Chapter Four – Nightmare Education

Mercurius ran to where his friend had been, looking for traces of him, a way to find him, a clue, anything! He looked around the misty roof, desperately searching for his missing friend, hoping beyond all hope that he would was just moved somewhere else, that he was still with them. After a few seconds (minutes? Hours? Days?) he gave up, and simply shouted, "Zanatos! Where are you!?"
Sara looked around then. She had been looking over the edge, searching for anything, finding nothing. She hadn't seen Zanatos vanish. "Merc? What's wrong? Where's Zan?"
Mercurius looked around desperately. "He didn't come back! When the other world faded, he was trapped there! He's stuck in the hell place!"
A horrified look crossed the face of Sara. "What? He's still trapped there? Shit, what do we do now?!" She reached up and grabbed her face. They had been so close to freedom…
With a huge surge of will, Mercurius said what they had to do. "We have to carry on to the school."
Sara looked at him as though he had just told her to strip naked. "What? We can't just leave him here! What if he manages to come back?"
Mercurius shook his head. "He can't…that thing on his leg was complete. He can't leave that world. But he knows that we are going to the school. Maybe he can meet us there. Maybe we can bring him out with us. Or something."
It wasn't a great plan, but it was a plan. Something that involved moving, going places. And not standing at the site where their friend and partner had been condemned to hell, at least for now…
They entered the Police Station, and headed for the first floor exit…

Mercurius and Sara stood opposite the school doors. The streets on there way here had been filled with nothing but fog, and yet…they had felt something waiting, something there. Maybe it had always been there, in the background, and was simply becoming stronger, or louder. But it was obvious that something wasn't right here…
The fog in the street swirled around, clinging to there legs, as snow gently fell to earth. They could just make out the outline of the steps leading up to the doors, and the doors themselves.
With a look around to confirm nothing was there, Mercurius, with Sara's hand in his and his rifle in the other, began to move across the street.
"You aren't allowed in there."
Mercurius dropped Sara's hand, and both span towards the voice. At first they couldn't spot anyone. Then Sara nudged Mercurius' arm, and pointed up, through the branches of a tree.
A small shape, a little girl was sat on the ledge of a second floor window of the house behind them. "You can't go in there yet. It isn't allowed."
Mercurius looked up at her. "Why not? Our friends going there. We have to find him."
The little girl frowned slightly. "Samael isn't playing by the rules again…you were all meant to enter here together. This isn't fair…he knows he can't do that."
The white haired man also frowned. "Samael? Who the hell is he? And why can't we enter the school without Zanatos?"
Sara suddenly breathed in. "You're the little girl that I met before! The one that led me into a trap with the demon things!"
The little girl shook her head. "I'm not that one. That was a puppet in my image, meant to make sure you wouldn't trust me. Why do you think you got out of there alive? To make sure I couldn't use you…"
Sara stared at her for a second. "Use us? How? Why?"
The little girl shrugged. "I don't know…say, can I come with you? I'm all alone in this town…"
Mercurius looked at Sara, and she looked back. Then Sara shrugged. Although the little girl was weird, and not terribly trust worthy, she was still only a little girl, alone in a town where hell was erupting. There was no way she could fight off one of those creatures…or even run from one of the flying demons. Mercurius looked up at her. "Yeah…I suppose so. Come on down here."
The little girl vanished through the window.
Mercurius looked over at the young woman. "Are sure we should do this? That little girl is not normal…well, except in a town like this. She knows stuff, and I'd bet my car, if I still had it, that she isn't going to tell us a thing."
Sara nodded. "I know…but she's still a little girl all alone in this hell hole. Just keep an eye on…" She trailed off as the little girl ran out of the front door and moved up to them lightly.
Mercurius looked down at the little girl. Typical blue little girl dress with ducks on it, dark hair, brown eyes…nothing about her, except what she had said, was threatening. Even her earlier words were only worrying…which was pretty good for this place.
"Hey little one," he said, kneeling down, "Have you got a name we can call you?"
The little girl nodded. "My name is…Cheryl."

Mercurius carefully moved around the corner of the school's front desk. So far so good…nothing had tried to jump them. Yet. Cheryl hadn't been able to tell them much about herself…except that she had a father named Harry, and that she didn't live in the town herself. The door to the school hadn't proved to be a problem. Now they had got to the front desk. He looked over the front. It was covered in blood. Writing again. "Shit…Sara, keep that kid back there."
The young woman nodded, and holding Cheryl's hand, moved away slightly. Mercurius looked over and read the three messages read the messages in blood outloud.

'10:00 "Alchemy laboratory" Gold in an old man's palm. The future hidden in his fist. Exchange for sage's water.'

'12:00 "A place with songs and sound" A silver guidepost is untapped in lost tongues. Awakening at the ordained order.'

'5:00 "Darkness that brings the choking heat" Flames render the silence, awakening the hungry beast. Open time's door to beckon prey.'

