Though, I knew immediately where I was once I saw...
The counters.
The space heater.
The bookcase cabinet...
That closet...
The tv set behind me...
The pillows... thrown around.
The blankets... sprawled across the floor.
It's just like before... All in the same horrifying conditions.
(Naomi): "Huh!?"
Even my pajamas were not being worn anymore... Somehow, I was back to wearing my school uniform, without any memory of changing into them... with... one of my ankles feeling weight, which turned out to be that same makeshift splint Seiko had made for me... the same one... from "last time".
Still being worn.
(Naomi): "No... No, no, no...!"
Panicked as I was, my hands were all over my face. And in return, the cold temperature of my skin could be felt freezing my palms to my fingertips. With the rest of my body suffering the same treatment. Like if I've been left in a freezer and just been thawed out. Freezing and aching from agonizing chest pains.
Everything about this...is too real.
Just like... "last time".
Why am I back here?!
How is this possible!?
This isn't supposed to be real!
The worst part... I was all alone. Even though, I heard that very voice not too long ago. That all I did then was call out for her.
(Naomi): "Seiko! Are you here...?"
Clearly she was nowhere inside the room. But I still called out for her. Hoping that maybe...she was right outside that old ugly looking red door.
(Naomi): "Seiko! Please tell me that you're here...!"
But nobody came. It was all just deafening silence.
(Naomi): "S-Seiko!"
Every attempt of calling her didn't change a single thing... besides how worse the aches in my chest felt. With the room spinning and shrinking in my field of vision... as if I was beginning to lose my sanity to the overbearing shadows of my surroundings. Closing in from all blind spots. It was so bad that I dug my nails into my head, scratching for a spot to make sense of this. But that didn't help at all. It just made me feel more insane...
(Naomi): "This is not real... This is not real...!"
But then looking back from "last time", I began remembering...the promise she made. Which made this situation feel much, much worse...
"...I promise! When you wake up, I'll still be right beside you!"
(Naomi): "..."
Why aren't you here...?
But before I could dwell even further on it... fear latched onto my heart and squeezed me.
(Naomi): "AACK!"
The deafening silence was suddenly replaced by... loud, raging, staggering waves of static being sent into my ears. Rupturing them continuously of that violent, painful sound. All coming from the direction behind me. Displayed in bright red flashes coloring the rest of the horrifying room.
(Naomi): "Gyaaah...!"
I was too terrified to investigate the source. That I immediately bolted for the exit. Slamming myself against the door as I fumbled my hands all over it with the static increasingly getting louder. But once I managed to grab the door slider, all hope died inside me.
What the hell?!
Why is this door locked?!
Why now?!
Regardless of how hard I tried opening the door, I couldn't leave the room. Like if I was forced in... That I even started pounding on the door. Using every fiber of my being to break through. Bashing the door so hard it would shake the whole wall.
Open!
Open!
Open!
Why won't this stupid door open?!
Open!
Open already!
Just fucking open!
The glass parts of the door weren't even shattering.
But even worse...
The static didn't die down at all. And the last thing I wanted to do was turn around... as it felt like it would lead to a fate worse than death. That all I did then was pressed my forehead into the glass panel. Hoping whatever's happening in the room for it to be over.
(Naomi): "Ahhh...Ahhhhhh...!"
Stop!
Please stop!
Please please please!
Please make this stop!
I can't handle this anymore...!
At this rate, my ears felt like they were bleeding... and that my mind was being split open in every part. Although, the door in front of me suddenly felt lighter...
Wishful thinking?
Or was that just the numbness in my hands?
(Naomi): "...!"
No...
The door was actually now unlocked! And I didn't hesitate, which I ended up outside the room. Door shut behind me. Without ever looking back once. While on the floor, crawling across the dark hallway until I my back met the other wall. Hugging myself so desperately to try and prevent myself from passing out.
Shaking, shaking... and shaking.
(Naomi): "*Pant* *Pant* *Pant*"
This is not real!
This is...not real...!
Yet everything felt real... just like... from "last time".
But it was worse.
So, so much worse...
(Naomi): "*Shivering*"
Where are you Seiko...?!
I didn't want to move. But staying in one spot with whatever...was going on in that room, just made things not feel any better.
I had to keep moving.
Find myself out of here before something...worse happens.
And with those concerns, I began exploring the supposed school.
Well, not really "exploring". More like... "retracing" my steps. As I was too afraid to bother with the other rooms, which I ended up finding myself the same hallway me and Seiko had walked through before... with the same row of corpses. All lined up just like how they were..."last time".
Though, unlike before... seeing them now had me feeling numb.
(Naomi): "..."
I still can't believe these were once people...
Actual corpses...
But why do they all look like students from the same school?
How were they even brought here...?
(Naomi): "*Shivers*"
But where could Seiko be?
Why would she leave me all by myself...?
Didn't she promise me that we would still be together when I wake up?
...
It doesn't make sense...
Where would she run off to while I'm asleep...?
How is this all still happening...?
(Naomi): "*Sighs*"
But she can't be too far!
She's gotta be close by!
Maybe she needed to use the restroom?
