Chapter 2: The haunting memories come flooding back
Heavenly Host Elementary shook and shivered as a new group of victims entered the dimension.
The spirits that roamed the empty hallways and classrooms could sense the group, some feeling dread as they thought of the group's fate.
One thing seemed off however.
The pain, the very moment they all died.
Was gone.
It was no longer a constant reminder of their demise.
For the first time, they did not feel agony.
The previous core, Yuki Kanno, had been forcefully removed of her duties as the new Sachiko. When she reawakened, her clothes were no longer stained with red, nor did she feel the immense powers she once possessed. The other two children were with her, looking down at her with worry on their faces.
Faces?
Yuki realized, that the creature that entered the school had removed the eternity of pain factor from the curse. Not only that, but the spirits would return to their original form, before they died.
She could see now. Her once missing eye, was back. Her clothes were not torn apart from years of wear. The other two children also looked normal. The only way they knew they were dead was the blue-ish glow, and transparent bodies.
All three could sense the group's arrival as well. But something was familiar about their auras. Well, most of them. Four of them were unfamiliar to the ghost children.
Elsewhere, in the school, four spirits felt confused. They could also sense the familiar auras. They knew these people from long ago…
Ayumi awoke slowly, feeling a dull pain all throughout her body. She must've fallen, she guessed. Rising up, she held her head again, the headache still present and growing stronger.
The air was much thicker than before. The smell of old, rotting wood… and faint blood was everywhere.
Her eyes widened when she realized her location.
Glancing around the room, it was a classroom. The walls were soaked in dried blood, small school chairs and desks were knocked over or broken apart. Holes were everywhere in the floorboards beneath. The atmosphere was all to familiar to her.
A loud crack of thunder and flash of lightning lit the room up. Fortunately, to her luck, there weren't any corpses or skeletal remains.
She felt herself starting to hyperventilate, but she had to stay calm. She can't let her guard down in this place. Taking a few deep breaths, she rose fully to her feet, taking in her surroundings.
She could sense a large level of energy around the school, like something powerful was holding it under it's grip. The silence that echoed through the hallways and classrooms was dulled by the sound of the pounding rain and thunder. The storm sounded very similar to the one she had heard the night before.
Was it a sign?
She then remembered her vision in her dream. It was warning her.
The sudden realization that there wasn't anybody else in the classroom with her put her on high alert.
"Yoshiki?! Ami?!" She cried out, only to be met with silence as another flash of lightning lit the room.
"I'm… alone…" The thought hit her quickly, feeling herself breath quickly again. The first time she had been here, she got lucky. She was aided by somebody else. Now… she was alone.
She had to be strong. She couldn't fall to the emptiness of the school.
She looked to the doorway of the classroom. With her luck, it'd probably be locked or stuck. Reaching out, she pulled at it, not expecting it to open so easily. It slid as if it was brand new.
Hesitantly, she stepped out, looking down both directions of the hallway. The smell of blood and rotting flesh was much stronger now, and she could feel herself getting queasy. Biting back the urge to vomit, she did her best to ignore it.
As she strode down the hallway, a question kept nagging at her.
How did she get here when she didn't do the Sachiko Ever After charm? Was there another way to get this hell?
Faint memories started to creep up on her. It had been so many years since her and her old classmates lives were changed forever. She had been responsible for her fallen classmates and teacher's death. She had thought the charm was harmless.
She wrapped her arms around herself. She felt cold and needed to console herself.
Were… they still here? As harmless spirits?
She felt chills run up her spine when a faint scream broke out, echoing through the empty hallways. She turned, the source of the noise in the opposite direction. The scream was very faint. Could it have been… in the basement?
Was it her family?
The mere thought of her family being in trouble put her on high alert. She didn't know what to do though. If she remembered correctly, this school was locked off with multiple spaces, dimensions. For all she knew, this scream could have occurred hours ago.
But her instincts were overruling her mind. Hesitantly, she walked off towards that direction, slowly but surely…
In another part of the school…
Yoshiki had awoken in a broken classroom, the floor in the middle cracked apart, too wide to jump across.
Luckily, his daughter had been a few feet away, unconscious but breathing. When she awoke, she started freaking out, their location unfamiliar and downright scary.
Now, he was holding her while she hid her face in his chest, wishing that it would just all go away. She didn't want to be here. She wanted to be home.
