the floor and the wall. Everything felt blurred and echoed, unreal. Mono said something to her, but she wasn't sure what. Six put her hands on her head, wondering what the fuck was wrong with her. Images kept flashing and blinking in her mind, images of blurred people…dolls? She wasn't too sure. These sounds of demonic child-like cackling rung through her mind, and it made her headache feel worse. Why was she thinking of such noises?

Before she knew it, a hand touched her cheek and she yelped in surprise, and almost hit it. Logically, she knew it had to have been Mono, but for whatever reason she wasn't feeling right in the head.

"H-hey, its just me, Mono…a-are you alright? You look terrible…a-are you sick?"

Six tried to speak, but all that she could push out was a croaking noise of dismay. She wasn't sure why this sudden distress was overwhelming her, or why it was. Mono could tell she didn't have a clear answer, and he sat with her, gently rubbing a thumb against her cheek.

"…You're…having weird feelings too, right…?"

Six nodded and flopped her head into his shoulder. It just felt too heavy to support on her own. How come he was handling these weird moments so well, and she wasn't? Was she really just weaker than him?

Mono seemed to be able to tell what she was thinking, and he swallowed hard before forming an answer.

"…U-um…I'm mostly experiencing worry and concern…like…something is going to…" he gulped again, "…happen to you."

What? Really? So…these odd 'nostalgia' moments were about her? That's fucked up, isn't it? Regardless of why these 'moments of warning' or 'moments of nostalgia' are happening, why does it have to be focused on her?

Six rubbed her hand against her face and buried her head further into his shoulder. They stayed like this for about thirty minutes before Six had the strength to speak or move again. She couldn't understand why her energy could just be sapped away out of nowhere.

The two of them stood together- Mono clearly worried- and held hands tightly as they continued. The two of them walked towards an open room at the end of a hallway since there didn't seem to be anywhere else to really go at the moment. The room was covered in toys and had many bunkbeds that were ceiling height. Six looked at the toys with the smallest desire to play with them creeping in her chest. Mono stopped and picked up a paper airplane. He looked at Six, and she could feel that he was smiling even if she couldn't see it.

Six had only seen a paper airplane once in her life, so this intrigued her. Mono offered it to her, and she held it, brushing her fingers over the paper in interest. The two of them forgot where they were for a moment, jut feeling interest for the paper plane. The two decided wordlessly that they should both throw them out the window they entered the school with.

They both walked all the way down the hall again, back towards the window. The two of them used their hands together to throw the paper airplane in union. It was a gentle sight, seeing the plane soaring through the wind. Six couldn't help but squish Mono's hand a bit tighter.

The two of them quietly decided it was time to continue. It took around fifteen minutes to figure out where to go (mainly because Mono didn't want to turn off the lights and be in the dark, even if it was brief- 'what if the lights stay out?' he'd say, only for Six to roll her eyes.) Once they realized there was a hidden door behind the creepy portrait, the two kids grabbed toys from the bedroom and threw them at the painting, knocking it down and climbing onward. Both kids were holding each other's hands very tightly out of anxiety.

The room they climbed into was a small claustrophobic room with a single chair and a hanging light in the middle. The walls were covered in tally marks, which gave Six the chills. Mono didn't seem comfortable either and looked around for a way out.

Six noticed the floorboards were loose and pointed it out. Mono seemed to be proud of her, which made her flush a bit. The two of them jumped on the loose floorboards until they collapsed. The two of them walked together under the floorboards, heading onwards. The sooner they could get out of the school, the better.

Mono was humming the song "you are my sunshine" and Six felt her heart swell. She hummed along with him, enjoying their voices mashing together. It had been a long time since she had heard any music familiar to her, other than the occasional commercial music on the large TVs that were scattered around cities and nature alike. She wasn't sure where she learned the song she was humming; then again, she couldn't remember much of her life under the age of five. She couldn't even recall having parents and sometimes questioned if she ever did.

They finally came across a drop down and jumped from ledge to ledge until they reached the bottom, where an exit door to the vent was installed. The two of them were no longer humming, just in case something was nearby, and used their combined strength to pop the door off the exit, which caused them both to fall backwards. The two of them giggled when they hit the ground and looked at one another fondly through the light laughter. The air between them felt comforting and friendly.

