Ubiquitous Nightmare.
Note: I do not own anything to do with Azumanga Daioh or Silent Hill. I only own this fan fiction story.
Chapter two is here, was a little easier to write thankfully. Please enjoy, and on with the story!
(-o-)
Chapter Two: Mistaken identity.
The road ahead seemed daunting, repeating it's hue of the dark tar laid upon it. The group carried on running for yet another five minutes, before coming to a stop.
"Where is she going?" asked Osaka, now beginning to worry about her friend.
"We don't know, but wherever she's going, we are too, right?" said Tomo in response. The group looked to her, before they went quiet. The dense blanket of silence was shattered a minute or so later but a screech, one similar to earlier, although it had no intention of going away this time.
They stood there, hearts beating slightly faster, as a humanoid figure broke through the fog. Osaka sighed, before running up to her. She was shocked into submission from the visage. There stood a person, with arms in a straight jacket formation. There were no clothes, although all revealing areas were covered in blood stains and various others. Yomi gasped at the sheer sight of it.
It seemed to hobble ever closer to the group, with the members stepping back at the same speed.
"What is that!? It can't be human, surely..." shouted Tomo, getting slightly excited. The creature stopped. It stood, seemingly staring at the group's individuals, scanning their very souls. They shivered in response.
"W-what's it gonna do?" stuttered Kagura, readying her fist in case the situation needed violence. The creature emitted another screech, before falling onto its knees. It then fell; face flat, onto the floor with a loud thud.
Sighing with relief, the group huddled around the immobile beast. Tomo began prodding it, with Yomi feverishly pulling her hand away.
"Don't touch it, idiot. You don't know where it's been," she said, with Tomo giving the creature a glance.
"Well, what is it?" she retorted. She noticed Sakaki was standing at the back of the group, with one hand over her mouth, head facing the floor.
"Are...You okay?"
Sakaki snapped out of her vision at the sound of Tomo's voice, before quickly replying.
"I'm alright, I just feel squeamish around blood," she said whilst eyeing the creature.
"Um, guys? Where's Chiyo-Chan?" said Osaka, now speaking in a high enough volume to be heard. The looks she got in return proved that they did not know either. Now worrying, they rallied themselves, before beginning to scout the area. A skittering sound could be heard from behind them, as they pivoted to see what it was.
"Hey, where'd it go?" shouted Tomo, now feeling uneasy. She gulped, before walking again with the other girls.
They soon passed through many streets, alleys and building car parks, but with not so much as a fly in sight. Only the petrifying fog loomed. They began to feel uncomfortable, as a low growling noise echoed around the walls of the small alley.
Bracing themselves, they walked forward. The fog slightly lifting, they could see a dog. It seemed the same as a usual dog, medium build, but with no fur. Just the usual blood stains.
"Is this for real?" muttered Osaka, before turning to see Sakaki, again, looking ill.
"Hey, it's not a cute dog, is it?" she said, getting Sakaki to look up. The dog seemed content, sniffing the area; although no amount of pedigree chunks were going to feed its appetite.
Instead of trying to disturb it, they turned around to walk the way they came. Suddenly, the same, high pitch, yet evil laugh bounced through the alley. The group turned to see none other, then Chiyo.
Her features were the same as earlier, the usual body with the emotionless face. She turned away, and began to run. Seeing Chiyo, the group lost their will to run. Figuring that it was indeed the ten year old, Kagura quickly spoke.
"It's Chiyo! We have to...Oh damn it," she said, in a high volume voice. The dog was roused from its dreamy stance of sniffing, and began to walk towards the group. Panicking, Osaka saw a bin fairly near her, placed against the wall.
The dog was getting nearer and nearer, showing no sign of life, apart from the moving legs. It stopped, staring up at the girls, with empty eyes. Its face then began to split, straight down the middle, to reveal a large tongue, and a lot of blood dripping out of it. Sakaki flung her head around, nearly vomiting at the sight, whereas Yomi screamed, with Tomo hesitantly blocking her friend's mouth with her hand. It was too late.
Glancing to the vicinity of Yomi, it began to dash. Yomi breathed heavily, before closing her eyes on impact. She waited, and then opened her eyes. The dog was on the floor, a small pool of blood around it. She looked around, to see Osaka carrying a, slightly dented, metal bin lid. Osaka grinned, as Yomi hugged her and repeated 'thank you' a few times. Sakaki and Kagura stood in both awe and disgust, thinking that violence may be needed.