Yoshiki was busy looking around the classroom, searching for any signs of of another body… a living body at least. He deeply prayed they didn't come across a corpse, for Ami's sake. He couldn't reveal something so dark to her innocent mind.
Or worse, a corpse of his wife.
But, there were no signs of life in the classroom, other than themselves. Another flash of lightning lit up the room, a loud crack of thunder following. Ami whimpered again, tightening her hold on her father's shirt.
From previous experience, they wouldn't get any closer to finding the missing family member if they didn't move. Convincing Ami was hard, but he eventually got her to reluctantly follow him out into the hallways. His hand was tight around hers. He would do anything to keep her from separating from him. He couldn't bear the thought that she would have to brave these halls alone. She wouldn't.
The sliding door opened easily, much to his amazement, and he glanced around, scouting for any signs of danger. Both then walked out into the hallways, Ami looking around with wide eyes at the amount of red liquid on the walls. He knew he wouldn't be able to keep the truth of this place from her for long.
Turning a corner, his fears came true as a decomposing corpse lay next to a wall a few feet away. It wasn't old, as it wasn't just bones, but it wasn't fresh.
"Ami, don't look!" He blocked the young girl's view quickly, but she had already seen it. She listened to her father though, hiding behind him to shield her from the body. Both passed by it quickly, it was evident that smaller creatures had reached it. Flies were circling it, the smell of rotting flesh overpowering. Ami put her hand to her mouth and nose, squinting her eyes as she felt her stomach churn.
Once passed it, Ami was red in the face, fighting back the urge to vomit. The smell alone wanted to make her bring up the contents of her stomach. Yoshiki took notice of this, leaning down and bringing her closer to him as he rubbed her back.
"Don't hold it in, sweetie, I don't want you to get worse," He murmured to her, but she shook her head, squeezing her eyes tightly.
After a few minutes, she finally managed to calm her upset stomach, hiding her face in her father's shoulder as he continued to rub her back.
"Come on, let's continue our search for mom," He rose up, taking one of her hand's into his. He really hoped they didn't run into more corpses like that…
In a classroom in the second wing…
Yuka Mochida was going on with her day in her dorm room, readying herself for the morning classes when the dorm started to shake vigorously. Out of instinct, she dropped to her knees and kneeled over, her hands over her head. Before she could move any further, the floor beneath her gave away and she fell in.
She awoke in an empty, run-down classroom. Much to her worst nightmares, she was back in the place she feared the most.
She was young when she entered Heavenly Host Elementary with her brother and his classmates. Back then, she might've acted much more like a child, but no one should have to endure what she and the others had gone through.
When she returned with her brother to the real world, bruised and broken, she had little trust in strangers and people she barely knew. Her brother, her sister in-law, and parents were the only ones she had the most trust in.
She had become somebody different after her experiences in the school. She wasn't the bubbly, childish young teenager she once was. She become extremely independent, having few friends, and her personality matured by a ten-fold. Her puppy crush on her brother died away, and to this day, she was still single. Truth be told, she'd rather be a loner; she didn't want to put her trust and love into somebody, only to have her heart ripped apart again.
The few things that she used to enjoy were wiped away from the school. Her only enjoyment was her hobby of collecting scented beads. She had many, all having their own special scent and meaning. She would have the small jar attached to her bracelet each day, always different.
Yuka rose to her feet, glancing around the classroom. She felt alone. She didn't know if she was the only one here… and this was the last place she wanted to be in to run into strangers.
A faint wailing from outside the classroom caught her attention. The sliding doors were open, one of the doors ripped right off and laying on the floor. She stepped on it, careful to avoid any glass. The last thing she needed was to be alone and injured.
As she entered the hallway, the wailing was growing louder. She breathed, before pushing forward; to her, the crying sounded like a young child. If anything, it'd be better to have someone younger than herself to be with her. At least then, she could put some trust in them. But then again… what if it was a child spirit playing with her? Only wanting to kill her…
Yuka paused, as another wail tore through the empty hallway. Her curiosity was growing, so she turned the corner, weary of any danger.
What laid on the floor before her confused her even more.
It was an infant. The baby's arms were flailing, the blanket that was wrapped around it was a light blue, telling her that it was a boy.
She stepped closer, until she saw familiar light auburn hair. She let out a gasp as her eyes widened.
