Monika POV
December 22, 2017 – Friday Afternoon
"And that's what happened since Wednesday, and well, you can believe me when I say this is all real, because I'm the person who would never believe this kind of nonsense without proof..."
They all looked frightened, even Natsuki who would never believe in something like this. Maybe my serious demeanor helped, or perhaps it was the shared sensation that the school had become very strange.
"Monika... I would never doubt you and I believe what you said, but talking about all this, about Hana... Haven't you just put us in danger too?" Yuri said, understanding the gravity of the situation.
"Yeah... It's not like I had a choice. We'll all end up in comas if we don't work together, and I'm sorry, truly... But I won't be able to help you again as I would like. My idea was to handle everything alone to spare everyone, but that won't work."
"Of course we'll help you, Moni. But how? We don't know where she is... And just thinking that we were being watched this whole time terrifies me."
We sat thinking for a while in silence, the wind rattling the windows. Outside, a fog completely obscured the view of the street. I wished I had an idea, but nothing came to mind.
Until something unexpected happened:
"I think I have an idea!" Natsuki exclaimed with rare enthusiasm. "Yuri has the library keys, right?"
"T-The librarian lent them to me since I started working weekends as the school librarian. What do you have in mind, Natsuki?"
"If this really happened at this school, I have a good hunch that some of those occult books you told me about that the library keeps might give us a clue!"
"Wait!" Yuri raised her voice suddenly, startling all of us. When she realized what she'd done, she went back to playing with her hair. "T-They forbade me from visiting the occult section. The key might work, but my boss was very clear that I can't open that door under any circumstances."
A secret occult section in my school? I'd been a representative for so many clubs during my academic life, and I'd never heard anything like this before. It made sense though—the school wasn't innocent in this story.
Maybe someone had performed a spiritual procedure incorrectly and Hana's spirit ended up accumulating power, or something like that.
The library was my beacon in all this darkness.
"Yuri, if we get caught, I'll take all the responsibility in your place. I'll say I forced you to open the door—it's the least I can do. This opportunity is literally golden. If there's any chance to save Ken..."
"Y-You think we can save him? Really?"
"You can bet on it, Yuri. Soon we'll have the reopening of our club with our new member well and healthy!"
"That's how you talk. You can count on us," Sayori exclaimed.
"I'll go ahead, you follow behind me. I saw her cat on my way here... We can't be seen."
I signaled with my hand and opened our classroom door. Petty wasn't anywhere in sight, but this time the fog was invading the entire environment. There was no doubt that this school was sinking and pulling the rest of the city with it. After checking the corridor, I called my friends to the library.
"It's so cold, my goodness. I guess there's no reason to be afraid, we're already screwed anyway, right?" Natsuki always tried to crack an ill-timed joke, but I couldn't blame her.
Everyone was nervous.
The library is on the ground floor of the school, behind the entrance hall, going left to the end of the corridor.
Reaching our destination, Yuri stepped in front of me and unlocked the first locked door. At this hour, it should still be open and functioning, but it was completely deserted.
It's understandable that we're very close to Christmas and almost no one comes to school during this period, but I'd never seen it this empty before!
The library was simply enormous, as I remembered, but Yuri went straight to wing 3-A.
What an amusing coincidence.
Who would have thought that in sections separated by numbers and letters, there would be a secret entrance precisely in the one that represents our classroom?
"Help me here, everyone. We need to move this bookshelf." Yuri started pushing the shelf, but she wasn't strong enough on her own.
"Come on everyone, we can do this together, I hope."
The answer to this insanity was behind that bookshelf. The solution... That witch stole my club and my friend from me. I promise I'll resolve this.
"One..."
Wait a little longer, Ken.
"Two..."
"THREE!"
The bookshelf slid slowly aside, revealing a weathered wooden door marked with deep scratches—as if something desperate had tried to claw its way out.
We exchanged glances, a tense silence falling between us.
I couldn't deny that even I was beginning to regret taking the lead. That door reeked of death. It seemed impossible that something like this could exist in a school.
A trap?
"Well... is anyone going to open it?" Natsuki crossed her arms.
Sayori swallowed hard.
"What if... this is a mistake? What if we're meddling with something we shouldn't? This girl might have been a victim, but I feel like whatever's on the other side of that door is going to kill us."
"If we do nothing, Ken might stay in a coma forever, Sayori." Yuri's voice was firmer than I'd ever heard it.
A stalemate wouldn't help us. The only way to end this was to move forward. If it was a trap, I would take full responsibility. Perhaps, deep down, I'd been looking for an opportunity like this.
This is what being a leader means.
