Ubiquitous Nightmare.
Note: I do not anything to do with Azumanga Daioh or Silent Hill. I only own this fan fiction story.
Hail and well met, fellow authors. It is I, Love Hina Addict. Here is the next chapter in this story, but I must apologise for not updating for a rather long while. Sorry to make you all wait, but something...Untoward happened. In spite of this, I am making it known now that, I may only update on weekends as of now, unless an opening pops up. Anyway, please enjoy this next chapter, and please review. As a quick reminder, the words in between the ' marks are the characters thoughts. On with the story!
(-o-)
Chapter Four: Grotesque advancement.
After the ascent up the stairs, the group stopped. The radio seemed to crackle. Planted in their stances, they could hear a low growl. Slightly shivering, Yomi stepped forward. Tomo followed suit, aiming the flashlight down the corridor. After a few seconds of waiting, a rather rotund figure hobbled into view.
"W-what is that?" asked Yomi, now feeling unsafe. Tomo leaned over to her, grabbing her arm. She had seemed to lose her heir of confidence from the moment they appeared in this new realm.
Everyone else remained speechless. Sooner or later, the large figure slowly approached the girls, who by now were in a tight group formation, fearing what this thing was. It stopped in front, before lifting an arm. The skin on its side was attached to the arm, forming some sort of webbing. Tomo stuck her tongue out, closing one eye nearly. 'Gross'.
They stood, frozen in place, for another five minutes, before the large creature turned around, lowering its arm. Slowly but surely, it turned 180 degrees, to face the direction of where it was. Surprised at this, Kagura could not help but mention something.
"I wonder, what the hell is it?"
After hearing this, the creature turned around once again to face the, now paralysed, group. It had eyes, much like sequins, and a small mouth, betraying its large body size. It opened its mouth, emitting a low growl. The girls jumped, but remained as quiet as they could. Osaka suddenly had a theory. Whispering to avoid the attention of the behemoth, she told the others.
"If we keep quiet an' move towards the door, we can get to the first floor again. It don't seem so bright, so if we keep quiet..." she paused, taking a look at the immobile creature about three feet away from them, before continuing. "...We can go. Whaddaya say?"
Unable to find any other solution, and desperate to get out of sight of the creature, they agreed, although Kagura looked towards Sakaki's hand. She was still carrying the gun. 'Why don't you just shoot it?'
Readying themselves for the slow creep towards the door, they proceeded. It was going smoothly, up until they were at the door to the stairs. No matter how far the rusted doorknob was turned, it would not budge. Sakaki began to panic, as the sounds created from the doorknob turning alerted the creature. It was walking slowly towards them.
"Shit, come on, open!" said Tomo, now aware of the circumstances. Her confidence returned as the adrenaline started flooding her body. Getting fed up, and with the creature close to them, Kagura tried a different tactic. The others watched, as she shoulder barged the door. The door seemed to crack, as it flew open. Yomi's face lit up, seeing the stairs leading up, and more importantly, away from the thing literally behind them. They fled up the stairs, turning back half way up to see the creature stuck in the doorway.
"Heh, what an idiot," Tomo shouted, before seeing the others at the top of the stairs. She hurried up as well, stopping to glance at the map they were looking at. All of the rooms seemed to be in the normal places, even if the area was disgustingly mutilated. The closest room to them seemed to be the infirmary. The headed there, making the occasional glance at the eerie noises permeating through the hallway, also noticing the radio cutting out.
They opened the door gingerly, but found nothing inside of extraordinary interest. There was a table, a cupboard and a bed. On the table were a few objects, as well as a small bottle. Tomo rushed over, with Yomi grudgingly following, then the rest.
"What's this?" Tomo asked, lifting the bottle. She read the label out aloud. "Nutrition drink...Hmm, looks alright."
It was a small bottle, and seemed new. It also looked untainted by this phenomenon, and without hesitation, Tomo gave it to Yomi. She inspected it, before keeping it in her hand. A few seconds of silence ensued, before a crashing sound came from the corner. Tomo jolted to face the direction with the light, seeing an object gleam back at her on the floor. They walked over to it.
