Chapter 27 Don't Come Back

Creak.

The door to the classroom opened up. The air smelt very sharply of urine, but there was also the lingering odor of applesauce. Looking around, Celia could see very faint traces of the stuff along the walls. Her nose wrinkled up. She put one foot after the other and entered the classroom. The door swung, closing itself behind her.

Click.

This was when her heart beat sped up. She was locked in the standing position, just like how the door was locked behind her. The lights went out. One flickered ever so slightly. It was different from the others; red instead of white. It seemed like it could not decide whether it wanted to be on or to be off. The flickering it produced hurt Celia's eyes. She reached for the light switch, but doing so turned out to be pointless. It wasn't there. She swallowed a lump in her throat.

"Hello?"

Miraculously, she was now able to move of her own accord. She crept into the classroom. While the flickering light was painful to look at, it at least allowed her to see her surroundings. She noticed that the tables were really short. One was situated in the center of the room, and it resembled a blue flower. Two more were situated right across from it. One was red, and the other was green. She noticed something on the green table, so she made her way over. Just before she could get there, she heard someone shriek. Her blood stopped in its tracks.

"Is….is someone there?"

No answer. The only sound was the ticking of the clock above the door. Said sound tortured her ears. It was just loud enough to hear, and the tick tock rhythm it produced caused Celia's heart to thump. Each time her heart hit the wall of her chest, she felt a sharp pain, like the organ that was supposed to keep her alive was actively trying to kill her.

Taking a deep breath, she continued her walk over to the table. The light flickered again, causing the classroom to fade in and out of existence. She leaned over the green table. The thing on it was a crayon drawing. The paper was divided into multiple sections; eight to be exact. Celia picked it up and tried to decipher the drawings. In the top left hand corner of the page was a picture of a little Toad with a blue cap. The word "ME" was written in all caps above what was apparently a self portrait.

The other sections showed pictures of people who were related to the Toad. There was MOMMY, dressed up in a pink and white floral pattern dress. There was DADDY, with his big belly and reading glasses. There was BROTHER, wearing what looked like a soccer Jersey. SISTER, who wore her hair in pigtails. There was BEST FREND, who was hugging a little dog. Well, it was either a dog or a teddy bear; it was hard for her to tell.

Celia looked at the last section. She noticed that the corner of the paper was folded over the last picture. She slowly unfolded it, and her heart leapt into her mouth. The picture was that of a certain fiery haired, yellow skinned girl. Herself. But that's not what scared Celia.

This picture of her had X's for eyes.

Celia's breathing sped up. Her hand shook, barely able to grasp the paper anymore. Her eyes travelled up to the caption above the picture. In all caps, were the letters D. E. A. D. Dead.

"You don't belong here."

Celia shrieked and dropped the paper. She turned around, trying to find who had said that. The flickering of the light overhead grew stronger. The sounds it produced as it flickered sounded like cries of agony.

"Who are you?"

A shadow passed over the wall. Celia turned around, trying to catch a glimpse of it before it vanished. Maybe whatever was the source of it was responsible for the sentence that had been uttered. There was no one there. For some reason, that was far more terrifying than actually seeing someone. Something.

"What's going on?" Celia started backing up.

"You...don't….belong...here…"

"You...don't….belong….anywhere….

"Your mom is scum. Your dad is scum. You. Are. Scum."

Celia's heart pounded. She bolted out of the classroom, trying to escape the horrible monster that was this disembodied voice. She grabbed the door and thrust it open, running down the hallway at lightning fast speed. The lights went off around her, leaving nothing but red flickers. The doors slammed shut all throughout the hallway. She tried to open one, panicking as she jiggled the handle. When that didn't work, she tried breaking the door down. It still didn't work.

"You...are...a...monster…."

"You….are….a curse…"

"You….are….horrendous…."

Celia held back a scream and ran down the hall. A cold breeze whipped at her cheeks, one she could feel even with her skin safe and secure underneath her black hoodie. Lights continued to go off, doors continued to slam. The combination of loud sound and painful, searing light caused the hybrid's eyes to tear up.

"You can't escape from me…."

The voice was louder, clearer. Celia wasn't escaping from it at all. If anything, she was getting closer to it.

"You half Koopa bastard…."

Celia sped up. Half Koopa bastard. That was what she was. That was what she had been called after all, by multiple people. Who was she to say that it was wrong?

"You are the worst. You don't deserve to live."

"Stop it!" Celia cried, growing ever more desperate to escape.

"You cannot escape….you cannot escape…."

She continued bolting down the hall. Shadows whooshed around her in the hurting red light. A dark, threatening collection of shadows grew behind her. It slowly inched forward, devouring the hallway like it was nothing more than an afternoon snack. The path her feet had just touched disappeared into the shadow, never to be seen again.