I touched the doorknob and felt an immediate rush of emotions. It was cold, intensely cold, and rigid because of it.
I turned it, and with a dry click, the door creaked slowly open.
When the door fully opened, I realized that perhaps we were already trapped on the other side, and our bodies might be lying comatose in some hospital. Reality and imagination felt indistinguishable.
This theory wouldn't help us now.
Before us stretched an enormous corridor whose end we couldn't see with our phone flashlights; we only knew it descended downward.
"Stay together, I'll keep leading the way, keep your eyes open," I said.
We began walking down the corridor and decided to pile some books at the door to prevent it from locking us inside. Yuri always had intelligent ideas for these situations.
I had asked Sayori to keep track of time on her phone so we wouldn't lose that sense.
The corridor seemed endless, and it grew even steeper, it felt as though we were descending into hell itself.
"How long has it been, Sayo?"
"It's been... My God, fifteen minutes!"
"I never imagined something like this existed in the library, but I believe we're close to something," Yuri said, analyzing everything she could.
The corridor walls appeared to be narrowing; there was no sound, just profound silence in that place. After walking for so long, I wondered how far below ground level we had gone.
Before I could form any hypothesis, we reached the corridor's end.
Another door, this one open, with a dark trail on the floor leading into what appeared to be a room.
A weak light flickered inside, allowing us to see a little.
We entered.
The lamp hung by a thin wire from the ceiling, swaying slowly from side to side. The room was filled with shelves containing dozens of books.
"Let's split up, Yuri, you go to these—"
"No, Monika! That's not a good idea. This place is horrible; being alone here is too dangerous."
"Yeah, I actually agree, let's try to cover as much ground as we can together." Natsuki agreeing with Yuri was something new.
So, we chose the right side of the room, where there were four shelves.
There was no apparent organization or separation between the documents. I grabbed some books to see if I could find anything different.
Something quickly became crystal clear: The School was hiding its connections to occultism in this bizarre basement—books about famous apparitions from the last century, rituals for success, love, dark arts.
Everything there seemed like nonsense.
Until Yuri caught our attention:
"Everyone, I found some folders here with numbers from various years. They seem to be different documentation about the school. But not all years are here..."
"Is there anything from 2004? According to Hana, she wants revenge 'for something that happened thirteen years ago.'"
"Yes, there is. Actually, the folders are only from even years from 1980 to 2004."
"They stopped recording in 2004? I see. Let's look at the oldest one first."
We took the folder to the table in the center of the room, and each of us began searching through a specific folder.
Although they looked like books, these folders contained only loose handwritten pages in difficult-to-read cursive. I searched for the longest document from my assigned year, 1980:
[Press Version]
"Explosion kills three school employees at Central School
On the morning of January 13, 1980, a large explosion in a classroom caused by an electrical short circuit awakened the residential neighborhood in alarm. As it was a Sunday, there were no reports of injured students.
However, three employees whose identities weren't revealed to the public died, as the explosion completely destroyed the classroom. The city hall also conducted a structural inspection and decided it would be better to close the school for a week.
Forensics were at the scene and found the victims' remains, confirming they died instantly.
The school won't comment on the incident.
[Internal Version]
"Are you completely insane?
I can't believe someone let former employees enter the school and cause an explosion like this. Since we arrived at the crime scene before everyone else, we were able to hide the evidence of what those idiots were doing.
Someone discovered what we're doing in the basement and decided to try to summon a vengeful spirit by themselves. All current and dismissed employees must be questioned immediately.
The world cannot know what's in the secret room.
Please, we all need to adopt strategies from now on to simply make anyone who tries to enter our institution disappear before they do something stupid."
Central School is old, but this kind of history happening? It doesn't make sense.
"Did you find anything, everyone? Mine talks about an accident involving an explosion in 1980, and apparently there's something even more secret in one of these rooms."
"In 1992, there was an accident in the generator room. A student decided for some reason to use drugs there and had a sudden death. But they completely hid this incident from the press, so much so that there isn't even a 'press version,'" Yuri said, still analyzing the pages.
When I looked to my left, I saw Natsuki completely paralyzed, her eyes fixed on the paper in her hands. She was trembling considerably, and tears were streaming down her face.
"I... This is the 2004 document." She simply stood up and handed me the paper about that fateful year.
Whatever it was, it was enough to leave Nat totally terrified, so much that she went straight to hug Yuri, who was her best friend after all.
I felt my heart tighten as I took that 2004 paper. It still had darkened blood marked on it and various strange stains.
There was also an Eye symbol, cut in half on the document's cover.
"October 18, 2004
After so many years trying to discover what the energies below the school could grant us, I feel I've never been closer to the answer.