"Wow," was all Tomo could produce, after realising that there was a, seemingly working, shotgun lying there. Again, after checking it, there was no ammo, but it was cool in her words, as she began to carry it. Yomi sweat dropped, whereas the others stared in awe. Seeing as their business in there had run out, they walked out of the room. Looking up the corridor, the radio began to fizz with a familiar sound.
Now feeling quite easy, a common creature was walking up the corridor, towards them. They watched to see it was another child, rather then a new kind of abomination. Kagura decided now was the best time to ask her question.
"Go on Sakaki, shoot it!" she shouted, with Sakaki turning around, holding the gun. She began to sweat lightly, before seeing the others, one by one, beginning to chant the same line. "Shoot it!"
She raised her arm, her face now in a serious fashion, and with both hands, aimed at the creatures head area. Her finger slowly squeezed, as she shut her eyes. A loud, echoing bang frightened the others, as Sakaki was forced to take a step back from the recoil. Tomo's smile began to form, before opening in awe. Sakaki opened her eyes, witnessing the thing on the floor, bleeding minutely. She turned away from it, facing the group, with her gaze at the gun. The radio flickered off.
"Good going, Sakaki! I knew you could do it!" shouted Kagura, as Sakaki lifted her head. Her face showed signs of regret, sadness and fear, all rolled into one. Kagura winced, before changing the subject.
"Well, it's gone now. Let's carry on. Where to?"
Checking the map with shaky hands, Sakaki saw the nearest room was the toilets. She imagined it being as grotesque as the rest of the school, as they approached. As the door creaked open, a lingering smell of rotting flesh seeped through the cracks around the door. The group covered their mouths and noses, recoiling more at the smell then the gun shot earlier. They hesitantly walked in the female toilets. The radio intensified with its static.
It seemed the same, yet with the cubicles locked shut, and some utensils splashed all over the floor. They walked around, seeing the state of the sinks. They were coated in blood, and it seemed to be fresh. Gulping at the thought of it, Tomo noticed a small box on the floor.
"Hey, look at this! It looks like bullets, although it's a different colour," she said, getting everyone else's attention. Seeing this, Yomi looked at the box. She wanted to refrain from saying the words, for what Tomo would do. She said them, for the sake of the others.
"...Shotgun bullets."
Tomo's face beamed upon hearing the words. She started trying to load them into the gun in her hand, again failing in the process. She looked expectantly at Sakaki, who tried her best also. She did it, with some hassle, as Tomo wanted the gun back. She grabbed it when Sakaki extended her arm out to her, pressing the trigger at the same time.
An even louder crash startled the group into temporary paralysis, upon when recovering; they noticed one of the cubicles had the lock mechanism missing. The gun flew back in the process, out of their hands when shot, as Tomo regained possession of it soon after. Checking each other for injuries, no one seemed to be hurt, yet they were intrigued about what was behind the door. They half wanted to find out, yet half did not. Due to Tomo's new sense of power, they soon found out.
With a slight kick to the door, the door slowly swung open. A corpse, marinating in its own fluids, hung from the ceiling. This one seemed to resemble the one found earlier, as Yomi screamed. Regaining her focus, she, as well as the others, could see why this one seemed different, even if it was in the same position to the previous one.
There was no rope around the neck, instead there was a cage concealing it. This put their minds at ease, as it could not possibly get out unless it could break metal. Also, it was wrapped up in a lot more material, with only its mouth showing. The stains of various colours broke the surface of the bindings, as it seemed to grin mischievously at the girls. They were frightened, but only in the sense of finding out what it was.
"What is it?" Osaka mused, speaking up from her quiet stage earlier. The girls wondered, until she walked closer. She lifted up her hand, almost as if to touch it. Kagura snapped back.
"What're you doing!?"
"I just want ta' find out what it is," she innocently replied turning her head towards Kagura. Their faces turned from questionable, to horrified, as Osaka wondered about the sudden change. She turned back around, and she carried on the trend.