"Koji?! Oh my god!" All fear was replaced by panic as she ran to the infant, kneeling down and gently picked him up. The blanket had become loose, so she rewrapped it around his tiny body as she pressed him against her chest.
He didn't seem hurt, but she wasn't sure. The baby was still crying, his tiny hands grabbing onto her jacket as his tears stained the fabric. She laid against the wall of the hallway, cradling him as she tried to settle him down.
Her thoughts drifted. If her little nephew was here… did that mean… her brother and the rest of his family were here as well? The mere thought the school had brought the other two children here didn't calm her fast-paced heart.
Koji had eventually settled down to small whimpers, crying himself to sleep. She frowned at the young child. To be brought in such a horrible place at this age, it was simply cruel.
Her thoughts were broken, however, when the sound of heavy metal being dragged on the wooden floors started echoing through the hallway. She recognized that sound from her previous visit. It was a sledgehammer being dragged. Its beholder was a zombie-fied teacher, being used to slaughter those that entered. Acting quickly, she ran the opposite way, not wanting to encounter the brutal man, especially with her brother's young son in her arms.
She eventually made it to the exit of the second wing, the doors leading to the bridge outside. Opening it quickly, she stepped out and shut the double doors without a second thought.
She stepped slowly into the bridge, the rain still pouring down, even if there were no puddles. Bodies littered the fields and never-ending forest. She continued to walk, not wanting to get her little nephew sick from the cold.
She came to the opposite doors, not knowing what awaited her on the other side…
Somewhere in the first wing…
"Mommy? Mommy, please wake up…" A small voice caused her eyes to open up slightly. Above her, Shigeru was looking down at her, worry… and fear stricken across his face.
"RuRu? Sweetie, what's wrong?" She rose, feeling dull pain in her back. She hadn't noticed her surroundings yet.
"Mommy… we're not home…" He murmured, his large eyes glazing over. He seemed on the verge of tears. She blinked with confusion, finally looking at her surroundings.
No…
She knew this place. The place that had caused her many years of mental pain and suffering. The rotting floorboards, the faint smell of blood…
"Naomi? Naomi! You're awake!" Another voice called to her. She whipped around to see her husband run in. To her guess, she probably wasn't able to wake up when he did, so he went to look around while Shigeru stayed by her side.
"Thank goodness you're okay! I was so worried!" He ran over, getting to his knees and hugged her.
"S-Satoshi…" She trailed off, blinking.
"Naomi… Aya and Koji are missing…" He broke from their embrace to look at her, his hands on her shoulders. She let out a gasp, realizing that the infant wasn't in her arms. She looked around frantically, all logical sense thrown out the window as it was replaced with motherly instinct.
"No… No no no no! We have to find them! Koji can't be alone in this place! He'll… H-He'll…" She choked back a sob, collapsing to her knees as she hid her face in her hands.
"I know, I know… We'll find him, and Aya. Don't worry," Satoshi tried to reassure her, bending down next to her as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Shigeru only watched as his mother broke down. He didn't understand what was happening. All he knew was that his big sister and little brother were gone, and he needed to find them.
"Mommy…" He finally spoke out, stepping closer to his mother. She pulled her hands down to look at her eldest son, her face streaming with fresh tears.
"Mommy, we'll find them… I promise…" He wanted to comfort his mother the best he could. With his older sibling missing, he would have to step up.
"Oh… sweetie…" She sobbed, smiling sadly has she enveloped her arms around him, holding him close.
"I know we will… We'll find Aya and little Koji," She whispered to her son. She broke away from him, kissing him on the forehead.
"Come on, we need to get moving. They could be anywhere," Satoshi stood up, holding his hand out for her to grab. She smiled, placing her hand in his. She rose to her feet, but almost fell again, feeling pain course through her bad ankle. She must've landed on it wrong… like… last time.
"Naomi! Are you okay?!" Satoshi panicked, seeing her almost fall again.
"I'm… fine… It's just my ankle… I think it's flaring up again…" She bit back a wave of pain, before standing up again. She balanced herself out, putting little weight on it.
"I can still walk… I just need to be careful where I step," She put on a fake smile. Truth be told, it really hurt.
"Alright…" His brows furrowed, but he decided to move on. He grabbed her hand, her other hand grabbing Shigeru's. With that, they made their way out of the classroom and into the hallway…
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