Today, another student died, this one was the fruit of our discovery efforts.
We have in our hands the first case where an ancient spirit has merged with that of a recently deceased child.
After so much sweat and tears, we have a real weapon.
When I absorb this spirit's power, I will be able to bring my daughter back from the dead, I will be able to fulfill any wish.
Hana Ikeda's death is so important that we will hold an event in the coming years to secretly celebrate her death.
On Christmas Day, December 25, we will create the "Winter Festival"!
Spread this message,
Principal XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (Bloodstained)."
If the shock of reading this information wasn't enough, on the next page was something much worse.
"December 25, 2004
I don't think what the former principal was planning was prudent. He was brutally murdered last month while trying to inspect classroom 3-A and provoke the spirit that inhabits it. We need guidelines to keep the room locked and ensure that the transferred students don't let anything slip.
Though, if we had to worry about nineteen students, we'd have a problem, but I heard that most of the students from classroom 3-A killed themselves weeks after the tragic event.
THE ONES WHO BULLIED HANA GOT THE WORST END OF THE STICK, YOU CAN BE SURE OF THAT (This part was written in blood in a empty space).
Dear Secretary of Education, I think the former Principal experiment went completely wrong. Alert the governor that we have a problem on our hands.
On top of that, we will be forced to perform the Winter Festival every year; otherwise, who knows what might happen to us."
The festival was nothing more than a macabre celebration for a child who died in the middle of class? What kind of people control this school? I had never felt anything hostile coming from the school staff, not even the current principal seemed like a bad person.
But thinking about it, how long has it been since I've seen him? Even that nurse can't be trusted, but none of this was enough to leave Natsuki in that state. There must have been something much worse in these texts. I couldn't stop reading; on the third page, there was another letter.
"December 31, 2004
Months after the incident with student Hana Ikeda, the door to the underground room finally opened. The team we sent didn't return, but the noises coming from the depths... no longer sound like human voices.
She died, yes, but something remained.
Our preliminary investigation indicates that her spirit has merged with the spiritual energy that exists beneath the school, which is why we built it in this location in 1960 in the first place, by former the principal.
If this is true, Hana's spirit functions like a black hole that pulls nearby energy. The power we've been accumulating here for decades might finally be within our reach. We plan to seal everything and maintain the facade for as long as we can...
Addendum: Some staff members report having seen the figure of a girl (probably Hana) wandering around the school at night, but she now exhibits even more grotesque traits: pale skin, black eyes, and a dead cat that follows her wherever she goes. We cannot allow information about the girl or the creature to leak.
I must emphasize that the basement IS SEALED AND ENTRY IS PROHIBITED. We will maintain, however, the Winter Festival in the coming years. Remembering Hana's death is crucial to prevent her spirit from... (The rest is illegible).
There was another report after some bloodstained pages.
Containment protocols have been exhausted. The vengeful spirit has entered an expansion cycle: there are reports of students with constant nightmares and sudden temperature drops in various rooms. We need more time to understand the potential of this spiritual energy that has merged with the dead child.
I researched the oldest books about vengeful and territorial spirits. Some text fragments speak of a "Superior Demon" that feeds on abstract energy. "She" has the potential to become one; the previous Principal's idea was to control this.
However, Hana's was a success, at least in the sense of imprisoning such energy in a single being. The cost? A child's life.
It's something completely vile and cruel, but if we can control this Entity, we'll be able to manipulate the school's reality (and perhaps beyond).
If we fail...
I fear everything will collapse. It's as if the walls have begun to pulse, alive.
In every corridor, I hear Hana's crying.
If someone reads this in the future: close this door. Abandon the school. Destroy every record, every document. Don't let anyone else find the "access" at the bottom of the library. Prevent the Winter Festival from happening.
I think she noticed me.
[Several pages are torn or illegible]
"There's no way out... I hear footsteps in the corridor. Her cat roams the school, despite being dead for months. I need to maintain the festival facade, people can't suspect... it's too late for me. Hana wasn't just a dead child. She is a portal.
...that will inevitably open."
So that's it... Several people must have died in this room where we are now, but it doesn't make sense...
"Nat, what did you read here that scared you so much? Wait... Nat."
"She's here, she's here, we're done for, we're all going to die!" Nat was terrified, and although Yuri tried to console her, it was no use.
I didn't understand; the information was frightening, but what was making her like this?
"Hey, everything's going to be okay, we'll get through this, alright? Don't worry, I'm here, and as the leader, I'll find a way to fix this."
"O-Okay... But please, let's leave. I feel like if we read more, she'll come here."
