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It was midnight on the docks and the wind howled causing Jake's hair to flap in the wind. Dressed in a sleeveless black shirt and black pants, he stared at the picture of Emma on his phone and smiled but it quickly vanished once he heard footsteps.
“I am here b@stard.” the owner sneered.
Jake chuckled putting the phone in his pocket and unsheathed his sword. "You know, for a delinquent with an appetite for hurting people, you amuse me."
Stan laughed passing his hand over his face. “Really? Okay zombie boy, tell me what you know about me.”
Jake did not respond.
“What's the matter? Angry that I kissed her?" Stan took a step closer while brandishing his weapon. "Just so you know, I am not sorry I kissed her, and I would have done more if she wasn’t too uptight.”
“So you knew I was watching her.”
“Yep and I knew you were in that hotel. Too bad my surprise attack did little to kill you but...” Stan brought his weapon down. “...when you are dead, she will end up loving me anyway. After all, it’s been a long time since I dated a woman with big tits. I wonder how she would feel with me in her.”
To Stan's shock, Jake laughed. "Really? And you think she is going to pick you over me?"
He sighed and looked directly into his opponent's eyes. "B!tch you have a long way to go."
Stan chuckled evilly. “THEN LET'S FIND OUT HOW GOOD I AM?"
Then he attacked Jake who stepped aside and swiped his katana at him but missed by mere inches.
“When you are dead, Emma will be mine Yandere kun!” Stan jeered bringing his weapon on him.
Jake dodged the attack and swiped his katana on Stan's chest cutting through his uniform and creating a huge scar on his chest but that did little to stop his opponent and the battle continued. While they fought, Stan continued his trash talk insulting Jake and calling Emma's name but the kicker that pushed Jake's buttons was when he called him a Yandere adding that Emma would rather die than be with him.
Jake tsked trying to keep his cool until Stan began to pant because of his lack of stamina. Seizing an opportunity, he went in for the kill thrusting his katana into Stan’s heart but victory wasn’t on his side. Stan gave a smug smile and hit Jake on the side of his head forcing him to pull out his katana.
“You are immune to pain huh?” Stan jeered he glowed with a red aura. "I LIKE THAT."
"Like I didn't see that coming."
His words surprised Stan. "What do you mean?"
"I was wondering when you were going to make things interesting for us considering the fact you like to fight." combing his hands through his hair, Jake gave a smug smile and glowed with a blue aura.
Although he was surprised, Stan grinned. "Glow all you want but you are still going to die. READY FOR ROUND TWO B!TCH?"
"I was born ready."
Meanwhile…
“Stan?” I call while walking around the school. “Stan where are you?”
“Do you think he is here?” asked the kitsune as it trotted beside me.
“He has to be,” I reply walking up the stairs. “He owes me some answers.”
"But you read the articles on the Girl’s Cult and discovered they died in 2017." said the kitsune.
"But the events in the book were documented in 2018 and from the autopsy done on their bodies, their deaths were deemed to be a suicide but Arianna's death was a murder," I said taking a peek into a classroom. "She has no connection to the demon but has a connection to Megami Sakou but that's not what I am looking for."
"True. What you are looking for is the demon's minions so nothing written in that entry makes sense." said the kitsune.
"I know but Stan wasn't there when I was interviewing the new owner yet he mentioned something about her death."
"Which means..."
"How did he know she was dead?"
"Maybe he took a wild guess?"
"I don't buy it. He knows something."
I finally reach the hall where the room was but the door was gone.
“What the…”
A sneer was heard behind me and I turn to see dark figures of ghosts all looking at me with red eyes.
“Uh Oh.” The kitsune took a step back. “They all look ferocious!”
I take out the knife from my bag. “Not for long.”
They attacked me and I strike back, vanquishing them to the spirit world but their numbers increased so I run down the hall and take the stairs to the roof.
“I don't think it is a good idea.” said the kitsune. “What if the place is filled with them?”
“At least I will have a larger area to fight them.” I kick the door open and was greeted by an angry spirit. It pounced and wrapped its hands around my throat in an attempt to strangle me but I stab it in the head and it disappeared.
“They are usually quiet so why are they attacking us?” the kitsune wondered out loud.
