Took a while to update, as I said, school's been murder. BUT my schedule just cleared up a bit so I can work on this more.

Help…

Find Me…

"Uh… is that you, Misao?"

Aki's eyes darted open.

"Misao!"

As she sat up in her bed, she scanned the room. No one. She was alone.

I thought I heard Misao. I… guess it was just a dream. Has it been three months already?

Her train of thought was interrupted when she noticed the time. She'd overslept.

Oh no, it's so late! I'm gonna be late for school!

Aki ran to her wardrobe and began hurriedly donning her uniform. Her mind kept returning to Misao.

Misao never stood out much in our class. She was just a normal girl really. I wasn't too close to her, but I was curious about Misao, there on her lonesome.

Aki sighed as she shut the wardrobe.

I hoped I could be her friend but… that didn't happen.

She sauntered towards the door, too lost in thought to be as concerned about the time as she had been before. She began to slip on her shoes, still mulling over the story.

She wasn't coming to school, and she hadn't come home either. She never seemed the type to flee hoe. Our parents were saying she might have gotten involved in something.

She sighed, then forced a smile.

"Well, I'm off!"

She kept a brisk pace on her way to school. Fortunately, it wasn't too far a walk. It was a nice day at least.

The last time I talked to Misao was when she was having lunch with Ayaka and I. She didn't talk much; I think she was nervous. But it was nice. Ayaka had said we should do it again sometime…

Sadness continued to creep over her as she thought. By the time she'd reached the school, she'd nearly worked herself into a depression.

The rumor in our class was that Misao was long dead by now. I really hope they're wrong. I wanted us to be friends.

Find me…

"As you see here… and so as a result…"

Ayaka sighed.

Mr. Sohta's always such a stud.

Ayaka was Aki's best friend at school. She was a bright, cheerful girl with an almost overwhelmingly friendly demeanor. She was the first to befriend Aki when she first started attending. For some reason, most of the other students found Aki somewhat off putting.

Ayaka couldn't place why. She seemed so friendly. Always had a smile on her face. Yoshino said there was something off about it. Said it was creepy. Ayaka didn't care much about what Yoshino thought though. Not many did. If anything, that was all the more reason Aki needed a friend. First day at school and Yoshino was already gunning for her.

She always sat at the front of the class, and focused intently on Mr. Sohta. This did not mean she had absorbed much of the lesson, however.

Aki, meanwhile, was having trouble paying attention for entirely different reasons.

That voice I heard in my dream… was that Misao?

She was so lost in thought she failed to notice the tapping of footsteps on the hardwood as Sohta approached her desk.

"You've got guts to ignore my lecture."

"Yeek!" Aki snaped up, her train of thought broken.

"This information will be essential for the test. So you'd better listen!"

There was no anger in his voice. Few had ever seen Sohta angry, or much more than mildly frustrated. He was however, excessively enthusiastic about the matter, which made Aki even more nervous.

"Y-Yes sir!"

Giggles erupted from the class as Sohta returned to the front of the room.

After that, Aki did her best to remain focused, briefly forgetting about the voice in her dream. The lesson was, however, painfully boring. Mr. Sohta was charismatic, but there were some things even he couldn't make interesting. She breathed a sigh of relief when the lunch bell went off.

Ayaka walked over with her lunch, pulled up a chair and the two began chatting as they usually did. There were four other students remaining in the class. Tohma Yuuki, Kazuki Yoshino, Haruna Saotome, and Mamoru Kudoh, who'd all gathered at Tohma's desk.

"Mr. Sohta had a new suit today! Like woah! Super suave" Ayaka said in her usual, extremely chipper tone.

Aki groaned. "Ayaka, you've been talking about him all morning. Don't you ever get tired of blabbing?"

That came out harsher than intended but Ayaka had been talking about little else the past week. It was starting to grate on her. It didn't help that she didn't share her interest in their teacher. She liked him and all, he was a great teacher, but not at all her type.

"But he's suuuch a ladies' man! He's so nice, and smart, and the best!"

She suddenly perked up and began rummaging through her bag.

