Sakura
awoke with a sharp cry, twisting as she moved about on the floor, a cry on her
lips that was quickly shushed by another student, Ben. Ben, the tall rugby
player that had been Sakura’s longtime crush, was now holding her in a tight
embrace, his hand muffling her voice. This would have been part of a dream come
true, especially as they were in a broom closet, save for the fact she didn’t
remember getting in here.
“Are
you going to be quiet?” Ben whispered, slackening his hold on the smaller girl.
“Because we are in some deep shit where noise could get us killed. You
understand?”
Sakura
nodded and was instantly released, falling back onto the gym pads with a slight
thud, her plaid skirt riding a little high on the thigh and causing Ben to
blush, looking away. Sakura adjusted her outfit, leaning forward with a finger
at her mouth, scratching at the corner of her lips.
“Why
do we have to be quiet?” She whispered, looking at Ben seriously.
“Because
the school is overrun with ghosts, wraiths that are attracted to sound. They
get close to you and you can see your life flash through your eyes as the
paralyze you, slowly draining you of everything that is you.”
Sakura
let out a tiny “eep!” at that explanation, but kept it quiet. Ben held a finger
up to his lips and moved to the sliding door that led to the gym. “Take a look,
there should be a few out there. Don’t make a sound, that’s how they track you.”
Ben
slowly rolled the door open, allowing Sakura to look out into the lit gym,
which was littered with pale, lifeless bodies. A volleyball net was set up in
the middle and a game had obviously been in progress when something had interrupted. Half of the team seemed to have made a
break for the locker rooms while the others ran for the exit outside.
The
mounds of bodies showed that they never made it past a dozen feet.
Swirling
high above in the rafters were creatures out of a horrible fairy tale, trailing
black cloaks of tattered darkness, twin ebon arms extending from long sleeves
ending in three long claws, no hands… just three stalks of sharpened shadows
stretching forth from the limb. Their faces, shrouded by hoods, seemed to
glisten in the darkness that pulsed around them, their very forms swallowing
the light from all around them.
There
were three of them, circling the lights, dimming the gymnasium to the point
where one had to squint to see over the mounds of bodies. Sakura couldn’t
believe what she was seeing, and had to stifle a gasp at the sight of the
creatures. Leaning back into the closet, Ben rolled the door closed and looked
at her.
“You
saw them then?” He asked, seemingly serious.
“Of
course I did! They’re horrible!” She whispered.
“Good,
you can see them too. A lot of the students couldn’t see them and just ended up
screaming as their classmates started to shrivel and dry up, leading to more
and more death at the hands of the creatures.”
“So
what are going to do?” Sakura asked, her voice hushed.
“We’re
going to sneak out of here and try to get somewhere safe. Maybe go to the
police, I don’t know.” Ben said, running his hand over his face and through his
hair as he wracked his mind.
“I
wonder what they are?” Sakura asked, looking at the doors as if she could see
through them, peering at the creatures circling the lights above.
“Does
it matter? They kill you if they get close
to you… that doesn’t need a name.” Ben replied before motioning to the rest
of the room. “Now we can’t turn on the lights in here for some reason, I think
the bulb is out, but there’s a narrow window over here that leads to the
grounds. I can’t fit through it, but you can.”
“I
can?” Sakura repeated, not liking this line of thought.
“Yes,
and when you go through, I want you to run to my car. It’s a red ford focus, in
parking lot A.” He said, pressing a key into her hand. “Drive away from here
and go to the police so they can come and rescue whoever is left in the school.”
“You
really think I can do it?” Sakura asked, looking down at the key. She’d never
driven a car before, but she knew the mechanics.
“You
have to,” he said simply, rolling his shoulders. “Otherwise we’re going to have
to wait for someone to notice that this has happened.”
“Alright…
alright, I can do this.”
“I know
you can Sakura,” Ben said, pulling her into a brief hug. “I’m depending on you.
Don’t let me down.”
“I won’t,”
Sakura whispered before moving beneath the window. “I need a boost.”
Ben
moved over to her, cupping his hands together for her to step on, lifting her
up to the window as she pressed against the wall for leverage. Looking out the
window, Sakura noticed the orange haze of the sunset.
“It’s
late already,” she said. Looking down at Ben, she smiled. “Hopefully somebody
is already on the way. If not, I’ll get them.”
“Good
girl!” Ben whispered.
Sakura
fiddled with the latch until the window opened, slipping through it, her hips
getting caught for a brief moment, forcing her to wiggle through the tight
opening. Crawling on her hands and knees in the grass, she noted how grimy the
normally soft lawn felt. Looking at her hands she found them to be covered in
ash. Pushing herself to her feet, she found that her entire front was covered
in ash, which she began to desperately wipe off, patting herself to clean
herself, a cloud of ash billowing around her.
That
was when she heard the first moan.
Looking
to her right, around the gymnasium, she saw a student shuffling closer to her,
his skin ashen and grey, his eyes white and hollow. Blood dribbled from his
mouth as he reached plaintively for her, moaning as he did so. Several more
students in similar condition came shuffling from around the same corner,
causing Sakura to bite her lip to stifle a scream.
Turning,
she ran towards parking lot A, staring in amazement at the low mist that seemed
to permeate the air once you got away from the building. Looking back, past the
students giving a slow, staggered chase, she saw that part of the gymnasium had
collapsed, a large rock having struck it near the locker rooms. Looking up at
the sky, Sakura slowed to a standstill as she stared up.
The
orange wasn’t from a sunset, or even a sunrise. It was from hundreds of wide
columns of flame coming down from the heavens, winged figures flying around
them like seagulls at the aft of a fishing boat. The sky was an angry red,
clouds swirling in great circles around the pillars of flame.
A low
moan brought her attention back to the here and now, causing her to continue
jogging, wondering what was going on.
No comments:
Post a Comment