Alright, good news everyone! I finally bit the bullet and decided to set time away from my other project so I can work on this one too! Been wanting to for a while now but was worried a lot of people would drop the other one. Probably not where my priorities should be but yk.
The same day, just outside the school
"Reports came in this morning of paranormal phenomena taking place at a local highschool. Witnesses reported a sudden flickering of lights all throughout the building before it and the surrounding grounds mysteriously vanished with all occupants. Reporting on the scene is Hayakashi Ruri-San."
"Thank you, Dimitri-San. Yes, the entire campus appears to have vanished, leaving a large void of a depth yet to be determined in its place. Police quickly cordoned off the area, and concerned parents have gathered around the area. Riot Police Units have had to deal with several attempts by civilians to access the area. Authorities are advising citizens to steer clear of the area. The Japanese Bureau of Paranormal Activity is monitoring the situation. In addition, there are reports of a representative from the KGB Occult Research Directorate arriving on the scene."
The camera shifted to several black SUVs parked just beyond the barricades.
"A group of individuals wearing the KGB's uniform were reported arriving in these vehicles. Some witnesses reported them being led by an individual bearing a major's insignia. We have yet to sight these alleged operatives and are awaiting-"
Ruri's voice was quickly drowned out by the sound of helicopter blades slicing through the air as a military transport helicopter landed just beyond the barrier, some distance from the hazardous pit.
The ramp opened out the back of the chopper and out marched a team of soldiers in USMC uniforms. At the center were three soldiers who stood out from the rest, clad in extremely antiquated British redcoat uniforms escorting a woman in a blue dress with raven-black hair, and what appeared to be a nurse at her side.
As they marched down the cordoned off stretch of road, they were greeted halfway to the pit where the school once stood by several operatives clad in dark green uniforms and matching military caps bearing and ironically resembling those worn by soldiers of the Tsar's army during the times of the woman's youth.
The leader of the operatives stepped forward.
"Doctor Drevis! A pleasure to see you again! It's been quite some time."
Aya smiled. "That it has, Major Karlov! Did they send you just to meet us?"
Major Karlov laughed. "It's funny you should ask. I was actually asked for specifically."
Aya cocked her head in confusion. "By who?"
The Major shrugged. "No one knows. Must've been someone important if they could get me sent all the way to Tokyo."
Aya sighed. "I… might have some idea."
"Maybe the same person who called you here?" The Major said knowingly.
Aya nodded.
"Alright. We have made our headquarters in one of the nearby apartments. We'll brief each other there."
Aki, Otome, and Ines gathered at the table.
"Ok, so first thing's first, we should take inventory" Ines said.
"Inventory?" Otome responded.
"Yeah, just like, what do we have on us? Anything we can use to improve our chances of survival." Ines said. "Oh! Anyone have any money? The vending machines could be useful if we need to eat something."
"Out of cash" Aki said solemnly.
"I don't have my wallet" Otome said. "I left it in my bookbag. Not sure if we can get to it now with all the holes in the floor."
"And all my money is in Rubels" Ines said. "Looks like we may have to do the old five finger discount."
The others gave her a confused look.
"Stealing. I'm talking about stealing. We break into the vending machines or the cafeteria."
"Ah" The others said in unison, along with other sounds and gestures that amounted to "that makes sense".
"Alright, we know where to get food at least. Anything else?"
The others thought for a moment.
"Maybe something to try and reach out to the outside world?" Otome suggested.
Ines nodded. "A bit of a longshot but Aya's supposed to be bringing backup. It'd be helpful if we could actually call them."
"We have our phones" Aki said. "Doubt we'll get signal though."
"We won't, I tried." Otome said.
Ines shrugged. "Worth a shot."
"Help's on the way at least" Aki said hopefully.
Ines nodded. "They're probably trying to find their way in. So we should probably keep looking for a way to break the curse in the meantime. Which means we're going to have to search the school. Full of monsters."
The others got her implication.
"We have that fire extinguisher" Aki said.
"The bane of zombies" Ines said giggling.
"Yeah. That was quick thinking, Aki-Chan!" Otome said, laughing along with her.
Aki laughed too, though more bashfully. "Thanks. I wonder if it'll work on the other spirits though?"
"Only one way to find out" Ines said. "You could always try hitting them with it."
"True."
"I got this" Ines said, placing her knife on the table. "Old family heirloom."
Otome looked at the blade in alarm. "How did you…? Actually, never mind."
Aki eyed the blade uneasily. "That looks like it's for some sort of occult ritual."
"It probably was" Ines said casually. "Couldn't tell you what kind. Aya didn't know either."
"… Ok then."
"Oh! I also found this." Ines placed a strange packet of seeds on the table.
"Seeds?" Otome said.
"I found 'em on the roof."
"Did a member of the gardening club drop them?" Otome suggested.
Ines laughed. "Maybe if they're dealing in witchcraft" Ines said.
The two gave her a confused look.
"They're mandrake seeds" Ines clarified. "See? The roots look a bit like a tiny person." She tapped the picture on the front of the packet.
"Hey yeah!" Aki said. "I read about these when I was doing my report!"
"They were near three pairs of shoes by the railing. There were three ghost girls holding hands hovering above them, but they just plummeted from the sky when I got close" Ines said.
Aki and Otome gave Ines a horrified look.
"What?"
Otome turned to Aki. "Does she really not know?"
"Not know what?" Ines said. "Is this like, a local thing? I've never heard any ghost stories about shoes. Actually, wait, there's Los Zapatos del Difunto but those usually appear on doorsteps."
Aki and Otome took a quick interlude to explain to Ines the history of suicide victims leaving their shoes behind.
Ines went pail. Well, paler than usual. "Oh…"
"Did someone jump?" Otome said.