"Come on, Chiyo's getting away," shouted Kagura, after regaining her focus. The group began jogging towards the other end of the alley. They soon reached it, seeing the dank, heavy fog once again descending onto the area. They caught their breaths, before seeing a bus in the distance. It was a yellow one, seemingly quite new. The odd dent here and there disturbed it, as its door was left wide open.
"Look, we can hide in there for now," said Sakaki, piping up from the earlier incident. Everyone else took note and followed suit, before they shut the door.
"This is bad, isn't it..." muttered Osaka, to which everyone else merely nodded.
"How do we get out of this place?" said Yomi, looking out of the window.
"We have to find Chiyo, too," Sakaki said, before a small bump was felt on the side of the vehicle. They looked out of the window, to see another creature with the straight jacket expression. Tomo gulped.
Yet, in the distance, the figure of Chiyo was seen walking up some steps. The large building ahead of her seemed academic, as the sign in the front barely displayed the words,
Mi...w...ch
El...en...ary
Schoo...
"So, she only wanted to change schools? Why didn't she tell us?" said Osaka, getting a weird look from Tomo back.
"She was happy here though, wasn't she? Why is she going there?"
"I don't know, but I intend to find out," exclaimed Kagura, standing up. Sakaki approached her, placing her hand on her shoulder.
"But it's dangerous, are you really going?" she said, although it only made her want to go more.
"She's our friend; we have to go help her! We can't just leave her, can-" interrupted by a large knock to the bus, Kagura stumbled to her seat again.
"Alright, but I'm coming with you," replied Sakaki, a look of determination present on her face. Tomo, Osaka and Yomi also rooted in.
"What about us? We're going to," shouted Tomo, pumping her hand in the air. She punched a baggage compartment above the chair, causing a bag to fall out, onto her head. She scrambled, screaming.
"Get it off of me!" she kept on shouting until Yomi gingerly lifted it off. A small handgun fell out of the side pocket, with Tomo now staring in awe.
"Wow, it's a handgun..." she mused, lifting it and aiming it at the head of the thing out of the window. Everyone was quick to panic.
"Put it down! It's dangerous!" shouted Kagura, whereas Tomo paid no heed. She aimed, her finger on the trigger. Slowly compressing it, a quiet click was the result.
"Ah man, there's no bullets," she whimpered, placing the gun on the seat to her left. Everyone sighed with relief, before standing.
"Right then, let's go," ordered Kagura, as they proceeded to the door. Osaka took the gun and held it for now, having nowhere else to store it. She was, as were the rest of the girls, still in her P.E uniform.
They sprinted over to the steps, seeing the door creak shut as they approached. Wiping the sweat from her brow, Kagura forced the door open. The creature from earlier was very close to them.
"Quick, get in!" she shouted, seeing the gaggle of girls jump through the door. Kagura shut the door, locking it also with the latch. They stopped, and stared at their surroundings. It looked normal enough.
"We're safe for now, I think. Now then, I guess we're in the foyer, shall we have a look inside?" Kagura said, in the full knowledge that her question was a rhetorical one. They approached the large double doors, and pushed them aside. There was nothing, only a view of the sky through an old window. It was beginning to get dark.
"We have to find Chiyo. Let's split up," asked Osaka, with everyone giving her a bereaved look in return.
"What? It'll be easier though, won't it?"
"That's not the point, Osaka. You saw them...Things out there, what if one got to you?" reasoned Yomi.
"Oh, don't worry about me, I have this," she replied, lifting the gun. The group sweat dropped, before Tomo spoke up.
"Well, for starters, there's no ammo in it. Secondly, I doubt you've ever fired a gun before, right?" she stopped to give herself breath.
"That's true, but it'll hurt if I hit 'em with it though," retorted Osaka, getting slightly frustrated.
"Where are you going to summon the courage to get close to one of them?" Tomo shouted in response.
"Enough!" shouted Sakaki, one hand on her head.
"We have to work together. If we separate, we could get hurt, or even worse..." she stopped to consider what she was going to say, before she continued on a different note. "Look, just stay together, wherever we are."