At that moment, I regretted and could perfectly understand why Ken acted that way. Seeing my friends being afflicted by that demon in child form hurt too much.
I was in a real dilemma.
Suddenly, a voice echoed in the room, but it wasn't what I initially thought.
"...Everyone, someone, please help me! Someone gets me out of here!"
The voice came from nearby, but I couldn't identify it at first. Everyone reacted by looking around, even Natsuki.
"What is that?" Sayori wanted confirmation, but the voice was impossible to mistake.
Ken.
"Wait, girls, this could be a trap. We need to find the source of this scream first." I had lives under my responsibility; I needed to find a way to rescue everyone.
"Monika, look there, another door appeared. I'm sure it wasn't there before; it's even an elevator door." Yuri pointed northward.
She was right. The room had been a dead end before; this could only mean one thing: That was our next step. Fleeing now would mean death, but continuing would too.
"Let's go, same formation, I'll go first... Take pictures of all the documents we found; there might still be something useful there."
When we finished recording everything we saw, we walked together to the elevator. There was only one button with an "" indicator. I took a deep breath and pressed it.
While we waited for the elevator, a familiar sensation arose in that room, the same sensation we all knew this week.
Something was coming here.
This time, not even I could keep my group calm. Their eyes showed complete panic; we avoided making any sound.
We heard footsteps and creaking in the room's walls; some books fell from the shelves.
But there was nothing; I felt like I was going insane.
The elevator was taking too fucking long.
I signaled with my hands for the girls to stay quiet. I had to find a way, but what could I do?
The sensation was the same as when I saw Hana in the bathroom.
Finally, the elevator doors opened, and we ran without needing any instruction, acting on pure instinct. When we entered there, I hit all the buttons I could see; the doors closed, and we went to the only possible destination.
I swear I saw a figure waving goodbye from the room we were.
The elevator began to descend.
"Damn... That was close," I said, trying to lighten the situation. "Thank you, Natsuki. I couldn't imagine you'd sense her presence before we did."
"Monika... Was Ken trying to protect us from that thing? All this time that I was rude to him just for being a man... Was this what he was dealing with?"
This was unexpected coming from Nat, but I understand. I thought the same thing. I was already having difficulties facing this madness for my longtime friends; imagine Ken, who has only known me, Yuri, and Nat for two days.
I want so badly to tell him how I really feel and how much I appreciate the care he has for me and all of us.
"Yes, that's why the only way to repay the favor is by finding and saving him from this hell."
"That's right, Moni. We can do it!" Sayori always had that optimism.
Yuri was quiet, observing the elevator, and said, changing the subject:
"We've already descended thirty-five floors. There's no doubt, we're in Hana's mindscape... If that makes sense"
Yuri knowledge about horror stories really was making me a bit less stressed, for some reason this bizarre world felt like it followed rules from a Horror Book.
"Well, if we're here, we have a chance to find Ken, right?" Sayori asked, trying to hide how scared she felt.
When the elevator finally reached the bottom of that infinite basement, the doors opened, and we immediately smelled the worst odor imaginable.
It was the smell of death.
Reflexively, we tried to cover our faces, and I took the lead to see what was in front of us.
It was a tiny room with a floor completely covered in blood and bones. The walls had several holes that seemed to have been used to contain bodies; I could only see what appeared to be people's legs.
What kind of place is this?
Surprisingly, the smell wasn't coming from those corpses but from what lay ahead. I walked carefully, asking the girls to follow me. I honestly didn't know how to react with what was in front of me.
At the end of that macabre room was an endless pit. There was no way back because the elevator no longer worked, and forward there was no path at all, just a void.
And from this void came that smell of fresh death, of decomposing flesh. I felt I was going insane.
Suddenly, while we were all looking at that pit, we felt a push. We were all pushed at the same time.
I turned around reflexively as I fell and could see her smiling at us.
"Thanks for joining me". Hana said.
Was this the end? Falling has been one of my fears since childhood, so I just closed my eyes and waited for the impact.
Was everything ending here? Like this?
It was my fault. I brought this upon all of them; I deserve to die too.
After a long time, when the fear of impact passed, I opened my eyes. I felt the ground beneath me; somehow, I didn't feel the fall and wasn't hurt.
I looked around; there was no one. The girls had vanished. A thousand questions invaded my mind, but the first thing I tried to do was get up from the ground.
My body felt heavy, but I soon managed to balance myself. I looked in all directions and quickly realized I was in an even worse place than before, but I felt I was getting closer to finding Ken; something in my mind told me this.
But first.
I was in the middle of what appeared to be a street in our city, right in front of my house.
On the front door, there was a sign that read:
"There's a little devil inside all of us."