Reasonable thought. However, my guts were telling me otherwise... As Seiko's disappearance just didn't fit well for that simple reason. Especially since she had already left me once in this place. And looking back at "last time", she expressed her deepest regrets for doing that. Which I began feeling her hug... with her past words ringing through my ears.
"Oh thank God!"
"You really had me worried there! I was so close to having a heart attack!"
"God I'm so stupid! What was I thinking of leaving you alone...?!"
She certaintly wasn't willing to take that chance. Even for something as small as taking a restroom break...
Something was up. And there's no telling how long it's been since she's been gone...
I had to act quick.
(Naomi): "..."
I need to check every room...
With that in mind, I then turned back and tried investigating the other rooms I passed along the way. Starting with classrooms "5-A" and "4-A". Besides how creepy they looked from the outside, each door couldn't be... unlocked? But not locked behind a mechanism... locked by... some sort of unearthly force holding them together to the walls. That even using brute force didn't make them budge.
(Naomi): "Hnngh! Huh? What...? This one too...?"
And down the hall, it's the same for the "basement" and the "gymnasium". No matter how hard I tried opening them, the doors themselves were frozen in place. Like if... they were not real doors. Like if...they were just building decorations.
(Naomi): "..."
Is this what Seiko's been talking about?
They really don't budge at all!
Why is that...?
If these doors were inaccessible, then it was fair to assume Seiko couldn't have entered these rooms. Leaving me to proceed back down the hall and try checking upstairs. But before I could make it past the intersecting point of the closed-off entraceway and the hall leading to the stairs...
(Naomi): "...?"
A metallic "click" gently resonated throughout the hallway. Which the origin of the sound came from the direction behind me. More specifically... along the walls. But not from the wall itself. But from an old busted up door that didn't seem to belong there... Labled with "6-A" on the frame right beside it.
(Naomi): "Huh?..."
That's not right...
I don't recall ever seeing this door?
What's weirder, the glass outside the room couldn't be seen through. On the other side, it was pure darkness. Another warning going off in my mind.
There's something not right about this...
I can't even see a thing from here!
It didn't help that the corpses were not very far from this door. But I couldn't leave the room alone.
(Naomi): "..."
I have to check...
I mean, it'll probably be locked just like the other doors!
Then I don't need to worry about going inside!
One touch on the door slider. And...
(Naomi): "...!"
...What?
...It can open?
Normally this would feel rewarding, but the way this building is set up, there's nothing but uncertainty... and clearly, death... going by what I've been seeing.
Why did it have to be this room?
Why this one?
Ahhhhh!
I hate this!
I couldn't let those scary thoughts keep me from exploring. I needed to be brave... for Seiko's sake.
Do this for her...
She needs you!
(Naomi): "*Sigh* Okay..."
Slowly I opened the door, peeked through the small gap and realized...it was in fact a classroom. Barely visible enough to see around. But before I could go in...
(Naomi): "Seiko...? Are you in here...?"
There was no response. Rainfall was all I heard across the room. Gently tapping the glass.
(Naomi): "..."
It seems alright to go inside...
Once I entered the classroom, I shut the door behind me. Then approached to the center of the room. In disbelief of what I'm seeing... considering what Seiko had said... "last time"... came out very, very true.
(Naomi): "*Shivers*"
Wow!
These desks are too small...!
Definitely small enough for preschoolers...
Seiko wasn't exaggerating about this place...
The room was definitely a classroom for children. Undoubtedly, the classroom belonging to an elementary school. But then I noticed the windows. It was a reassuring sight until seeing how horribly dark it was outside. As I was unable to see beyond even a few meters away. With raindrops being the only visible thing to see. Pouring across as the expanding droplets landed and traced the scratched glass. Continously trinkling their way downwards. While occassionaly, lightning could be seen in the very far distances. Which it's light gave me a small glimpse of a forest. No buildings. But just trees blocking out everything. Even the skies as I couldn't see a glimpse of a "moon" or it's light.
How is this school so far from civilization...?
I mean, what area would this be located at exactly...?
It's definitely nowhere we live...
And yet... it's so unnatural...
Where's the moon even at...?
(Naomi): "*Shivers*"
God, this is so creeeepy!
Why are things like this...?!
It was already becoming too stressful. I didn't want to think about going through the rest of this creepy school, or even have the idea what's waiting for us outside...
And with not knowing where Seiko could be...? And what all this could really be...? It was becoming unbearable...
(Naomi): "*Sighs*"
Why did you leave me Seiko...?
My anxiety was too much to handle alone. The tendancy to snap was becoming easier and easier, as if the school had this supernatural fog of uneasiness, incubating in all parts of the building. Especially, in this room. Growing thicker and thicker the longer I stayed, as if each inhale was destroying my lungs.
(Naomi): "...!"
The feeling was so bad I leaned towards the windows. Hands all over them. Trying to not freak out.
No...
Why now?
I'm not even at home!
I can't be feeling like this right now!
A physical distraction is what I needed. Which I was left with... the rain.
(Naomi): "..."
One simple second of seeing the rain trinkle down the glass, the tension in my lungs gradually lessen. Being mesmerized. Being reminded... of another special time in my life. Particularly, a day when me and Seiko were leaving Kisaragi Academy.
And just like that, I got to hear her voice again...
To be continued...
Next chapter dropping shortly!