Celia sped up, fighting back intense amounts of fear as she did so. If she tripped, if she fell, if she slowed down at all, she would be devoured too. The only thing left of her would be the memories other people had, which she knew would not be a good legacy to leave behind. After all, she had spent far too much time running. For too much time letting people down. Far too much time being hated.

Her lungs stung, desperate for her to give them a break. She would do no such thing. Despite the fact that the darkness was not speeding up, she felt as if she was getting no farther away from it than she had originally been. On top of that, she felt as if she was getting nowhere. It was like she was on a treadmill.

"Get….away...from...me!"

"Desperate to run. Desperate to hide. You don't even deserve to do that. You should never have been brought into existence."

Celia's eyes stung as the boiling tears clouded her vision. These words...they sounded familiar. And this voice…..it sounded way too familiar.

Before long, she got to the end of the hallway. Unfortunately, there was no place for her to go. No doors, no windows, nothing. She was, both figuratively and literally, at a dead end.

Celia stopped and turned toward the darkness, still eating the hallway behind her. She knew that if she wanted to get out of this building alive, she would have to fight….whatever the darkness was. She would have to brave it, overtake it, beat it. She took a deep breath, bawled her hands into fists, and stepped forward, all while trying to look as brave as possible.

"Stay back!"

The voice laughed. "Silly girl." A rock came flying out of the darkness, hitting her square in the forehead. She grimaced as blood dripped from the open cut. It accumulated in a pool on the tile floor. In it, she could see her reflection. Beaten, battered, bruised, and broken.

"What...what are you?" she asked. The voice laughed, prompting her to lift her head. "What do you want from me?"

The darkness bent and shaped itself into a form of sorts. Celia squinted. A Toad? A group of Toads? Some humans? Oh developer. A lump formed in Celia's throat. She knew who these people were. She knew, and she dreaded it.

"You should not come back," said the voice, which was now a chorus of voices. "You are not welcome in our town, in our lives."

Celia bit her lip, trying to prevent the tears from falling. Unfortunately, the voices just kept speaking to her, berating her.

"You are the product of what should not have been. You are nothing but a hideous monster to us."

Celia's eyes watered up. "Stop!"

"Not even your parents love you."

Celia's head shot right up. "That's not true!"

The chorus laughed. "Your father left you. Your mother doesn't even miss you now that you're gone."

"STOP! YOU'RE LYING!"

The darkness shifted one last time. The forms of the Toads and humans melted away to take on one final shape. This one was a woman, with piercing green eyes and chocolate brown hair.

Celia's throat seized up when she saw them. "Mom?"

Ruby glared down at her, sending a cold, jagged look straight into her heart. "Don't. Come. Back. EVER!"

Ruby morphed back into her true form, and the darkness consumed Celia. She screamed as it overtook all of her surroundings. She tried her best to get it off of her but...it was eating her! Biting at her! She needed help! She needed someone to save her!

But there was no one. No one could save her. No one was there.

…

Celia gasped. Sweat ran down her back, chilling sweat that caused her to shudder. She could still hear the voices of the crowd. She could still see her mother. Even though it had been a dream, she could still feel the rush of adrenaline, the aching of her lungs, the pounding of her heart.

She grasped the hotel blanket, just so that she could have the feel of something real in her hands. Her mind raced. Tears built up in her eyes. She didn't want to let them out. That was the last thing she wanted. Unfortunately, there was no stopping them. They rushed down her cheeks. Sobs and whimpers escaped from her mouth. Never in her life had she felt so afraid. And with no one who could comfort her, she also felt lonely.

"Celia?"

The light came on on the nightstand. Celia didn't even have to look to know that Roy had a concerned expression. "I'm fine," she said quietly.

"You're...you're crying."

"I said I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I'm here if you need someone to talk to…."

"No! I'm fine, Roy!" She dried her eyes. The water stuck to her hands, staining them and reminding her of her weakness.

Roy paused before speaking up. "Okay." He got back under the covers of his bed. "I'm going to leave the light on, okay?"

Celia shook her head. "That won't be necessary."

"Okay. I'll turn it off then."

With that, the room was plunged into darkness again. Although she wasn't willing to admit it, the darkness scared Celia. It reminded her of the devouring darkness in her dream.

"Actually...you can keep it on."

Roy turned on the lamp again. He cast her a smile. "Okay. Whatever works for you."

With that, he turned over and went back to sleep. Celia did the same thing, or at least tried to. All night, she tried to do away with the voice of her mother echoing in her head saying:

Don't come back. Ever.