It began twitching. It was not dead. It began to twitch even more irritatingly, until it began to bleed. A steady stream of blood trickled down onto the floor, echoing the soft, yet unwelcome, noise. Sakaki felt ill at ease, covering her mouth, whereas the rest watched in horror. Sooner of later, the thing fell limp in its cage. The radio still fizzed.
Regaining their minds, they stood and took a deep breath. Granted it was putrid, it seemed to calm their spirits, after which they stood to attention, their backs to the creature in the cage.
"That...Was gross. Then again, what is all this? It surely can't be real," said Yomi, trying to think of a logical reason.
"It's not real, it's the end of the world," replied Osaka, whereas the rest seriously contemplated this as being the answer. Looking around the other parts of the toilets, they found little else. They returned to their huddle.
"Well, that's it for in here. Can we leave? It's creeping me out," asked Kagura, seeing that the thing was looking directly at her, through the bandaged eyes. She readied her arm with the pole, in case of an act of aggression.
"Yes, of cours-" Interrupted, Sakaki pivoted after hearing a loud, ear splitting shriek from behind them. The thing now had its head facing the ceiling, with its mouth wide open. After a few more seconds, it was mute, staring at them through its confined vision.
Returning to her feet from the shock, Yomi turned to see it, just staring. Her pulse, as well as the others, slowly returned to normal, as they quickly approached the door. They remained quiet themselves, until they shut the door behind them. They looked again at the map, feeling relieved as the radio died out.
The library was the next, unexplored, room closest to them. They proceeded, before opening the door. Relieved to hear the radio remain passive, they entered and spread around the room.
"Oh, it's just a normal library. How boring," hinted Tomo, before expectantly looking at Yomi. She turned to face her, as she spoke.
"Books can be interesting, you know, if you know how to read," Yomi joked, as Tomo looked back with an expression of hatred.
"I can read, I just choose not to," she replied, not noticing Kagura and Sakaki both reading a stained piece of paper.
"So that's why I have to read the bullet boxes then, even though you are the one who wants the gun?" Yomi retorted, dismissing Tomo while reading a book on the zodiac signs. Tomo remained quiet, before grabbing the nearest book to imitate her friend.
Kagura and Sakaki stood, reading the same piece of paper. Most of the writing was hidden behind red stains. They were confused, but also worried. The words were nearly illegible, but could be understood, if only slightly. It showed:
Th...g... n...ded for m...am...rph...is:
o...e: bei...g w... gr...a... pow...,
...wo: b...g ...th g...ea... i...t...le...t,
t...ee: c...ld of G...d,
Pe...or... ...itua... whe... a... th...ngs ar... in o...er.
No...here.
Infirmary.
A red mark, in a vague form of a tick, was painted next to the second and fourth line of writing. Even though it seemed too illegible to be of any use, Sakaki placed it in her small pocket. She noticed that the word 'infirmary' was clearly readable. She turned around, seeing Osaka staring out of the window into the perpetual darkness, and Yomi and Tomo both reading. Rallying everyone's attention, they huddled to discuss what to do next.
"We are gonna be a while here if we carry on like this," said Tomo, getting bored. No one replied, but instead spoke about the piece of paper. Everyone else seemed confused, whereas Osaka stared for a long while. Expecting a great conspiracy, Kagura stood next to her, reading the malformed words once again. She could make nothing of them, although Osaka then lowered the paper to her waist. She handed it to Sakaki.
"Chiyo is in danger," was all Osaka said, as the others began to worry about their friend, as well as her.
"What do you mean?" Sakaki said, but getting no response. Instead, Osaka rushed out of the door. They following in pursuit, until they found themselves back in the infirmary.
"Why'd you run like that!?" shouted Tomo, regaining her breath. Osaka remained silent, as she began placing her hand on the wall. Yomi began to feel uneasy about her friend. She was never normally this quiet, and she also knew something. 'What is it, Osaka?'
A few placements of her hand later, the wall began to decay. Slowly, pieces of the wall fell to the floor. They all stepped back, staring awkwardly at Osaka. She finally began to speak.