I run towards the door and was about to pass through the intersection between the class and the staffroom when someone runs in front of me crying for help. Curious, I follow it and see a girl cowering in a corner while a dark shadow stepped closer to it.
“Please! Please do not kill me!” she begged as it came closer. “Don’t kill me!”
I stab it in the back and it growled, throwing me off with immense strength. With its attention on me, they seized her chance to flee and we start fighting. Its knife penetrated me multiple times sending bee stings through my body but I finally make it disappear.
“Gosh!” I stagger to my feet. “That was intense.”
“You need to practice your knife skills more.” said the kitsune. “It will aid you in battle.”
I nod. “What was that thing? It surely wasn’t a ghost.”
“No, it wasn’t. It looked like a familiar.”
“A what?”
“Something that is a representation of a human being or creature.” It explained. “Think of it as a clone of someone or something.”
I blink and stand up.
“You have to find a place and heal. That way you will have the strength to fight your way out of this school,” it added.
So using the little strength in me, I stagger into a classroom and sit on a chair. Slowly but painfully, my body began to heal with the pain subsiding leaving me numb.
"Are you okay now?” it asked.
I nod and hear a whimper behind me. Standing up, I look at a corner and it was the girl I saved.
“What are you doing here?” I asked walking towards her.
She squirms. “Stay back! Don’t...don’t come any closer!”
I raise my hands in protest. “Easy now. I am not…” then I take a closer look at her. “You are a ghost.”
She looks back at me. “Wait a minute, you can see me?”
I nod as she stands to her feet. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”
“I am number four.”
“Number four?”
“That thing tried to kill Me,” she adds.
I put my hand on my chin. "That is vague…"
“I am telling you the truth!” she screams. “I don’t know how I got here! All I know is I am trying to run away from that thing before you saved me.”
I stare at her uniform and frown. Her shirt had green stripes on the sleeves and collars complementing her green skirt with white strips at the hem making it clear she wasn't a student here.
“Why are you called 'Number Four'?”
She put hugs herself and looks away. “I…. I don’t remember.”
“You don’t remember how you passed away?”
She shakes her head whipping her blond locks.
‘This is new.’ I thought. “Are they more of you?”
“I…I don’t know. They must be around here somewhere but they are not nice.” She grabbed her hand and looked down. “One of them tried to kill me.”
‘Maybe if I find them, they might give me some insight on what is going on.’ I thought.
“Look out!”
I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my back. Groaning, I push it off, stab it and notice the room was filled with them.
“Oh no!” the girl said cowering behind me. “They are here for me!”
I groan as the pain subsided. “I wish I had a better weapon to kill them quickly. Getting up close with them isn't helping.”
Suddenly my knife transformed into an ax with a silver blade.
“What the…”
“You have gathered enough power so your weapon can be upgraded to anything you want.” explained the kitsune. “Do you feel the rush of adrenaline in you?”
I did and it felt amazing! Grinning with the sudden power in me, I strike and destroy every familiar I came across but it was hard to protect the ghost girl because she was defenseless.
“Stay behind me!” I yell.
She didn’t listen. Once she saw an opportunity she ran out only to get impaled by a familiar wielding a spear.
‘Great! Just great!' I grunt striking one on the head. 'I've lost the only one who could give me a clue to what is going on.’
“If you can hurry, you can still save her.”
So, I destroy the rest of the familiars and go to the ghost girl who was on the floor.
“Get up!”
She staggered to her feet.
“I can’t help you because I can’t touch you. So get up! Now!”
But she was still taking her time. Looking back, I see more familiars rising in the darkness.
“HURRY!”
Finally, she was up on her feet and I lead the way to the storage room which had the pentagram drawn on the door to hide from the familiars. We stayed there for a while until I was sure they were gone.
“Okay. I think we are safe.” I say.
Then we heard a crackle of laughter followed by whispering. I bring out my ax and pose for battle while the girl cowered behind me.
“Is anyone behind me?” I ask.
The question got her so terrified that she tried to hold me but ended up going through me and falling to the ground.
I groan. ‘Seriously?’
“Shh? You will hurt her feelings.” cautioned the kitsune.
