The Phantom School 78 Hidden Malevolence

The man in front of me squeezed my arm much stronger, but after a while, he let me go. He slowly dropped backwards, without even the tiniest reaction.

The weird ringing in my ears faded out slowly, and my hearing came back to normal in seconds. After the initial shock, I took my time to a.s.sess the situation. Most of the blood did not belong to me... One of the guards had noticed my attempt to escape and shot the man to protect me.

Despite the momentary setback, I still had a chance to make it out of the room. I left everyone and ran to the door. After I got out, I ran towards a random direction without looking back.

After a few minutes, I stopped to rest and breathe. I was feeling bad for all the subjects that were held in those tubes in such horrible condition, but since they attacked us... I didn't know what else to expect.

"It has begun." Cansu said. "The Community knows. I can feel them all around."

"What do I do?" I asked.

"We chose our path already. Help the scientists before everyone is doomed. Tell them about The Community, and give them all the information we have acquired during our struggles." she said.

"If they are so powerful, why didn't The Community a.s.sault the facility before?" I asked.

"They are not THAT powerful, and there are no time for your questions." she answered. "Go find the scientists."

"I need to find Idil first." I said.

"Go find those scientists." Cansu insisted. "If you don't, we will lose everyone anyway. I, alone, cannot protect you against all the evil spirits."

"I can't go back the way I came from." I said.

"I don't know... Circle around, but just find them!" she said. I turned left at an intersection and kept running.

The intercom activated once again.

"ALL PERSONNEL, STAY CLEAR OF THE LAB SECTION E-7. SECURITY TEAMS C-A AND C-B, MEET AT THE ARMORY."

While trying to pay attention to the intercom, I lost all sense of navigation inside the corridors. While trying to explore and find my way, I heard something ahead. I looked there, but I saw no one. Yet, the sound was coming closer every second. It was similar to the sound of a broken radio.

"Right in front of you." said Cansu.

I looked down and saw a young girl, trying to crawl towards me, dragging herself on the ground. Her body was covered in grey and brown dirt. The color of her spilt blood had created interesting patterns on her clothes. She only had one leg, and she was perhaps unable to use the other. By the look on her face, there was no doubt that she was suffering an intense pain.

It was very obvious that she was one of the subjects of the 'experiment', and I had no means to help her right now. But I could understand how she was feeling, and leaving her there would definitely hurt me.

"T-t... Teacher!" she cried as she tried to approach me. Her words dug into my heart like a spear. "Help me!"

I stepped back.

"Teacher..." she coughed a few times. "It's me!"

She approached me, and I took another step back.

"Don't... Don't you remember me?"

I definitely did not remember her. But, thinking of it, that was a part of the phenomenon... If I had not been with Cansu at her last moments, I would have forgotten about her too.

Could this girl... Could she really be one of my students? I looked into her eyes with curiosity.

"Why?" she said, weakly. "Why..."

I couldn't stand it anymore. I reached forth to her. If I could save one more soul...

"NO!" yelled Cansu. "Go away!"

It was my fault after all. If I could just save one more soul... I was in no condition to listen to Cansu.

"Teacher, NO!" Cansu shouted again. "Leave her, it's dangerous!"

The girl grabbed my arm and I tried to help her stand up.

"Teacher, she is NOT your student, she is a weapon!" Cansu kept yelling. "Let go of her!"

The girl was looking directly into my eyes with a still expression, something in between sad and curious.

"What is your name?" I asked her. She kept looking at me without answering. I didn't expect her to answer.

"Come on, let's go." I said. I suddenly raised my arm, and punched her with all my strenght. She cried in pain and hit the wall next to her before she fell down.

The back of her skull was fractured. Blood was pouring out. She was laying still on the ground.

What have I just done? How could that happen!?

I ran up to the girl and examined her. Her muscles were frozen, and she had bruises all over her body. At some points, her veins and bones were visible.

I really had done it... She was dead.

"Leave her already, you idiot." Cansu said. "She was too dangerous, and you lowered your s.h.i.+elds for the moment... I had to do it for our sake."

That was it... I had forgot about Cansu's ability to exert her control over my body. I wasn't sure if I was grateful or annoyed; but either case, she was doing what she could do to protect us.

"She wasn't my student, right?" I asked Cansu as I looked at her body in misery.

"I... She was..." she muttered. "I don't know." she finally said. "And it doesn't matter. Stop thinking about the past. If you don't concentrate on your current objective, there will be no past left to remember."

I slowly got up and left the young girl there, laying on the ground.

"The Community is around here." Cansu reminded me.

As I progressed further into the corridor, I had already forgotten her face.