"Wait, hold on." Ines said. "A ghost tried to grab me and pull me over. I don't think all these ghosts are different people who died. It's all Misao conjuring stuff."
"I hope you're right" Aki said.
Ines nodded resolutely. "I'm sure of it. Most of the zombies and ghosts around here don't look like students or staff here. Some look like they could be I guess, but most of them look more like they're from a horror movie or something. Aya and I used to watch a lot of foreign ones."
"Hm…" Aki thought for a moment. "Now that you mention it, yeah. Old horror movies, urban legends… stuff Misao was into come to think of it."
"That makes sense" Ines said. If she's powerful enough to lock the school in another dimension all on her own, she could make these monsters too." She chuckled. "Honestly, I'm kinda jealous."
"Well that's a relief" Otome said. "I thought maybe some students had done something drastic."
Novella overheard the conversation. She'd been conflicted about joining in. She wasn't used to people, and she was deeply engrossed in a book she'd found about some German scientist starting a free clinic in the woods. Her father had forbidden her from reading it for some reason, but she just couldn't help it. It called to her. She hoped he wouldn't be too angry.
It was a fascinating book, and apparently, the woman it was about was really important. "One of the most important inventors in modern history" it had called her. The real interesting bit was all the creepy stuff she did in her clinic in the woods for her work. She liked this scientist. She reminded her of her father.
Still, she really wanted to talk to her new friends. And she knew they needed help. Maybe she could help them?
After a moment of indecision, her eyes darting from the book to the table, and back again, she took a deep breath, looked for a bookmark, as she ardently refused to fold the pages, and then headed over to the group.
"So where do you think these seeds came from?" Aki asked. "Did Misao conjure them up?"
"I feel like Misao would've just conjured up fully-grown mandrakes though" Otome said.
"Yeah, but how else could they have gotten here? You can't just buy these in stores."
"Huh" Ines said. "Maybe-"
"Ooh! You found father's mandrake seeds! He was looking all over for those!" Novella said excitedly.
Ines laughed. "Well that answers that question."
"Oh! Do you think you could take them back to him?" Novella said excitedly.
Aki looked at her, confused. "Why do you need us to do it?"
"Well, because I have to watch over the library, of course! This is where you're sending survivors, right? If some show up and the monsters attack, someone's gotta stay here to fight 'em off!" She spoke resolutely, surprising the others.
Aki gave her a concerned look. "You sure you're alright on your own?"
She gave a confident smile. "Yup! I can handle myself just fine!" She went over to the main desk and crouched behind it. She came back up with a baseball bat with a noticeable red stain on the end. "I already got a few of 'em." She gave an unsettling grin, looking at the bat.
"So that's you're weapon of choice, eh?" Ines said nonchalantly.
"Yup! One of the baseball club members must've left it in here. Father never let me have a real weapon before, so I was excited to try it out, you know?"
"Yeah" Aki said laughing.
"Not really" Otome said at the same time.
They both exchanged surprised looks.
"It's a really fun one to use" Novella said. "You just wind it up and WHAM! Right in the head! Splatters them all over!"
Otome gave a look of extreme concern to Novella. She wasn't sure what was worse, her glee at the carnage she inflicted or the implication that she could smash a head in one swing.
"Is it like smashing a watermelon at the beach?" Aki said, intrigued.
Novella placed a finger on her cheek and hummed. "I'm not sure. I've never done that before."
Aki's eyes widened. She turned to Otome and murmured into her ear. "Otome-Chan, when this is over, we gotta take this girl to the beach pronto!"
Otome nodded resolutely in spite of herself. That was pretty sad, at least for someone who lived in Japan. She did her best to ignore the… circumstances in which the idea was brought up.
"Anyway, where is your father? You must be worried about him."
Otome decided it best not to mention the rather large elephant in the room regarding her father. Either Novella didn't know, or she did, and didn't see the issue. And either way, this was not the best time to unpack this.
"He set up his lab just down the hall! In the school science lab, I think it was. He said he was going to look for survivors too, but he has trouble getting around, you know? I don't think he's in any danger, not like last time at least, but I think he gets lonely there, and it'd be good to let him know we're all ok."
The others exchanged concerned looks.
"Ok, so some of us should head down there and check on him then?" Aki said. "And… give him his seeds?"
Novella nodded. "Yeah, that's right!"
"So who should go?"
"Well I'm definitely going" Ines said.
"Oh yeah, Ines hasn't seen father in a while, right? You should pay him a visit!"
Ines forced a smile. "Exactly! I've wanted to for a while now but well, you know."
Novella laughed. "Yeah, it's a shame all this curse stuff happened. Not the best way to have a family reunion."
"Was that sarcasm?" Aki said, genuinely surprised.
"I think so?" Novella said, cocking her head.
The others laughed. Novella took this as a good sign.
"Anyway, I should go too" Aki said. "I don't think going alone is a good idea for any of us."
"Yeah, that's fair" Ines said.
"I'm not much good in a fight" Otome said nervously.
"Alright, wait here then" Aki said. "Should be safer that way."
Otome looked to Ines uncertainly. Ines gave a reassuring nod.
"Ok then."
Aki and Ines made their preparations before heading off. Otome wished them luck as they departed.
She let out a sigh as they left, not particularly enjoying the idea. She jolted then as she noticed a faint presence behind her. She heard the faint sound of breathing, and the light tapping of footsteps on tile. She bolted around, prepared to scream as she came face to face… with Novella.
"Want to see my room?"
Wasn't sure if this alternate history would have the KGB or CheKa under a Trotskyist rule since Stalin was the one who restructured the CheKa so many times until it became the KGB. I figured at least some reorganizing still made sense though since most governments did that. I guess it's not that important but I'm a stickler for the details.