The two crawled out of the vent holding hands and immediately froze when they entered a new hallway of the school. A nearby shadow showed a tall woman with an abnormally stretched neck in the other room or nearby hall, and it sent chills and anxiety down both of their spines. They waited and cringed when they heard the creaking bones and muscles as the shadow of the neck retreated back into the body, and they heard walking and a door shut, signaling that monstrosity of a woman was gone.

They both continued, fully aware their nerves were shot. The halls were long, empty, and horrifying and it made them both uncomfortable. They walked through the hall, walking through the doorway. Six had a bad feeling and got a strong sense of danger as Mono stepped ahead of her. As soon as she heard the floorboard click, she lunged at Mono, shoving him to the side and the ground with her as a bucket on a rope swung at top speed above of them. If she hadn't pushed them both to the ground, the weight and speed of that would have knocked Mono out, broken his neck, or possibly given him a concussion. She didn't want to know which one it would have been.

Mono was panting. He hugged Six tightly as they both sat on their knees on the ground, shaking. She could feel his 'thank you' radiating from the hug and it made her heart do swirls. The two of them took a moment before getting on their feet and continuing their journey, going under a fallen ceiling light and under some fallen lockers with stacked shelves.

Now that Mono and Six were fully aware of the traps, the two were very careful to jump over strange floorboards that were clearly triggers for traps. They were going to try and go into a bathroom, but the two peaked at the crack in the door and upon examination, could tell there was a trap waiting to fall on them from above. They opted to go down the hall instead, seeing what looked like dolls run away as they did. The two of them accidentally activated a trap that caused a locker to fall, however they both avoided getting hit, and used it to climb into the next room.

She could feel Mono's hand trembling and guessed that hers probably was trembling too. She had a sudden flash of dread as they walked forward, an awful feeling of nostalgia- not for herself- but for Mono this time. As soon as he stepped on an otherwise normal-looking floorboard, she screamed for him to duck and yanked him to the ground as a low-hanging ceiling lamp swung its way over them. He seemed baffled with her getting so loud, considering she had been such a quiet being this whole time.

'He can tell I'm afraid.'

"T-Thanks…um…thanks…" he seemed so speechless and unsure. He seemed to have just opted to just hug her again, since they both were wildly upset and uncomfortable. She enjoyed his warmth for a moment, both catching their breaths before they crawled out from under the lamp above them and used it to jump up on more stacked tables.

As soon as they entered the next hall, Six felt her chest constrict and her vision get blurry. She knew this feeling- a panic attack. She had only learned what it was called back when she met those two boys at the lake. One had fallen and gotten cut on the knee by a rock, and the blood triggered a panic attack in the other boy. When she had asked about it, the boys had explained it to her as best as they could, and she recognized quickly that it was something she was familiar with experiencing.

Mono stopped to look at her. He gripped her hand tighter. He probably noticed all the sweat on her body, how tense she was, her panting- she hated feeling so vulnerable.

"Six…what's wrong...?"

His voice was just an echo in the back of her mind. Memories- memories she shouldn't have, memories of things that she was sure she had never experienced- rushed through her mind. Memories of porcelain children holding her down, laughing at her, shoving her face into a bucket of water and laughing as she couldn't breathe. Memories of these children pulling her across the ground, holding her ankles so tightly that they bruised- so many foggy memories that caused such an intense panic inside.

She didn't understand it, but she knew- she knew if they stepped further, if they moved onwards, if they kept going down that hall- porcelain children would take her.

She backed up rapidly, ripping her hand away from Mono's. She heard Mono make a sound of surprise- maybe even say something, she wasn't sure- but she just ran. She was terrified and desperate to be as far away from this place.

Six ran all the way back to the stacked tables, before panicking further when she realized she couldn't jump it. An object- she needed an object. Her head was pounding, her whole body felt ghostly, like she was only half in control, and she could feel herself on the verge of vomiting. She could hardly breathe- she desperately desired air, freedom, somewhere she didn't feel so trapped.

She couldn't focus at all, and instead crawled under the stacked tables, huddling in a corner, shaking as she gripped so tight into her legs she could feel blood. She could faintly hear noises- noises that sounded like Mono calling for her- but not in a gentle way. Mono seemed to be screaming, crying for her help, horrified. She could hear inhumane cackling and heard the sound of porcelain breaking, and it only further made her panic. She vomited on the ground, gasping for air, only seeing blurry colors as her heavy head thumped against her skull. She had a strong desire to rip her brain out, to make the pain stop.