"Chiyo's down there, let's go!" she said, as the wall was now completely gone. Sakaki quickly looked at the map, noticing that the new area was not on there. They all proceeded towards the new passage, noticing some stairs. They headed down.
Reaching the bottom, there was a very small inlet in the wall. It was just wide enough for them to pass through single file, although it was blocked by, what looked like, spikes protruding out of the wall. On the wall seemed to be three buttons. On the floor below the buttons, however, was what looked like a trapdoor. Realising that to get through, the buttons had to be pressed, Tomo walked over, leaning over to the wall to avoid standing on the trapdoor.
"Which one?" she asked, before receiving shrugs from everyone else. She pressed the first one on the left, and the trapdoor flung open. She stared down, seeing nothing but the darkness. She gulped as she pressed the second one. The spikes seemed to slowly recede back into the wall, as the others watched. Huddling again, they began talking about what may be behind the area, until a loud, scraping noise caught their attention. The spikes shot back out, into their position before, with incredible, and deadly, speed.
"We'll have to go through one at a time. That'll probably kill you if you're in the middle," said Yomi, as the others agreed. Tomo stood by the buttons, pressing and watching them one by one run through. They did it unscathed, as Tomo was curious of the last button. She did not press it, although the urge was nearly unbeatable. She pressed the second one, and flung herself through the tiny space, just in time.
In front of them was a wide staircase. It led down, too far to be able to see the bottom. They started walking down, until they finally saw the bottom. It was grated, much like the rest of the school area. They walked onto it, before their pulses increased considerably. A very loud, rumbling roar was audible from the other end of the room, which was only around ten metres wide, in a square formation. The stairs behind them disappeared, as if it were nothing more then an illusion.
"This is getting scarier by the minute," Kagura said, before a flash of dim light caught her attention. They all stood, staring towards the centre. A circular hole was visible, with a familiar figure of the one in the toilets in the centre. The cage was suspended by a kind of rope, from the ceiling. It began to burn, and soon enough was on fire. It seemed to scream from the sensation, as it began twitching. The girls stared in disbelief, mouths slightly ajar.
A hulking figure behind the fiery figure began to move. Each step caused the grated floor to move ever so slightly, causing the girls to ready their armaments. Only Osaka and Yomi had no weapon, as they hid behind the ones that did. They were scared, even petrified, as they saw an indescribable creature crawl around to the front of the burning symbol. It stood, staring with beady eyes at the girls, who were from the looks of it, trapped in that room. They spread as far as they could, so that they could not be targeted and cornered.
The room outskirts had no perimeter. Osaka stared at the sides of the room, whilst hiding behind Sakaki.
"One wrong step and, well, let's not think 'bout it," she said, catching Sakaki's attention. They readied themselves, as the creature approached the closest pair to it. In this case, it was Tomo and Yomi.
While shivering at the sheer size and shape of this thing, they stood, immobile and in shock. Sakaki, Kagura and Osaka stared in fear of what was going to happen to them. The large creature, due to its tail and hard looking skin, resembled a reptilian creature, much like an alligator. Yomi only hoped that it did not possess the mandibles of such a creature.
The large creature stood, until a droplet of blood fell from the underside of its head. Yomi, seeing this chance and noticing the slow speed of it, ran towards Kagura, whereas Tomo seemed stuck. She would not move.
As the droplet fell through the grating, Tomo's expression turned mortified as the creatures head began to split into two, much like the earlier encounter with the dog. She stared, in gross awareness, that this thing now had nearly two metres separating the two sides of its head.
It moved ever closer, mouth wide open, towards Tomo, who was now inebriated with fear. From the inside of its mouth, tendrils of flesh seemed to protrude and jitter, accompanying a horrid breath being exhaled. Tomo closed her eyes, as the creature had her cornered, with the sides of its mouth on either side of her. Yomi witnessed this, and shouted as loud as she could.
"No, Tomo!"
(-o-)
Well, that's this chapter done. I hope you have enjoyed it, and to find out the outcome of this series of events, stay tuned. Please review one and all, anonymous or signed, as I am happy to hear from you. Until next time, 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.