The whispering continued and another ghost girl appeared. She looked normal but her hands were replaced with claws and she has a crazy look in her eyes. I got ready for a fight but she didn’t instead, looking at the ghost behind me.
“So you are still alive huh?” she chuckled. "You are lucky."
The girl whimpered while the newcomer grinned. “Don’t worry, I am not going to hurt you and your friend but I need your help."
"What do you want?" I ask.
"There is a familiar guarding the workshop. If you defeat it and find a pair of rubber gloves I will let you and your little friend live. What do you say?”
I let my guard down and look at the ghost girl wearing our uniform under her brown overall. ‘Did she die in the workshop?’
“Okay, you got yourself a deal,” I say. “But how I’m I…”
“Oh, I did die in the workshop.” She replied. “And I am a woman of my word.”
We rush to the Workshop room which was guarded by a huge familiar with tree eyes and four arms-wielding knives. It was not easy to battle it for it stung with every strike it gave but I found a loophole by cutting off its arms. Soon it was armless and I was able to give the deathblow making it disappear.
“Wow! Nice work.” said the workshop ghost girl. “Good job!”
I was panting. “You let me battle this thing on my own!”
She cackled. “What do you mean? Look around you.”
I did and see bodies of familiars on the floor.
“I even protected the little cinnamon roll here.” She said pointing her long claw at the blond ghost girl. “See? I am a woman of my word.”
I bow my head and sighed. “I am sorry.”
“Oh, no problem.”
I go into the room, and find the pair of yellow rubber gloves but immediately when I touch them, I see a vision of someone putting my hands into a wood chipper and scream in pain.
I gasp and let the gloves drop to the floor.
“What happened?” Number Four asked trying and failing to hold me. “Say something! Are you hurt?”
I blink rapidly. “I… I am fine.”
“The other ghost laughed. “Follow me. I know where the others are.”
She leads us to the Cooking Club room which was abandoned after the incident. Another familiar was guarding it but it was the same one we encountered before so defeating it was a little easy.
“Pick up that spatula and open the oven.” She ordered.
I do that and something screamed forcing me to shut the oven door.
“What was that?” I ask terrified.
The workshop ghost laughed. “What do you think it was?”
I start to shake with fear and swallow saliva. With a trembling hand, I open the oven and was greeted with an ear-piercing scream that made my ears go numb. Then a hand shot out and grabbed me by the throat. I gagged and put the spatula in the oven which closed giving me a vision of someone shoving me into it and roasting me alive. The pain was so raw that I shook violently.
“Did the vision seize?” Number four asked.
I nodded and looked at the Workshop Ghost who smiled making me unsure if she liked seeing me in psychological torment.
“What…who killed you?”
She sighed. “You will find out when we meet the last one.”
On our journey to wherever she was taking us, Four gave a huge groan. Looking at her, she was glowing red and her face was aging. Then the red glow disappeared and looked at us with tired eyes.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
She shook her head.
“Looks like he is requesting power.” said the Workshop ghost.
“Wait, who?”
“The one who killed us silly. Too bad he is not going to get it tonight.”
We reached the courtyard and a bunch of familiars rose from the darkness with knives in their hands. Even the guardians we'd defeated were among them making it clear they wanted a rematch.
“Fufufufu. They are desperate aren’t they?” jeered the Workshop Ghost.
Number Four shivered. “They are some behind us too.”
Then one of the guardians roared signaling the start of the battle and we attacked them, chopping and slicing through them while protecting the defenseless Four but she was making it hard by getting stabbed, impaled, or crowded by a bunch of familiars.
“Please do not let me die!” she screamed as a large group separated us. “Please!”
I tried to save her but another group of familiars pulled me away from her.
“I need a little help here!” I yell.
“Sorry, but I have preoccupied myself.” The Workshop Ghost yelled back trying to claw her way to me.
Suddenly, flames engulfed the place causing all the familiars to screech as a creature emerged out of nowhere. It looked like a bug but upon closer inspection, it was a human being crawling like an insect with its head turned upside down. Smoke came out of its empty eye sockets as it breathed fire on one of the guardians who fell to the ground wailing in pain.
Four was terrified. “What is that?”