Time was endless and meaningless for her. She had no idea how long she was sitting there, but when the noises stopped, she gave in to her exhausted body, passing out immediately.

Six woke up with a gasp in a disgusting and moldy bathroom. The porcelain children were around her, cackling. She was tied up- she didn't remember when she passed out, but it was probably sometime while she was fighting to get away from them.

She was going to scream for Mono, but her throat felt too dry. She watched as the dolls, in amusement, flushed the urinals over again, using the water it released to fill the bucket. The urinals were disgusting and moldy, so its not like that water could be any better.

They brought the bucket of water over and panic set in. she struggled as hard as she could, trying to fight, but they jumped on her. One on her back, one on her legs, and two holding her head. They chanted the same word in some odd chattery language she couldn't understand as they shoved her head in the water.

She tried so hard to hold her breath, but they were holding her in for too long. She could feel pressure building in her chest, her eyes stinging from whatever disgusting things were in this water, and her head was pounding. She couldn't help it, her body was instinctually thrusting to no avail, and her mouth opened which let such an awful taste- like dirt, but worse- fill her mouth. The water was warm, which made it so much more disgusting as it slipped down her throat. Her lungs were screaming, her head was getting light, and just as she thought she was about to lose consciousness they pulled her out.

It was so hard to catch her breath. They found it to be hilarious, but her body had lost so much energy from fighting them not only as they brought her here, but as she tried to get away to breathe. She desired to rest, desired to sleep on Mono's lap, where everything was warm and safe and where she knew he would protect her…

She couldn't help it; she started to cry. She felt one of the dolls slam its feet into her head which sent such a horrible pain through her skull. Another one used its foot to pin down her chin. The dolls stomped on her head a few times for good measure before using their hands to pry her mouth open and pouring that disgusting water in the bucket into her mouth. She coughed and sputtered, and another one used its hands to pinch her nose. Six once again couldn't breathe, she couldn't do anything, her body was screaming for help, her lungs desperate for air. She hadn't even had time to hold her breath, there was no way she could have known they'd make her suffocate again.

She could feel reality slip away from her. Before she knew it, she was half knocked out from exhaustion- but able to breathe. That didn't make her feel better, though. That just meant she was still alive, still something available to torture.

They untied her wrists, and instead tied them separately. They added some extra ropes on her legs and arms, and all ran different directions with the ropes, causing her limbs to stretch in separate ways. They played with her like she was a toy and she cried and whimpered in pain as her limbs were pulled unnaturally. The ropes were so tight she was sure they'd bruise, and her muscles would definitely ache from the unnatural stretching and pulling they were doing.

She had only just enough energy to get one word out, and repeated it over and over until her throat gave out again.

"M-MONO! MONO! M…MONO…! MONO-…!"

Six awoke in a cold sweat, her body still shaking. She rubbed her wrists, ankles, and chest. That…wasn't a fictional nightmare. She knew that. Her fictional nightmares could be vivid, yes, but they were never realistic. They never actually felt real, like that did. That felt like a trauma flashback.

Six sat there for what she assumed was an hour. It smelled awful, the moldy unclean school mixed with the putrid smell of her own vomit…but she couldn't move yet. She was trying to shake the feelings of cold shock and terror.

When she finally could form a clear, coherent thought, she felt like a shit-ton of bricks were slammed down on her head at a 100 miles per hour.

'Mono was taken and you didn't do anything. You've been sleeping and sitting like a fool while they do all that stuff to him. He is your replacement. You used him. You left him as bait to take the pain instead of you.'

Even though that wasn't really true since she had barely any idea why she was panicking so much, she still felt awful. She felt like a pure failure. How could she have let this happen? How could she have just sat here for hours while he suffered, probably screaming for her?

Six's guilt soon morphed into fear, which then morphed into rage. Rage that her friend was taken. Rage that those things could hurt anyone in such a way. Rage that she wasn't able to protect him or herself. Fuck the logic of 'why has this happened before.' For all she cared, she was in an alternate universe or reliving a past life. It didn't matter. What mattered was Mono.

Six walked down the hall angrily. Because she had been asleep for so long, all the dolls must have left the hall by now. She grabbed a hammer that was lying on the ground by a fallen locker- one that was probably left to be bait- and she used all the strength she had to lift it up.

'I'm coming, Mono.'