Shocked to see Sakaki of all people give this morale boosting speech, they reassessed themselves, gearing up their confidence. They looked around the room, seeing multiple notice boards and the secretary's office. Yomi noticed a map of the school on the wall. She ripped it off, before glaring at it.
'It's quite a big school' she thought, before a hand landed on her shoulder, She spun around, inhaling sharply, to see it was Osaka, staring at her map.
"Whatcha got there?" she pondered, before seeing Yomi hand the map to her. Osaka scanned the piece of paper, before going silent. 'So this IS a school then', she thought.
As everyone was checking the map, they noticed the classrooms were dotted around the outside of the plan, with the playground area situated in the centre. The other buildings circled it. Seeing as they had no idea where Chiyo could have gone, they started to look around the corridors around the foyer area. They seemed desolate, barren, much like a wasteland. They approached a classroom door, before a fizzing sound started to shatter the silence.
Slightly fearing the result, Sakaki approached the direction of the noise, seeing a small red box on the floor some few seconds later. Everyone else stayed glued to the other end of the corridor, staring in anticipation. It looked like a radio, but it seemed to be broken. It only emitted static. She picked it up, before raising her line of vision.
Another humanoid shaped figure lay in front of her. It was very small though, much like a child. Sakaki gasped at the thought. It twitched, as the radio's static grew louder. Her heart began to race, as she saw the child rise. It turned to face the, now frightened, girl.
It stood, not much higher then three foot, looking at her. She did not know what to do. Her vision was slightly impaired from the lack of light, although the sun was still barely up. The creature started to approach her, very slowly and timidly. A small sound came from the child's hands. Sakaki looked down, seeing that it had claws, ones that looked incredibly sharp. She turned to run, as the group stared at her running back.
"T-there's something there, it's coming after me," she breathed, scared at the sight of it. Osaka looked ahead, wondering what she could have meant. The creature walked up to her, as she responded.
"Aw, it's only a kid. How're you...Wait a minute, you only have one eye..." she pondered, getting a scared expression in return from everyone else. The creature stood still, perhaps contemplating what Osaka was saying, before it saw her raise her arm.
She lowered it, harshly, onto its head. The creature, receiving the full force of the butt of the gun, fell back, twitching. It soon stopped moving completely. Osaka then turned to face Tomo.
"See? I can do it."
Slightly dumfounded by this show of bravery and even idiocy, the group gathered around Sakaki, hearing the fizzing slowly lower in volume.
"It's a radio, I think," Sakaki said, with everyone looking at it in amazement. "It doesn't work though. It was on the floor, by that thing."
"It did go kinda funny around that kid though, didn't it?" asked Osaka, as Yomi thought about the possible link.
"I think we should keep it with us, it may be a detector of these creatures," she said. Everyone nodded in agreement, before heading to the classroom door. Sakaki clipped the radio onto the neck of her shirt, hoping that it would protect them further.
She placed her hand on the doorknob, before the laugh of Chiyo returned. It was coming from the hallway, as she pulled her hand away from the door. She faced the direction, as the rest of the group did, before walking over. Tomo noticed a small glint on the floor behind them, before walking over to it. At the end of the hallway were stairways, one going up and one going down. The map showed that they were on the first floor, as footsteps echoed from the lower stairwell.
"Hey, look what I found!" shouted Tomo, almost causing shock to incapacitate the group.
"Don't do that, you idiot!" replied Yomi angrily, as Tomo flashed a bright light in her eyes.
"I found a flashlight, look, isn't it cool?" she said, paying no heed to Yomi's comment. Sakaki sighed, along with Kagura. Osaka stared at it, whereas Yomi rubbed her eyes. Tomo clipped it onto her shirt neck, before walking off into the front of the group. They reached the stairway, before starting to walk tentatively down. Sakaki's heart began beating more rapidly, as the radio began to fizz louder with each passing step.
'I hope you are down there, Chiyo...'
(-o-)
That's it, chapter two done. More to come soon, but please review, anonymous or signed. I'm beginning to think now that this story is, maybe, not such a good idea. Either way, thank you for reading, this is Love Hina Addict signing off.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Azumanga Daioh or Silent Hill. I only own this fan fiction story.