-SCREAMS IN INTENSE FEAR BECAUSE BLOOD DRIVE WAS NOT A BLOOD DRIVE AND EVERYTHING IS HORRIFYING AND SAD AND NOT OKAY-
Cupcakes muttered under his breathe and dragged a hand through his brown hair. After getting separated from Ufo and Analife, he had been somewhat desperately searching for anyone who was sane. As he was walking, he heard the sound of cussing and the clank of wood. Walking towards to source of the noise, he came across a girl around his age pulling at a loose floorboard.
"H-hey, do you need any help?"
The redhead turned slightly and smiled. "Ah, sure. Help me get this boardy thing free."
He nodded and started tugging on the board, which was pulled off in about 15 seconds. It was surprisingly easy. They only had to pull one time and it broke free. "So why do you need this board?" He asked as he handed it over.
"For my friend, Elsa. Her foot is stuck so I'm gonna use this like a crowbar and break her free."
"You really think that'll work?"
"Well, it should, at least."
Cupcakes scratched his neck before stepping forward. "Mind if I stick around? We can find a way out of here together ounce we help your friend."
"Sure!" She chimed.
He smiled and started to look around the room for any clues to escape. He had already run into a spirit, a young boy with blood oozing out the sides of his mouth, and had managed to escape. Obviously something was going on.
'Are you sure you can trust this girl?' The familiar voice in his head asked.
She seems trustworthy. I trust her. Even if she did turn on me, I could take her down easily.
'Ah, but what if she had a knife or gun...? Not so easy then, hm?'
I suppose you're right... I'll watch my back.
'I would rather you not trust her what-so-ever, but that will work. Now keep looking around, there might be something of use here.'
He started shifting through papers and his new friend skipped up. "Hey, so what's your name?"
"Cupcakes."
"That's a weird name."
"It's a nickname..."
"Well, Cupcakes, I'm Anna." She stuck out her hand and smiled.
"Alright, Anna. Help me find any clues to where we are." He decided to leave the ghosts out, he really couldn't deal with a frightened girl at the moment.
'Hmph. Go look at that poster on the wall, it looks important.'
Alright...
Cupcakes shook his head walked to the poster, which was actually a tacked newspaper, and started to read.
[Heavenly Post] 'Third Student Reported Missing' One by one, the young students of Heavenly Host _ School seem to be disappearing, as now a third student has joined the ranks of the missing. Classmates testify that fifth-grader _ was on her way home from school, but got separated from her friends in the hall and hasn't been seen since. Police are investigating the possibility of a serial kidnapping and have assigned countless investigators to the case in hopes of a speedy resolution. However, ten days have already passed since the first disappearance, giving parents and classmates ample cause for concern.
He let out a 'tsk' of annoyance as he tried to read the scratched out words. As he was squinting, Anna bounded up to him and started reading.
"That's horrible... I hope she's okay..."
"I'm sure she is, along with the others. This happened a long time ago... I wonder why the newspaper is tacked up?"
'I think I'll let you figure this out on your own. This is starting to become a rather interesting story for me.'
Elsa sighed as she was left alone in the dark hallways. The faceless spirit insisted on leaving, stammering something about being too weak to stay. Sighing, she reached into her bag and produced a small duck. "At least I still have you." She murmured as she set it on the ground.
"Quack!"
"My thoughts exactly."
She smiled and started walking further down the hall with the duck in tow. "Alright, Fuzzbutt, where should we go next?"
Fuzzbutt waddled to the right and let out a happy squeak.
"That way? Alright."
She decided to put faith in Fuzzbutt's animal instincts and followed him through the school. Eventually they came across a girls lavatory. None of the stalls would open, it felt like someone just shoving them closed. It had a different feel than the other door or windows, which felt like they were simply affixed to the wall like a decoration. There was also a strange sound, like rope being tugged on, and the creak of wood along with it.
She shrugged and stepped back out the door. She had hoped to make use of the restroom while it was here, but that could wait. Fuzzbutt was already waddling away and she started jogging towards him.
When he came across a gap, Fuzzbutt quickly spread his wings and started trying to fly. Instead of lifting into the great blue sky like the majestic eagle he was always meant to be, he stopped short and crashed head first into the floor, a few feet away from his lift-off point. At times like this, he wished his wings weren't clipped.
"Where do you think you're going, Earhart?"
"Blrlrlrlrlr..." He... I don't fucking know, gaggled? as he shook his feathers clean of any debris. Elsa picked Fuzzbutt up and looked off to his destination. The gap was small, but not large enough to jump across. She perked up slightly as she got an idea.
"I bet we could set a board down and walk right across!"
She set Fuzzbutt back onto the ground and started searching for a board to use as a bridge.
Charred held his head and stopped walking as soon as he stepped into the classroom. Kara, who was walking behind him, walked into him and got knocked backwards.
"Ow... Why'd you stop walking?"
He didn't move, but instead started laughing lightly. "Haha... No one is saying that! Hahahaha! Today is my daughters birthday..."
Kara squirmed backwards while keeping an eye on her friend. "Hey... Charred, are you alright?"
"Heheh... She's turning seven... We're going out together to celebrate!" His grin grew unnaturally wide, but then warped into a grimace of disgust and fear. "W... What are you doing!? That's disgusting! Ah... AAAAAAGHH! Wh-why are you looking at me like that!? Get off of me!"
"S-snap out of it man!"
"Agh... h-help... What is it, Kara?"
Instead of answering, she scrabbled up and backed against the wall of the hallway.
"Wh... What happened?"
"You were saying... You were saying some really... really weird things."
She blinked as she noticed several scarlet lines lacing around Charred's face. He was bleeding from his nose, mouth, ears, and even his eyes. The white of his right eye was stained pink from a popped blood vessel. "You're bleeding from... Everywhere."
"Agh... It hurts..." He groaned as he wiped away the blood onto his shirt. He bit into it and rubbed his tongue on the cloth. The awful metallic taste still stained his mouth, but at least it wasn't as bad now.
Kara shivered and walked into the new classroom. It looked relatively normal, save for the knocked over chairs, desks, and several large tears in the floor. She walked to the teachers desk and looked around. Several old, shredded papers littered the floor. There was a paper on the desk that was still readable, however. Charred and Kara both glanced down and started to read.
Ms. Yui, we've gone to find you. If we pass each other and you see this message, wait right here. We'll be back.
"Hm," She pouted. "Kind of blunt and sloppy."
"I wonder if they found each other... Hahaha..."
think of this chapter as pouring the gasoline, and in the next one wE'RE SETTING THIS SHIT ABLAZE