"Oh yeah! Gotta put on some hand cream!" she said, withdrawing a tub of moisturizer. She began humming as she began lathering up her hands with the lotion.

"Did you hear? 'Cause I did! There's a rumor Mr. Sohta has a thing for hands! So maybe if I clean my hands constantly, every day, all the time, he'll like me more!"

"I don't really… care, Ayaka."

Kill me now.

Ayaka laughed. "Don't really care, she says! Ha! You've got no eye for men, Aki! Seriously, what do you see in a seducer like Tohma?"

Aki blushed. "I-I never said I liked anybody! I just think he's kinda cool, that's all…"

And my own age she thought to herself.

"Reeeally? Nyeeheehee" Ayaka said teasingly.

"Yes! Really!"

The conversation was mercifully interrupted when they overheard Yoshino talking.

"Hey, there's been some spoooooky paranormal bullshit going on at this school. I'm getting a little freaked out myself."

Aki had planned to tune her out like usual. When Yoshino was involved, she was either insulting her, insulting someone else, or spreading rumors about her latest victims. Tired as she was of Ayaka romance talk, it was leagues better than that. This time however, she'd actually said something interesting. Aki always did love a good ghost story.

"Paranormal my ass!" Tohma said dismissively. "Why would anything like that happen here? This school ain't exactly Drevis Mannor."

He had a point, Aki had to admit. Hauntings weren't exactly common.

"I'm for real! It's for real! The other day, a kid in the other class got dragged away in the bathroom!"

Aki'd heard about that. The police came and everything. They never found any trace of the guy.

"There was also the incident where the lights in the gym suddenly fell" Kudoh added. "Luckily, no one was injured, but they're still not sure what happened."

"Gotta be ghosts!" Said Yoshino.

Saotome made a panicked "eek!"

Tohma rolled his eyes at Yoshino. "Dumbass! Why would a ghost want to haunt this place anyway?" he crossed his arms confidently and smiled smugly at Yoshino. His expression immediately faltered when he remembered something.

"Wait, Whaddif… This is Misao's curse?"

Kudoh glared at him.

"Look, this is no time for jokes."

"But I mean, it's totally possible!" Yoshino said. "It's been three months since she vanished! Then this stuff suddenly starts!"

Tohma shrugged. "If those events're 'Misao's curse', then Yoshino'll be targeted sooner or later."

Yoshino pretended to feign innocence. "What? Whatever did I do?"

Aki clenched her fists. It was oh so tempting to go over there and teach her a lesson.

Tohma rolled his eyes. "Ugh, Yoshino… You bullied Misao a lot, is what!"

"Bullying!? Well I never! I was just making a little fun!"

"Why is she talking like that?" Ayaka whispered.

Aki shrugged. "Maybe the ghost is secretly a feudal noblewoman, and she's possessed!" She waved her hands dramatically as she spoke. The two shared a chuckle.

"And Tohma, you always screwed with Misao! You're the one who's gonna get cursed!"

Tohma scoffed. "Me? Hah! I'm fine! "Cause Misao fell for me!"

"I wonder about that…" Kudoh grumbled.

"Tohma, I'm scared!" Saotome said, twitching her fingers nervously. "I mean, I'm your girlfriend so Misao might have a grudge…"

Tohma stood to face her. "Don't sweat it, Otome, I'll protect you!" he said resolutely.

Aki sighed wistfully. He's so cool.

Ayaka sniggered.

Saotome giggled. "Aw, you're so sweet, Tohma!"

She pulled him into a tight embrace. Ayaka gagged at the sight.

"Pah! Believe what you want, lovebirds!" Yoshino said.

"Misaaao, please don't curse usss! The rest are fair gaaaame though!" Tohma spoke in mock terror. "Oops, did I say that out loud?" He laughed obnoxiously.

He was cut off when an image flashed before their eyes. It was grainy, like through tv static, but it appeared to be a face.

The room began to shake.

"An earthquake?" said Yoshino.

The image flashed again. It was definitely a face. A girl's face. It flashed too quickly for anyone to make out the details, but whatever or whoever it was, there was something horribly wrong with her.