“Took you long enough to come out of your oven.” The Workshop ghost scolded. “Let’s hurry.”
We get to a storage room that was glowing red and someone was crying in pain. I open the door and was shocked to see a girl chained to the floor with her chest ripped open and her face broken. Crying again, she glowed red and started to age rapidly reminding me of what happened when possessed Gwen drained the spirit energy from the ballerina ghosts.
‘Someone is draining her spirit energy but who?’
"She is missing something.” the Workshop ghost pointed out. “Can you guess what it is?”
I look back at the ghost who moaned and think hard. It took some time but I finally realized what it was.
“Her heart! She is missing her heart!”
My answer shocked Number Four. “What…what do you mean?”
I point at her. “Look at her chest it is ripped open at the left side and that's where the heart is.”
"Yeah but where is it?" asked Number Four.
Acting on a hunch, I run out of the room and head straight to the Biology lab. A guardian there but I had a system this time. I dodge its attacks until it jabbed its knife into the ground. Then, I climb up and give a deathblow on its head with the ax and break open the cabinet which held the jars of the specimen.
“Jackpot!” I take it from the shelf and rush back to the storage room. Taking out the heart, (which was still beating in my palm) I brace myself for another vision and place it inside the ghost.
Soon I find myself on the floor as someone punched me in the face sending a wave of pain through me. Despite the pain, I was able to make out who it was and got another round of shock.
“STAN?!”
He grinned, took out a knife, and proceeded to rip my chest open sending raw pain all over my body.
My eyes rolled to the back of my head and it went dark.
“Emma? Emma! Are you okay?” No. Four's voice called from a distance. “Say something! Are you hurt?”
I manage to sit up and look around.
“Oh she is fine.” said another voice. “She has just had a nasty shock over what happened.”
“Will she be happy with what we are going to do?” asked another voice as I stared into the dark void.
“Who cares? If she tries to stop us she will suffer with him.”
‘Suffer with him?’ I stand to my feet. “Who are you? Where are you?”
The laughter continued as I began to run around.
“Aww, she is lost!”
“Let's keep her here until we have our vengeance.”
Suddenly Stan appeared and he looked shocked to see me. “What the…Emma, what have you done?”
I couldn’t explain for he pounced and proceeded to punch me in the face.
“I had him! I nearly had him! You ruined it!” then he put his hands on my neck. “Now you are going to die!”
With the little strength left, I punch him in the eye causing him to get off me and scrambled away. Still angry, he tried to run towards me but something grabbed his leg.
“Stan!” an eerie voice cooed. “Come play with us!”
Then hand reached out and his other leg. “Come play with us, Stan!”
“Let’s play the game you forced us to play!”
“Come play with us!”
While this was happening, more hands appeared dragging him below and Stan was struggling to get them off but they held on tight, scratching him in the process. He screamed as one scratched his face giving him an injury and all I could do was watch until he disappeared, leaving me alone in the darkness.
“What are we going to do with her?”
“Don’t hurt her. She freed you. Remember?”
That voice belonged to the kitsune who added, “We both know what will happen if you harm her.”
I hear a tsk. “Fine.”
Suddenly the ground became soft.
Too soft to be exact.
I tried to move that made me sink faster.
‘It's like I am sinking into quicksand!’ I struggle. “Help! Someone help me!”
“Relax.” a voice said.
“How…how can I?!” was at my waist level.
“Relax.” the voice said as I sank deeper and deeper. “You will be alright. Relax.”
I refused to trust the looming voice in the void and tried to scramble to safety but the darkness consumed me.
Giving up hope, I allow myself to be swallowed by the darkness.
Suddenly, I find myself in the school's courtyard near the fountain and the sun was out.
“How?” I put a hand on my head. “Why? Did…”
"Don't worry. You are still alive."
The kitsune stared at me with glowing eyes.
"The only crime you committed was helping the ghost to rest in peace. I know you are wondering what happened last night so I will take my time to explain it to you."
Meanwhile…
The sun was rising on the horizon and Jake grinned wiping the blood from his eyes.
“Looks like she's right about him.” he raised Stan’s decapitated head. “He was all talk but no balls.”
ns 15.158.61.8da2
