Scare War! Part 4
---
The screams of the basketball boys sounded all over the huge campus of Spika High.
Loud enough to wake the dead.
Miyagi shivered. Who was the sick person who came up with a phrase like that, anyway?
He and his travelling partner, Mitsui, paused in their tracks as the shrieks echoed down the hallway they were in, bouncing off the walls and becoming magnified to a terrifying level. Miyagi, clutching his small torch in one hand, shivered and drew away from the moonlight streaming through the windows, breaking into a fast trot to catch up with his taller team-mate. "Wh-what's all that screaming?"
Miyagi jumped as Mitsui suddenly began laughing, the sound chasing the screams out of the hallway. "Hahaha! They're just jumping at noises and running from shadows! Cowards!" He strode off, arms akimbo, his laughter coming just a little too loudly to be genuine. Maybe it was just the echo, of course.
However, Miyagi didn't want to look like a coward in front of Mitsui and jogged to catch up with him, forcing a loud laugh as he reached Mitsui's side but carefully keeping Mitsui between himself and the window, where any strange attack would probably come from. Not that he was scared, of course.
They continued at a slow trot, their conversation starting and stopping sporadically, mostly about their "scaredy-cat" teammates. Miyagi blurted out almost any comment that he could think of and infallibly agreed with everything Mitsui said, masking his fear without knowing that Mitsui was doing exactly the same.
"Haha, I can't believe they're so scared...there's nothing here!"
"Yeah, just wind and stuff. I can't believe they still believe in ghosts!"
"Ooh, haha, look out Miyagi, the boogieman's going to get you!"
"Oh, you're talking about yourself...look out, a ghost is coming through the window, hahaha!"
Out of reflex, Mitsui glanced out the window as Miyagi mentioned it.
And screamed.
Loudly.
Miyagi didn't even have time to jump before Mitsui had ducked behind him and pushed the shorter boy between himself and the window. Miyagi didn't even know what it was that Mitsui was screaming at, and it was this fear of the unknown that made him turn from the window and bury his head into Mitsui's shoulder, refusing on all accounts to even look out the window. Really, fear.
One of Mitsui's arms was around him, and the other was shielding Mitsui's own face from whatever terror it was that he had seen outside. The halls were absolutely silent - even the echoes of the screams had faded. The pair remained still, trembling, until Miyagi finally plucked up the courage to ask: "Wh-what is it?"
"I...don't know," came the tense reply. "I saw...something white. On the lawn. I-I-I-I think it was looking at me!"
Miyagi summoned up all of his considerable bravery and pulled his face away from Mitsui, turning very slowly towards the window, dreading what he would see there, his legs poised to take him off at a screaming run if anything from a chipmunk to Godzilla was moving around out there.
He saw nothing.
The rolling grounds were illuminated by the moonlight. Trees lined the covered walkways between buildings. But nothing even vaguely white. Much less with a face with which to stare at Mitsui.
"I-Is there anything there?"
"...no."
"What?!" Mitsui lowered his arm and opened his eyes, staring at the empty grounds. "B-B-But I swear--"
Fumbling with his torch, Miyagi flicked it on and pointed it at the window. It didn't help much, but Miyagi shoved Mitsui away anyway, laughing with relief. Nothing. All that panic for nothing. "Oh man, that was a risky trick to pull, Mitsui."
"But I saw something!" Mitsui was still searching the grounds with his eyes, torn between relief and a need to prove that he wasn't lying.
Miyagi eyed him, amused. "Wearing white and staring at you. You sure it wasn't your reflection in the window?"
"Well--"
"Or the moonlight or something? Or your imagination?"
"I guess..." Mitsui scratched the back of his head, a sheepish grin on his face. "I'm as bad as the rest of them, aren't I? Jumping at shadows." He glanced out the window from the corner of his eye and laughed. "It must be my eyes, I should get them checked. I keep seeing something white out there."
Miyagi laughed. "Scaredy cat..." he teased good-naturedly, ducking out of Mitsui's range in case of retaliation. He turned to look back at the older boy, and as he did, he too glimpsed the view outside the window for a split-second.
Silently, he took off at a dead run away from Mitsui down the corridor.
Mitsui called after him, surprised by his companion's sudden behaviour. "Hey, I won't hit you that hard!" He glanced out the window nervously again. There was nothing there. Maybe it was his breath? He shrugged and began to walk after Miyagi, shooting one last look at the window as he laughed to himself.
He screamed, dropped his torch, and took off after his companion.
Looking at him from the bottom of the window, peering over the sill, was a pale white face with big white eyes. No pupils. And a wide grin. A big, literally ear-to-ear grin.
He didn't have to see anything else, really.
"HahahahaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
-----
Mitsui finally caught up with Miyagi, who was leaning against a door frame, his knees trembling visibly. Though terrified, Mitsui still managed to gloat.
"See? See? Didn't I tell you? Now who's a scaredy cat? You know how fast you were running?"
Miyagi shot him a glare. "That's because I'm a naturally fast runner!" he said loftily, pushing off the doorframe and casting wide-eyed looks at the windows, searching the grounds outside for the wide-mouthed eyeless terror. There was no sign of it. Nevertheless, he was going to keep a weather eye on the window - no telling what could be out there besides that...thing.
Adrenalin from the scare and the sprint was still coursing through Mitsui's veins. That and Miyagi's retort spurred him into one of his favourite pastimes - teasing the short runner. "Yeah...I'm sure...chicken."
"Hey, don't insult me, I didn't see you slowing down to meet that...thingie!"
"How could you tell, you didn't even turn your head to check..."
"Yeah, well...well...well..."
"Well well well? Three holes in the ground?"
The pointless banter went back and forth. It evolved slowly into pokes and nudges, and eventually became something that had the makings of a good rousing fistfight. However, the boys were soon distracted as they rounded a corner.
"Ooh, look, a water dispenser."
Needless to say, both boys were very easily sidetracked.
"Great!"
Miyagi checked the cup dispenser attached to it. "It's out of cups..."
"So? Let's just use our hands. Who's gonna know?" Mitsui tucked one hand under the tap and pushed the handle down. A stream of water poured out into his cupped hand and he yelped, drawing his hand back quickly and spraying water everywhere. "Ahh, that's cold! What is in there, ice?"
Miyagi brushed off his dripping shorts and frowned. "Wow, thanks a lot, man." He, too, tested the water and shivered, wiping his hand absent-mindedly on Mitsui's sleeve. Mitsui didn't seem to notice. "I wonder if they have any spare cups anywhere?" He glanced up and down the corridor, which opened up into a large common area decorated by plants and seats, undoubtedly for students in the daytime. Miyagi wondered what kind of student would be so desperate as to want to go to this terrifying school. "Come on...I think I can see stairs over there." The dim outline of a sterile-looking staircase led up into the dark recesses of the second floor.
The pair scampered quickly across the moonlight-dappled floor of the common room, towards the stairs. Miyagi got to them first and looked up apprehensively. The stairs faded ominously into darkness - he could barely make out where they opened out into the second floor.
"Well? Are we going up or what?" Mitsui's voice came from behind him. Miyagi swallowed nervously, until he thought of the teasing he would be subject to if he didn't go upstairs. This thought steeled his nerves and he set his foot on the first step. Nothing happened. His confidence grew and he continued apprehensively up the stairs, a step at a time, hearing Mitsui's soft steps behind him. He fumbled with the torch in his hand and flicked it on, but it blinked and died - out of batteries. What luck.
They reached the second floor and peered down the hall. It was a lot longer than the ones on the first floor, unbroken by any common areas. A door stood ajar to their left. Inside, all was darkness. Miyagi stepped to the door tentatively and read the sign. "Science Lab."
"Is it?" Mitsui peered round the door, licking his lips nervously. As his eyes adjusted, he could see very dim outlines of things lying around rather haphazardly. He nudged Miyagi. "Hey, maybe we can get beakers in here, for the water machine."
Before the younger boy could protest, Mitsui pulled his shirt and he stumbled off balance, into the room.
Inside, all was silent and unmoving. This was a blessing - no movement meant nothing that could leap on them and suck their blood out. Mitsui felt along the wall and his hand touched the light switch. He tried it without success. "Damn, the lights aren't working. How's your torch?"
The faint sound of Miyagi hitting his torch with his palm reached his ears. "Still dead."
Mitsui turned to his friend's voice and stepped forward carefully, his hands outstretched slightly until he felt the fabric of Miyagi's shirt. "Oh, there you are."
Miyagi continued to hit the torch. "Useless piece of junk--"
Suddenly, the small hand-held torch threw out a weak, flickering beam. Miyagi and Mitsui glanced up.
It illuminated a face. Half the face was that of a normal man, smiling calmly. The left half was horrible. It was as if someone had peeled the skin off the face roughly, exposing every last muscle and piece of bone. The big blue eye stared lifelessly from its eye socket into space. The mouth was locked open in a hideous, twisted grin, the ivory teeth reflecting the torch's weak light. The nose was an empty, upturned hollow. The top half of the head was carved away, revealing a shiny pink brain.
The terrified shrieking went on for quite a long time this time. Miyagi dropped the torch and it went out, but it didn't stop the screaming.
However, slowly, the screaming faded out. As far as they could tell, the face wasn't moving. Nothing was jumping on them out of the dark.