The lights cut out. Everyone turned to the windows. Suddenly, it was pitch black outside.

"Wh-wha!? It got dark real quick! What the heck's goin' on!?"

Yoshino stepped away from the others. She was shaking with fear. Aki had never seen that before. It would have been satisfying if not for their current circumstances.

"Maybe, just maybe… it really is Misao's curse? Oo, Misao's real mad at us!"

"Sh-Shaddup! What the hell! I was kidding about that curse crap!"

"Ah-" Aki grasped her head like she was having a migraine and doubled over.

"Aki?"

Ayaka gave her a concerned look.

"What's up with demon kid over there?" said Yoshino.

A voice boomed through Aki's head.

HELP ME…

The voice sounded sinister, foreboding, and yet somehow desperate and afraid. And more importantly, familiar.

"Mis…ao…?"

Aki shot up in an instant as the realization hit her.

"Misao! I can hear her speaking to me!"

"Well hey, then it's gotta be her!"

"SH-Shut IT! I don't hear her damn voice!" Tohma exclaimed.

He stormed over to her.

"Aki, you're talking crazy talk!"

Ayaka rolled her eyes.

"I'm not…! Ah…!" She grasped her forehead again.

FIND ME….

"M… Misa… o…"

The words boomed through her mind once more. Over and over again.

FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME FIND ME

A face appeared before her. Clearer this time. But the vision was erratic. It cut in and out, giving a different angle on the girl. The colors were wrong. An eerie purple hue, than bloody red.

She had long stringy hair reaching down past her shoulders. Her eyes were pure black voids that seemed to gaze directly into your soul. Streams of bloody red tears poured down her cheeks. Her mouth was agape, full of darkness like her eyes. Aki thought she might be screaming but there was no emotion on her face, not that she could read. She just stared at them for a brief moment before the image flashed away leaving only darkness.

And in that darkness was a blood-curdling scream.

When Aki awoke, the room was a mess. The school desks had all been shifted into random positions, shoved every which way. The trash can had been shoved over, littering garbage all over the floor, interspersed with textbooks and sports equipment from the storage locker at the back of the room.

Aki rose to her knees and struggled to get her bearings.

Huh…? This is still the classroom, right?

She stood, looking around the room. There was no sign of her classmates.

What the heck happened?

She stepped over to the window, placing her palm on the glass. She squinted as she stared into the pitch black void outside.

Is this a dream? It's so dark outside.

It still looked the same outside. She could make out the buildings beyond the school's outer walls. Something was wrong though. There were no lights on inside any of them. The Tokyo skyline should've been lit up by the city lights. Aki couldn't even see the streetlamps.

Before she could think about that, she heard a low groan from a nearby corner. She looked, and saw Yoshino huddled in the corner, out cold.

"Ah great" she muttered to herself as she walked over to her. "Of all people…"

She nudged her with her foot. "Hey? You ali-"

"Misao's… curse…"

Before Aki could respond, Yoshino shot to her feet."

"Gah! This! Is! Not! FUNNY!"

Before Aki could say anything, Yoshino bolted out of the room in a blind panic.

"Hey, wait-"

Aki ran after her, but there was no sign of her in the hallway.

The hallway was wrong. Several tiles were missing, replaced with black voids of some sort. The hallways were cut off, as was the stairwell to the east. Had Yoshino fallen down one of the pits?

Before Aki could consider that, she spotted someone… familiar. A girl stood at the edge of the western abyss. She wore the school's uniform. She had long violet hair that reached to her mid-back. Aki could swear she recognized her, though hit was hard to tell with her back to her.

Aki was about to call out to her when she noticed something odd. The light, what little there was, seemed to pass through her somehow. She slowly approached her, keeping her footsteps quiet as possible. As she got closer, it became clear. The girl was translucent.

Aki could put two and two together. She was looking at a ghost, and not just any ghost.

Is that-?

The girl disappeared before she could confront her. She never saw her face, but she was certain it had been the girl from her vision.

Misao. It had to be. It was the only thing that made sense. As much as anything did in this situation at least.

