"Insanity is relative. It depends on who has who locked in what cage."

- Ray Bradbury

Koa approached the school's front door. Using the key given by Ollie, she unlocked the doors and entered. At first glance in the front halls, the school didn't look so bad, but once she opened the doors for the classroom halls, the school was a disheveled, decaying mess. Right in front of her was a gate. Knowing she would either need a battery or an electric charge to open it, she opened a classroom door on her right. As she opened the door, her phone rang and she answered.

"Okay, make this quick! Turn on the generator, leave, then plug the school's power cord into the center!" Ollie instructed quietly as Koa entered the classroom, a music room as there was a piano in the center of the room, to look around. Then Ollie's voice took a warning tone, "Be careful in there! I don't think I can connect to you on that side of the dome. And you won't be alone."

"What?!" Koa yelled in surprised anger.

"There's someone else in there too! They're not your-" The call cut out.

"You couldn't tell me this earlier?!" Koa yelled, frustrated. She sighed angrily and put the phone away. Koa's anger was growing by the second. First, Poppy expects her to work alone and now Ollie fails to warn her of potential threats before entering the school. She took a deep breath to calm herself down. Being angry was not going to help and it would make her an easy target for whatever was in here.

Koa shifted her focus to the classroom. It was a mess. Papers were everywhere, chairs were knocked over, the walls and ceilings were falling apart. Walking over to the piano, she noticed a piece of paper on the bench. Noticing writing on it, she picked it up.

The note read:

"Just a few weeks ago now was The Hour of Joy.

Today, there is only silence in this school. I don't think any of us here know what to do with it. The hallways without the children carry even the smallest sounds as if they were shouts. The other teachers and I startle each other constantly. We'll have to get used to it.

Something locked the front door this morning.

We haven't been able to open it."

"This is interesting," Koa said out loud to herself. Suddenly, static was heard all around her, and a female voice with a cheerful voice spoke up.

"This is Miss Delight speaking. Please excuse the interpretation. Students – remain in your seat until the bell has rung. and no going into the halls without a hall pass!"

The intercom then cut out. Koa ignored it and continued look around the room. It must be a play back recording or something.

Noticing another door, she opened it and saw it brought her back out into the hallway. Right in front of her in the opposite wall was a charging receiver. Behind her in the middle of the music room, was a charger. She used the Grab-Pack's green hand to pass the charge to the receiver, and immediately the gate opened up. She released the green hand from the receiver and ducked under the gate, not waiting for it to open up completely.

Once she reached the end of the all and took a left turn, she opened the first classroom door on her left and entered. Upon seeing a battery in the corner, she used her Grab-Pack to grab the battery. After retracting the hand to bring the battery, a piece of paper fell to the floor. Not wanting to damage it with the Grab-Pack, she walked over to it and grabbed it. This paper was stained in blood and contained more notes.

"I heard a knock at the door today. I heard it breathing. Whatever it was, it wouldn't speak when called out to.

I spent hours after it went silent wondering if this was what locked us in here. I've made a weapon of sorts. Pencils and rulers and tape and twine.

I've taken to calling it "Barb". It's crude. But if that door opens, I need to be ready."

"What kind of weapon is this? It's smart, but what kind of weapon?" Koa asked herself. She placed the paper down and left the room. Going back the opposite way in the hall, she found another room and entered, plugging in the battery upon finding the socket. She saw another battery as she did so, but it was blocked off. She left the room and ducked under some desks blocking the hall, pausing when she saw I figure limping by.

Once it was gone, she slowly got past the blockade. After entering the neighboring classroom, the intercom went off again, "Wait- I recognize you," the same voice said with realization. "Yes! I remember! You used to work here! How are you… alive?"

Koa paused.

"Hm? Barb?" After a few seconds, she continued, "oh…. Barb says you're looking for your co-workers. CatNap wouldn't like that you're here! You should leave…. For your own safety." The intercom cut out again.

'I knew it. They have to be dead.' Koa thought, feeling melancholic. 'But, I have to know what happened. Their families deserve to know.'

