Chapter Six: An Alternate Abyss (Part Two)
If the pool hall had been any indication, the school itself was worse. The previously carpeted floor had turned to a soft sort of slush. Of what Leah didn't know or did she want to. The walls were a canvas of cracked paint and dirt spatters (or dried blood). Pieces of dirtied cloth hung from the walls as if growing out of it. "It's like some sick fuck was re-decorating and forgot to finish…"
So far Leah had found the door to the office locked (which was odd since it had previously been open). The door to the main area was locked (and still she had not been able to see beyond it's narrow glass windows) and finally a door, to what Leah assumed was a lecture room, locked as well. She had been busy sifting through lockers for anything that may have been of some use. Any sign of the normalcy she'd left behind when going under. So far she'd found nothing. In one locker she HAD found finger bones from some animal, scraps of old, and dirtied cloth and a backpack. Leah had kept the backpack for the simple reason that it was easier to hold things in there than over cramming her pockets.
She sighed and looked dubiously towards the hall that led past the lockers. "Well…it's not like I have any choice anymore…" she thought miserably and gathered the bit of her courage that had built up since her encounter with the thing, which she had aptly named the Bender. The hall was dark like the rest of the school and led to another area that was composed of open-ended rooms on each side. A row of desks lined the middle. "Just a guess but I'll be willing to bet those may be classrooms…" Leah thought sarcastically before peering inside the first one. Six long tables were set up and there was a filthy white board that Leah doubted could ever be wiped clean no matter how much the school janitor argued. The walls were littered with motivational posters like, "There's No I in Teamwork!" and others that looked as though they had been rubbed off or scribbled over. Leah noted that each classroom looked like an oversized, brown walled cubicle. As Leah went on down the hall each classroom looked pretty much the same, give or take a few tables. The teachers' desks were now rusted and old as if from centuries past. A few of the chairs were tipped over. As she moved on only one classroom in particular caught her eye. In the back, nestled in the left side of the room was a weird stand. On the stand was little chairs arranged pyramid style. The top was empty along with a spot on the bottom that had some sort of weird, fancy symbol etched into it. A tattered note lay at the bottom. Leah gingerly picked up the note, afraid it may crumble the moment she touched it from old age. Her eyes scanned the page.
It read: "Ten little school children all learning script. Their leader towers above them forming a noble rift. Birth a God and build a Utopia from the ashes of sin. The Executioner, Valtiel and Agramon are her kin. Bring about a paradise to conquer the human hell. Rise up mother of God, teach the children well!"
"…Executioner? Valtiel?"
None of the names on the list made sense and Leah found herself looking around the room for any sort of clue further, but none was to be found. Her eyes briefly read over another of the room's posters. "Math… Amazing! Top of the world. Helps you now and beyond! Math Equals More!"
"A math class…?"
"What the hell is something about Gods and sins doing in a math class?" Leah pondered then looked back to the note. Her eyes read the names again: The Executioner, Valtiel and Agramon. The last one made her nervous for some reason. Like she had known it was important and had forgotten. "Agramon…why does that sound so familiar?" she pondered quietly to herself.
Her eyes drifted back to the display and the two empty spaces that marred it. The space on the bottom bore the odd symbol, which still made no sense to Leah, and the one on the top didn't. She briefly glanced around the room for paper and a pen but none was to be found. She mentally cursed the school for having every nightmarish thing imaginable and yet nothing as simple as a pen and a piece of paper.
Creeeeaak…
Leah's heart almost stopped pumping blood at the sound. After a moment, she turned hesitantly.
The doors of an old, decrepit cabinet had swung open. Both stood straight out, like arms welcoming someone forward. Leah stood off to the side so that the only thing visible was the side of the door. She just stared, waiting for some monstrosity to step forward from the doors, but there was nothing. No sound, no movement, nothing. Her grip on the stick tightened reflexively and within her mouth, her jaw trembled slightly in dread. "Something…opened that closet…"
Silence.
She pointed the stick out in front and moved closer, feeling her heart pick up in pace with each step. Finally she stood in front of the dark door and stared at it, mentally willing something to come out and make an appearance. Finally, her other hand lashed out and slammed the door forward, back into place on the cabinet. She side-stepped and jumped in front of the cabinet, ready for anything.
Inside the cabinet was nothing but unused shabby boxes, a few stacks of old, dingy, browned paper and other random school supplies. Leah sighed in relief and stepped away, leaning against the table. Before her heart could completely calm down, the other door of the cabinet slammed forth and Leah screamed, thrusting the stick out in front of her. What she saw sent a shiver down her spine but also gave her heart a moment to relax. In place of where the cabinet door had swung open stood a little boy. He was adorned with blonde hair and dark, grayish blue eyes and looked no older than six. For a brief, insane moment Leah wondered if perhaps he was her guardian angel. Some help sent to her through this maze of hell and constant questioning.
"Do you remember…?" he asked gently. Leah, still taking a moment to let her heart calm itself down, shook her head. "No…no! I don't remember anything! I don't …I don't even know where HERE is! Do you have anyone with you who can help…? Who can get me out of here?" she paused and turned on the young boy. "Do you know the way out?"
The boy tilted his head and his eyes took on a profoundly sad look, as though he was about to cry. Despite how miserable, alone and scared Leah felt, something within her wanted to just take the boy into her arms and comfort him. Tell him that'd be okay, even if she was lying. "Not like that little girl…" she thought bitterly.