As the realization hit, a scream echoed from the stairwell. As Aki ran over to it, she saw that only the upper stairwell was cut off. Fortunately, The scream had come from downstairs. And that was the only path she had.

She took a deep breath and began her descent.

The downstairs hallway had many similar voids, all making irregular and distinctly hazardous-looking checkered patterns along the floor, adhering to the tiles' shape as though they'd fallen into the void one by one. There was just enough space for Aki to make her way to the hallway. The path she crossed was three tiles wide at the end.

As she crossed, she spotted Tohma and Saotome running down the hallway at dangerously high speeds given the situation. Tohma was leading Saotome by the hand.

"Otome, this way!"

They nearly ran into Aki, startling Tohma, who screamed far too loudly before realizing who it was.

"Oh, Aki! Geez, it's just you!? You should run, okay? This is bad! For serous bad!"

They continued running. Aki wasted no time in following, but they made it a good distance ahead.

As she ran after them, she was stopped by a voice. She turned to hear Misao standing in the same direction the others came from. She wasn't translucent like before. She couldn't quite understand what she was saying. Before her, the hallway was shrouded in darkness.

She knew she should run, and was about to do just that, but curiosity got the best of her. Against her better judgement, she approached the girl.

Misao turned to face her. She stood motionless in the hallway, her head hanging limply forward.

As Aki approached, Misao's head fell clean off! The body continued standing there, motionlessly.

Something echoed down the hallway. It sounded like footsteps.

Something's coming.

Darkness began engulfing more and more of the hallway. What appeared to be a dark figure emerged from the inky blackness.

Aki didn't waste any time trying to make out the figure. She turned and ran after the others so quickly she almost tripped into one of the pits.

She made good distance on whatever was following her. Fortunately, it didn't seem like it was in any hurry to catch her.

As she ran, she came past an intersection wit ha hallway to the south. On the opposite end was a window. And in front of it was Kudoh, staring blankly at it.

"Kudoh?" she said, approaching him.

"It's my fault. I'm responsible for everything" he said.

"Huh? What're you talking about? What're you doing? We have to run!"

He didn't respond. Didn't even turn to face her.

"I need to do something."

He turned around, ignoring Aki and heading down the southern hallway.

"Wait for me, Misao, I'll definitely find you."

"Hold on, what are you-?"

Without acknowledging her, he headed down the hallway. Aki was about to fallow, but the floor crumbled away before her, revealing another pit. She groaned in frustration.

What does he think he's doing?

Aki would have to worry about Kudoh later though. That thing was still behind her. With luck, it wouldn't follow him too. She continued down the western hall. There was no time to waste.

She continued for a while, running faster than she'd ever done in her life. She'd reached another window when she stopped to catch her breath. Her lungs burned with effort as she sucked in as much air as she could manage.

I can't keep going like this! I have to- There's gotta be-

Just then, she looked up. There was Misao. She was see-through again, like when she first saw her.

Before she could react, Misao began walking away.

"Wait!"

Aki took off after her, forgetting her previous exhaustion. She gained on her quickly, reaching her just at the next window. She reached out to touch her when suddenly, everything went black. Aki froze in place, stunned as Misao slowly vanished into thin air. Then the light returned, and she saw the ground before her had fallen away. She had nowhere left to run.

Was that an illusion?

Misao, where are you?

Splorch splorch splorch.

A squishy wet noise came from behind her. Like wet footprints. She turned to see bloody footprints leading towards her. Before she could react, she felt a force shove her. As she fell back into the pit, Misao appeared before her, solid this time like she was before in the dark hallway. Aki reached out a single hand towards her as she fell into the inky black abyss.

"Misa…o…"

All went dark.

FIND… ME…

Had to use a different LPer than last time. ManltBadassHero didn't do a full LP of the most recent version.

Also, apparently in the most recent version, Sudho is just "Kurata" from the start now? At least in the video. I left it as Sohta in case something was up with that.

If anyone knows what Misao said in that hallway before her head fell off, please tell me. It was audio only and I think it was in Japanese.