Koa managed to get into the vents, crawl to where the battery was, retrieved it, and crawled back the computer room she was just in. Once she jumped down, she made her way back to the room where she plugged the first battery in. She paused when she saw yet another note, again soaked in blood.

"No food for days. The others argued with me over what was left.

They started glaring. Judging.

They blocked the kitchen doorway with their bodies.

I think they've singled me out to die first."

Koa shock her head and dropped the note. She made her way back to the janitor room and plugged in the battery. Once the charger lit up, she charged her green Grab-Pack hand, flinching that it was slightly over charged. She carefully made her way to the receiver and passed the charge, opening the gate. She entered another room. She saw a TV against the wall. Knowing a VHS tape wad nearby, she eventually found it among the lockers in the hall. She returned to the TV and placed the tape in the VHS player. The screen showed an image that was too fuzzy for Koa to make out, but it looked like a ball of yarn with pencils and pens sticking out of it. Then, the same voice from the intercom spoke up.

"Where are the kids? Please, where are the children? Are they… in the same place as the employees?"

She then gave a growled whisper, "No."

"Are the children safe?" She asked in her normal voice.

"Yes," again in a growled whisper.

She sighed in relief, "can I see them?"

"No," she growled again.

"And that was it. That's all he'd tell me." She paused for a few seconds. Then, she started to laugh like a maniac. "Probably because he knew I'd kill 'em all!" She then laughed louder, having gone totally insane.

The screen went black. Koa stared long and hard at the TV. Shock in her features.

"Now that was disturbing!" Koa said out loud, disgusted and disturbed to her core. She then went back to the task at hand.

Making her way down the hall, she found she needed to charge another receiver. Going into the first unlocked room to look for a battery, she noticed a Bunzo Bunny toy hanging on the ceiling with another blood-stained note. This time she grabbed it with her Grab-Pack.

"The pit in me howls for FOOD.

I CAN'T THINK about anything other than how HUNGRY I AM.

HARDLY HAVE THE STRENGTH NOW TO PICK MYSELF OFF THE FLOOR. Barb speaks to me though. SHE GIVES ME STRENGTH.

I've found that if I stand still, COMPLETELY STILL, everyone thinks I'm DEAD. BARB says I need to EAT, AND THAT THE OTHER TEACHERS would never see me coming.

ANYTHING TO STOP THE HOWLING."

Koa flinched as she read this note. The teachers here were being starved. And Koa knows that when people are starved, they will turn to drastic measures to satisfy their hunger. Looking back up, she saw a vent. She used her Grab-Pack to climb up and she crawled through the vents to another room. Again, once she made it down to the ground, the intercom went off, this time, she sounded like she was losing her sanity and patience.

"Not a good listener, are you? You're a lot like the other humans that way. I wonder if your screams will sound like theirs too…" She giggled with pleasure. "I look forward to finding out."

"And I'll be ready," Koa growled in response. She made her way to another computer room and found d a cardboard cutout of Miss Delight. Koa played the voice overs and found this Miss Delight was knowledgeable in anatomy.

That would certainly make her a more efficient killer. Koa thought to herself. Looking around, there was, yet another, bloodstained note. And this one disturbed her.

"I'M SO SORRY.

I HAD TO EAT.

I HAD TO SURVIVE.

I ATE THEM.

I HAD TO

I HAD TO

I HAD TO

I HAD TO"

'I knew it. She committed cannibalism.' Koa thought to herself.

Finding a door on the opposite wall, she wad relieved to find the generator. After rerouting the power, she pulled the switch and turned it on. Not even five seconds later, however, the lights flickered out, and a figure appeared out of the shadows, holding what looked like a mace weapon. The figure then turned to the generator and smashed it with the mace!

"NO!" Koa yelled.

The figure then turned to face her. Koa gasped in disgust. It was Miss Delight! Though her face had been mutilated: Her teeth that made her wide smile had been ripped out of her face, leaving a second row of teeth and gums. Her nose was gone, and her eyes were wide and held no emotion other than hostility. Just like Mommy Long-Legs, her sanity was lost.