He looked over at the two female's. "Try and remember as much of that as you can, please…I think these are more of those damned clues."
Cheryl pointed at a door at the other end of the corridor. "Lets go that way now."
Sara nodded. "Sure…it's as good a direction as any."
They headed along the corridor, trying doors as they went. All of them were locked, or jammed, or something. They wouldn't open, no matter what Mercurius did to the locks on them...those that had locks. Eventually they came to some stairs. With little to no choice, they went up. On the second floor they found two open doors…they entered the one closest to them first.
It was some kind of lab store room. Chemicals were piled on the shelf. Walking along the shelves, Cheryl suddenly stopped and grabbed a bottle, then held it up in front of Mercurius. "Sage's Water!"
One look at the bottle caused the white haired man to snatch it from her. "That's hydrochloric acid! That stuff will melt your skin off!"
Sara put a hand on his shoulder, making him look round at her. "Merc…that stuff used to be called Sage's Water. She's right. I think we need that stuff. That rhyme said we needed it, remember?"
With a slight thrown, Merc got some clothe and wrapped the bottle in that, then placed that in his bag. "Come on then…lets find the gold in the old man's palm, or the future, or whatever it is."
They left the room, and entered the class room next to it. It must have been a science lab, and the object of their search was immediately obvious. A hand, which looked wrinkled with age but was obviously fake, had in its grasp a large cold coin. A quick test proved that Mercurius couldn't break the grasp. If the massive Zanatos had been there, it might well of been different, but he wasn't so…
Cheryl sat on a stool, swinging her legs. "Aren't you going to use the hydro…the hydro….the acid stuff on it?"
Merc slammed it off the desk. A chunk of wood flew out. "It seems we have no choice." He put his hand in his bag, pulled out the bottle. Opening it carefully, he poured the viscous contents over the hand.
The outer layer on the back of the hand bubbled away. Then it began to work on the fingers. But something was wrong. Flesh had appeared, and bone was beginning to show. It seemed a hand had been cut off and covered in some kind of stone. Mercurius backed away as the thing sizzled violently, turned his face so he didn't have to look. Sara grabbed the little girl and made sure she didn't see as the hand withered away and fell apart. Once the reaction was finished and the gold disc, which was un-reactive with the acid, was free, Mercurius reached for it. But even as he did, it faded away…a clock tower somewhere outside rang out as it did. Mercurius yanked his hand back, in case whatever happened to the disc happened to his hand.
Sara and Mercurius looked at each other. "Time to go," said the young woman, and they quickly left.

The next room they found open was the school's music room. A strange poem was written on the board. Mercurius approached it, then turned as Cheryl screamed. A pair of the small demon things had followed them through the open door. Sara was holding the little girl in her arms, and having difficulty bringing her gun to bear. Mercurius brought the rifle barrel up quickly, fired off a shot which knocked one back, re-aimed…and the window behind him exploded.
Sara looked over quickly as Mercurius was knocked down by a flying monster that had flown straight through the window. It was trying to claw at his face with its viscous hind legs, and he was suing the rifle. Cheryl was crying into her shoulder. She felt something slice the air by her leg and jumped back, almost loosing her balance. The small grey thing lunged and grabbed her leg. Kicking, she opened up on the second one with her handgun. Three bullets later it dropped to the floor. She tried to kick the other one from her foot, but it was latched on fast.
Mercurius lay on his back, screaming every curse he's ever heard Zanatos use as he wrestled with the monster above him. Finally, after a few seconds that seemed like years, he got his feet into place and heaved against its chest. The thing flew again, this time slamming into the wall behind it. There was sickening crack and it fell to the floor. Mercurius rolled over, brought the rifle round, and fired.
The creature on Sara's leg flew off, one of its black eyes exploding in a red spray. Mercurius got up and surveyed the damage. The flying beast had shattered the board with the clue on it, leaving it smashed and ruined on the floor. But amongst the ruins something silver gleamed…which vanished even as he reached for it. Again the clock tower rang out. The ex-marine moved over to the girls. "Are you two okay?"
Sara nodded as Cheryl looked up with wet eyes. "Were fine…where are all these things coming from?"
Mercurius shook his head. "I don't really know…come on. I think our job here is done."
Again they walked the halls of the abandoned school. The eerie half light that came through the windows was enough to see with out having to use the torches, but it left the building with a cold feeling, a cold kind of death that shouldn't be in a place like a school, which was normally so full of life and energy. After going down a pair of stair cases they came to some kind of huge generator…the school's backup.
Sara moved up to it. A look over at Merc, and then she hit the button. The massive machine roared to life with a terrible growl. The school shook with the roar of it as it gasped in air. A wave of heat slammed into the three.
Mercurius span around, his rifle raised. "Shit! Was that just the generator? Or something else?"
His young female friend looked round, the child still in her arms. "I don't know Merc…hey, listen!"
The clock tower rang out, just audible over the backup's harsh growl. Cheryl looked at them. "I think the place where your friend is waiting has opened up now." The two adults looked at her, again reminded that she wasn't what she seemed to be…
The three headed up. They entered a courtyard, and it became obvious this was where the clock had rung from. In one corner was a large clock tower. A small door was set in its base, and to either side was the disc's the trio had found earlier. The small door was open. Mercurius went over to it and looked down. "I think its safe…there isn't anything down there. Just a long ladder."
Sara and Cheryl came over too. Sara put the little girl down. The sky was becoming very dark. "Ok honey…we have to go down here. Merc will go first, then you, then me. That gonna work, Merc?"
Merc nodded, and then headed down the ladders. The sky was very dark now, and with the rifle slung over one shoulder he couldn't use the light on it. Sara had to stand at the top and point her light down. As he got to the bottom he stood there with his own light shining, watching as Cheryl then Sara followed him down. He then looked around. "I think this is some kind of War shelter…I don't think it was finished. Come on. There's a passage."
The walked through what Merc thought was a bomb shelter and found a second ladder. Moving up it they found themselves…in the courtyard again. Only this time it was black as night and the floor had once again become a grate with that weird mark on it…
Sara looked around. "Oh, God…were back here again."
Mercurius also looked around. "I know…but here we might be able to find Zan again. We just have to be…careful."
An explosion of metal to one side rained down. Two black objects flew to the ground, flying from the second floor which had been smashed open by a huge thing with a long sword…