"M-M-Miyagi..."
"W-What?"
"It's...It's a science model."
Mitsui was right. The face belonged to a model of a human being, showing the organs, muscles and bone structure of the inside of the human body. It continued to stare straight forward, unseeing, unblinking. It was no longer a threat.
"L-Let's just get the damn beakers and get out of here," Miyagi whispered nervously.
Mitsui nodded in agreement, but realised that Miyagi probably couldn't see him. "Y-yeah."
They began to search, but it was hard without the aid of light, and neither boy was willing to search for the torch in the dark recesses of the floor. They stayed quite close to each other, unwilling to wonder off alone to face whatever horrible secrets there were in the science room.
"H-Hey, Miyagi, over here!" Mitsui had found a shelf full of beakers near the corner of the room.
Miyagi made his way over gingerly, stubbing his toe on the desk as he went and cursing softly. "Great, let's just grab a few and get the hell out of here, I'm sick of this stupid school. I can't believe I even read that invitation."
"You're telling me."
It took a few minutes to find some decent-sized beakers - they seemed to have all sorts of things on the shelf. Neither boy wanted to think about what might be inside the full beakers and boxes that were stacked up. Finally, they found some satisfactory glass beakers.
"At last...this place is making me really nervous." On an impulse, Miyagi reached out for Mitsui's hand and grabbed it for reassurance. Pride had gone out the window - this place was just too scary.
Mitsui felt Miyagi's hand bump against his and grabbed it. It made him feel a little better. "Okay, the door is just along this wall here." He tugged Miyagi towards the door. "Let's hurry and go."
They moved forward.
There was a soft rattle.
"Wh-what was that?!"
They paused and listened. Nothing.
"This place is playing tricks on us." Mitsui continued forward, pulling Miyagi along carefully. No rattles came. "Your hand is really cold," he muttered, more to distract the two of them than for any real conversational value.
"My hand? What about yours? Yours is freezing!" Miyagi stumbled blindly, edging sideways towards the door. "And have you been ill? You're kind of thin..."
"No, not recently..."
They pushed open the door to the corridor and stepped out. The moon was out and lit up the corridor, giving them a good view down onto the school grounds.
Unfortunately for the two boys, it also made the windows rather reflective. Reflective enough for them to see that they weren't holding each others' hands. Reflective enough to reveal the off-white skeletons that they had grabbed in the dark of the science room and mistaken for each other. The skeletons' free hands were joined, making the four of them look like some macabre version of "The Wizard of Oz".
Things happened very quickly after that. Mitsui dropped the hand of his skeleton and bolted for the stairs. He had gone very pale. Miyagi, too, dropped the hand of his skeleton and whipped around, a little more vocally than Mitsui. "HEEEEELP!" By accident or design, as Miyagi dropped his skeleton's hand it hooked quite neatly into his belt loop and so the two skeletons were taken along for the ride, the wheels on their stands squeaking in protest.
It probably would have been funny if it weren't so scary.
Mitsui glanced back at Miyagi and shrieked, pointing wordlessly before tripping over his own feet. He fell heavily and skidded across the floor, a little dazed. However, he quickly recovered and began to scramble backwards away from Miyagi, continuing his wordless pointing and mouthing.
Miyagi was gaining on him quickly, but began to slow, trying to make out what Mitsui was saying.
Mitsui suddenly found his coherant voice. "LOOK BEHIND YOU!" he bellowed, eyes wide and frightened.
Miyagi turned swiftly on reflex. The skeletons whipped around with him - one detached and collapsed neatly on Mitsui's prone form, eliciting a fresh outburst and struggle to free himself from the tangled bone monster. The other remained hooked to Miyagi's pants. He caught a glimpse of this second monstrosity and began running in tight circles like a headless chicken, waving his arms frantically. "Get it off me! GET IT OFF ME!" It continued to chase him like a shadow, its bones rattling a symphony of horror.
Inevitably, he slipped.
Skeleton fell on boy fell on skeleton already on boy. Mitsui had the wind knocked out of him by a flailing Miyagi, who was still trying desperately to get the skeleton away from him, and now off him. It was a bizarre four-layer boy-skeleton sandwich.
Truly odd things were happening in the school tonight.
__
End of Part Four
Author's Notes:
Haha, finally, the long-awaited Chapter Four! :P I promise I will never take a hiatus this long again - the guilt is too much to bear. The other four chapters will be up a lot sooner than this one, that's for damn sure. Apologies again for how long this took me. Bleugh.
Now the teaser questions! What other situations will Miyagi and Mitsui find themselves in? Who is truly behind all this? And where is Rukawa while all this is happening? Stay tuned - if you can wait long enough :P - for Chapter 5!
~T