"You don't…remember…me…?" the little boy asked slowly and Leah suddenly felt a horrible pang of guilt. She shook her head, screwing up her features into the most sympathetic face she could manage. "No…I-I'm sorry…"
She kneeled down in front of the boy and looked into his eyes, which were glassy with tears. "Look, I was in an accident that caused me to lose my memory. I didn't mean to forget you and I'm sure I haven't. I just…" she trailed off then forced a little smile. "Hey…maybe if you stick with me I can find a way to get us both out of here and maybe I'll remember something. I bet it'd be a lot better than being on your own. What do you say?" Leah asked softly. The little boy looked at her then began to cry. "I…don't know why I'm here…I didn't do anything…I wasn't bad. And…and…you've forgot me…"
"No…no I didn't. I mean I didn't mean to-" Leah tried to argue. She reached an arm out to comfort him and the boy backed away as the radio began to fizzle from within her pocket. "No! You forgot! You forgot! YOU FORGOT!" he screamed. "No! I didn't mean to! I- what did I forget?! I didn't mean to!" Leah criedi n protest, removing the radio and beating it against her hand in frustration.
Suddenly the little boy went still, his tears stopping as though they were a faucet someone had just turned off. His blue eyes drifted upwards and he pointed one little finger towards the ceiling. Leah turned and looked and sincerely wished at that moment that she hadn't. On the ceiling above the cabinet was something that made her blood curdle within her veins. A human torso hug from the ceiling, bobbing up and down and trying to get free. It's hips disappeared into the ceiling and on it's back were strings, of Leah could only describe as veins, clinging to the ceiling and making the creature into a grotesque puppet. Its arms were splayed out to the sides until the wrists disappeared into the ceiling as well. It's faceless head hung low and jittered as if it were mid seizure. The part that sickened Leah the most was the pair of human flesh colored arms, born of it's chest that tugged and pulled need fully at the air in front of it. Leah took a single step back in complete, unspoken horror. The thing appeared to be trying to pull free of it's ceiling confine but the stringy, vein like material behind it, which Leah quickly realized looked like a hideously, misshapen and bizarre form of wings, held it in place. Suddenly the arms reached out and snatched at Leah. Leah screamed and jumped back, turning quickly. "Get out of the – "
The boy was gone.
"No time," she thought as the arms snatched at her again and Leah ducked. The thing gargled obscenely and tugged at its confines again, twisting its body in agony. The arms made another grab for Leah, wrenching themselves downward as much as they could manage and this time seizing her hair. Leah screamed and thrust the stick upward, jabbing blinding and screaming. A hand wrapped itself around her throat. Its clamp was warm and clammy, slick with something Leah didn't even want to know about. It tightened and Leah felt her screams, along with her breathing become strained. She stabbed upward one more time and felt the thing shift violently and emit a sort of gargled scream but it's grip tightened. Leah saw her vision begin to black out and then come back and then black out again. "Going…to die…can't breathe…air…air…air…air…"
Leah kicked her legs and her brain barely made the connection that she had been lifted off the ground. Kicking nothing…kicking air. "Air…air…AIR!" he mind screamed as her mouth grasped the thought and tried let out a pained gasp, trying to get more of the precious life giving air.
"Going to die…AIR…going to die…AIR…going to die! Die…! Die! DIE!"
BANG!
The next thing Leah knew, she was feeling the grungy carpet beneath her hands and her throat was sucking in mouthfuls of stale air. Leah felt soft speckles of warmth fall on her, one landing on her hand. She lazily drew her hand closer to her face and saw that blood finely dotted the skin of her hand. She shot up, still panting and violently wiped the blood against the carpet and crawling out of the way of the hideous thing that had almost killed her. She looked up and saw the thing hanging there lifelessly. It's human arms no longer grabbed at anything, but hung forward lifelessly like a doll. Raindrops of blood pattered softly against the floor from multiple bullet holes. Leah looked over and saw a young man standing there with short cut, darker hair and a cool, blue gaze. He looked sickened and stressed as dark circles dressed his eyes. His hands were still clutching the gun outwards as he looked at Leah. "Are you okay?"
Leah just managed a nod, feeling a cough arise within her throat. She weakly urged her legs to stand up, grabbing Henry before she did so. She leaned her back against the hard door of the cabinet and swallowed, looking back to the young man. He looked to be a bit older, though not much, she guessed late twenties or early thirties. For a moment their gazes locked and a thought struck Leah as clear as day. "I know him…"
"Who are you?" she asked, beating him to the punch. The young man lowered his gun, breathing hard from an apparent adrenaline rush and nodded to her. "I was going to ask you the same thing. My name's Jon Foster."
Leah nodded and looked back to the thing before tearing her gaze away and feeling her the skin at her throat. "Leah…Myers…" she said slowly, then added, "And as long as you have a gun you're my new best friend…"
A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews. Kolaski and rabidapricot thank you so much for your kind words. I wanted to make this very much as though it were in fact another SH game so your compliments were nice to hear. Wrath thanks as always for being a faithful reader. I hope I continue to impress you. Also I will put up pictures of the Bender and this new monster (which I call the Wall Fairy) but sadly they're just measly sketches so they may not be the greatest. Take care.