She started advancing towards Koa, but the lights flickered on, and Miss Delight paused. Koa then noticed a battery next to Miss Delight and grabbed it with her Grab-Pack, running as fast as she could away from the hostile toy teacher.

Koa did her best to keep good distance between herself and Miss Delight, grabbing and plugging in batteries to their receptacles in a large room. After plugging in the last battery, Koa tuned only to find Miss Delight right in front of her, her mace ready for a swing. Koa yelped in surprise and ducked at the last second, the mace barely missing her head. Once she stood back up, she grabbed and unsheathed her knife, ready for a fight.

The lights stayed out and Miss Delight came at her fast, and swung her mace hard, only for Koa to block it with her knife. She swung again and Koa blocked. Again and again and again Miss Delight swung and Koa effectively blocked her blows. Koa noticed that her knife was chipping at the ruler that served as the mace's handle. Once Miss Delight swung again, Koa swung her knife at the same time, angling it just right, and the ruler snapped with a loud crack upon making impact with Koa's knife. The head of the mace went flying, forcing Koa to duck, and it exploded upon crashing onto the floor. Pencils, pens and string flew everywhere.

Miss Delight paused. She looked at the broken ruler. Her breathing picked up. Koa felt fear building within her. Miss Delight was about to go into a frenzy.

"Oh sh-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence, as Miss Delight roared in anger and charged Koa fast, holding the broken ruler as if it were a knife ready for a violent blitz attack. Koa ducked and rounded her torso and kicked her leg into Miss Delight's midriff. The teacher was sent flying across the room and Koa ran through the open gate. Miss Delight was in too much of a rage and her knife may be longer than most knives, but it would still allow Miss Delight to get close enough for her to attack. She had to find a way to either sneak up on the teacher or find another way to defeat her. After rounding a corner, Koa found an opened grated door ahead.

"There!" Koa said out loud. Just before heading that way, she heard growling and laughing behind her. She looked behind her and saw Miss Delight advancing fast. Koa ran as fast as her legs could carry her down the hall. She stole a glance behind her and saw the teacher not far behind. She readied her Grab-Pack's hands for whatever she needed.

Once she was inside the door, she looked to her left and saw a switch on the wall. She fired the Grab-Pack's blue hand and flipped the switch, looking behind her as she did. Just as the door came down, Miss Delight tried to stop, but it was too late. The door came crashing down right on top of her head.

Time slowed down. Koa could swear she heard bones crunching and compressing as the door crushed Miss Delight. Just as Miss Delight was flattened, her right leg dislodged from her body and it was sent flying, her foot missing Koa's head by a quarter of an inch! Koa instinctively dropped her knife, ducked to one knee, and covered her head.

After a few seconds, Koa looked up. There was Miss Delight, crushed to death. She made it once again. By luck or fate, she didn't know. Koa jumped when the gate behind her opened up, revealing a dark hallway. She shifted herself to sit against the wall. She had to take a minute to catch her breath.

"That was so intense," she said to herself out loud. She looked up and saw one last bloodstained note. She used her Grab-Pack to retrieve it and read it.

"The door opened today, and I heard something enter my hall.

Together, Barb and I found CatNap waiting.

ALL THIS TIME, ALL THIS AGONY.

It was HE WHO LOCKED THE DOOR, I know it.

I wanted to KILL HIM, but I knew better than to believe I could. He seemed oddly glad to see I was all that remained.

We made a deal.

We take care of each other now.

Report what we see to the other, and to HIM."

Koa sighed as she dropped the note. CatNap had done it. He was the cause of Miss Delight's pain and eventual hostility. She looked towards the dead teacher, pity in her features.

"I'm sorry that happened to you," she apologized quietly. She shifted her gaze to the door still crushing the teacher. "Well, I can't go back the way I came, that's for sure."

She looked the other way, deeper into the dark hallway. She sighed again, retrieved her knife from where she dropped it, and stood up, walking into the unknown.

There is no compromise when it comes to corruption. You have to fight it.

- A.K. Antony