Monday — Morning — Cafeteria
It was true - it wasn't the first time this kind of oppressive aura had engulfed the school. And always around testing week, either midterms or finals, usually the latter.
But it was the first time it had ever been this bad. Three students had killed themselves just in the past week. Normally there were one, maybe two during the entire ordeal, but it was only Monday, and three young lives had been claimed.
And there was something else that Kat noticed. Something that stuck out to him like nothing else did.
lightThere was 'something' inside of Rebecca. Something that gave her the power and the soul to even
think of persevering through all of this, when every other student simply lowered their head and went with the flow.
And there was something else that Kat noticed. Not with his eyes, but with his heart.
Rebecca herself had no idea of this. This wasn't something she was doing on purpose. She wasn't
trying to counteract the miasma that seemed to choke everyone here. She simply did, as a part of her nature. She was just doing what she thought was right, in her own small world.
This girl had no idea that she was
fighting against something.
Monday — Morning — Hallway
Dulac's loafers slammed on the tiles, her dress flapping behind her as she dashed through the halls. Taking the stairs two at a time, she climbed them like a mountain, pushing herself up off of the railing.
It was hard to move. She'd already identified that Curse. The miasma enervated her, sapped more of her strength the faster she tried to run. Even with all the determination she could muster, her blond hair was matted with sweat from even that much exertion, and her legs felt ready to give out.
I'm too slow. I won't make it there first.
What's going to happen!?
I don't know. What do you see?
Are you sure you can spend magic on telepathy right now? You're supposed to be conserving!
This is an emergency! Keep a close eye on it's target!
This is bad. Oh man this is bad. The other one is there, too.
Think of something, sœur. Please.
Monday — Morning — Cafeteria
Rebecca waved Kat off as he stood, continuing the conversation with Chester, who had turned around to face Kat for just a moment.
"A hot plate...I see...wait, did he say 'we'? Are we all cooking them?" Her faraway voice was only able to be made out because of the relative silence in the rest of the room.
"What about you, Chester? Are you helping as well?" She asked him, as Kat gripped his keychain.
"We'll have to make sure that the meat is cooked through to the redworldredworld red redworld world redworld is red world is redworld is world expanding world expanding red expanding flowing careening enlarging broadening growing opening spreading s͏w͟e̢͘ļl̸͢͠ing̡͝ ̧̨͜w͘íd̷͡e͜nì̀͝ǹ̸͜g̴ b̀l̸̨o̸ą͞ti̛ņ̵͡g͘͏ ̡̨di̛͜s̷̀̕t҉͢e̡n͞d͠í̛͟n҉̢̧g̵͟ ͢i̶nf͘l̶̶̛a̷ti͘͢͟n͠͞g ̕st̵r̛͡e̸̡t̴҉c͢h̛͡i̸͠n̸̕g̡̛ ͘͠t͏̶͟h͝ick͏͟è̕n̵͠in͢g̴͡͠ ̢̛t̷̸͢w̴̢i̸stí͝ng sṕ͏re̷͜à̛͠d̵í͟ng͠ ̡͢͏i̸n͘fla҉͞t̵͡i̶͠n͢͜g̷̕ ̀é͞ń̶̵la̵r̛g̢͝͝i͘ń̴g̸ ͟g͠r̷̸o̸̸w̶͡i͘n̕g ̸b̡͞reàt͘̕h̡͢i͘n͟g ̶̕c̷̸a̶r҉͝e͜͡e҉̸ńi͢n̸̸̕g̶̴ ̷́st̛̛͘r̶̕͢e̷̕t̡͏c̢h̷͘į́͏n̴̸͘ģ ́̕fl̴͘o̶̶w͡i̷͜n̛͡g̢ ͟t͜͜h̨̡ic͘͢k̨eni̴̧n̴g̕ ͞o͞pe͞n̨̛i͢n͟g͟͞ ̴̴w̵̡i҉d́e̡͠͡n͟i̡̛ng̷̷ ̀͏b̛r̛͠o̸̧͡a̡̧de̸n̕i̷̢n̷͞g̵̡͞ ̀͞t͢ư̸͞rn̵̨͜i̴̶n̸̨̛g d́͠i̵͝͝s̀͢tend̷i͢͜n̡͡g̵̨͡ ͢͜͝b̶l̕o̴̕a̷͝t҉i̶̡n̡g̵̢ ȩ͡x̸͘p̀̕͘ą̴n̡͘d̶̸ì͟͠ng̀͝ ̢sw̴̧e͢lĺ̴į̸͞n̸͝͝g̨͘ ̀͘͜ŕa̴̡͜i͟n͜i͠n̵͝g̕ ̸͜͝sp̸͡ļ̸a̴s͏̢́h̷̡í̵n̢g̶͞ ͘s̀͝͡c̀͟͝ą͢͏t̶͜t̡̕e̛͡r̶͝i҉n͢ǵ ͢e͢҉x̷̀̕̕͠p̛͜a̧̧n͢d̶̢̡i̶̴̶n҉g̶͢͏́ ̀͝w̷͞i͏̸͡d́҉̨͠e͝҉̵̢͢n̷͘͜͠i̵̢͟͢͡n͡͏́҉g҉̵ ̧̡b̡̨l͟͟o̵̢͠͠a̵̶̢͏҉t̷̷͢i̡͟n̛͡g̸̸̨̀ ̕͏̨̢̕d̨͟i͟ś̛̕͟t̴̡̛͞͠ę͟͠n̡͏́d̷̸́͢͞i̵͢͟͢n̨̛͝ǵ̨ ̧̀́͘ṕ̢͢͡o̷̴͘҉ų̛̛r̀́i͏́͜ń̛g̛͘͡ ̨҉̕͢ś͜w̷̵̷҉͡ȩ̶́̕͞ļ̵̛͢҉ĺ̷͝i̡̢͢͠n̸g̶͘͜͡ ͘͢͝͝͡p͜o̵̢͢͢͞o̷͝͝͏l̷̢҉͢i̴̷̛͟͝n̶͢g̴͡҉̢͝ ̕͡t́͡h́͝͡i̛̕̕͟c̡͢͜k͏̨́ę̀͘҉̸n͘҉i̧̛͜͜ņ̴҉̴g̢̢͝ ̛͞͞g̛̀r̴̢͜͡͠o͞͏w̵̶͏̡į̡ǹ́͘͜͠g̢ ̷̢͜͡͝e̸̕͘͢͠n̴̡̧͜l̢̕͝҉͡a̛͏r̡g̢̢̕͠i͘͠n͜͟g̸̴͟͝ ̷̶̧͘͜s͘͞͏t͟͢͏r̶̵̴̀͞ę̶͜t͞͏̢͡ć̢͘҉̸h҉̶̡͘i̧̨͠͡n̵͜g͏́ ͞f̴͘l̨҉ớ̛͜͡w̸̡҉í̴͘͡ǹ̡͡҉g̷҉̶̀ ̸̴̛̀b̛͏r̨̢̀͡͝o͏̷̧̛a̛d̸̕͟͠è͞ń̡̧̨͜ì̴͜͡n̸̡͟͝g̀҉ ̶͡o̧͘͞p̡͘͢͜è̢͢͡n̸͟͟͞i̶̧̡͜͝n͜͢͡ǵ̴͝͡ ̴̡͡f̴̴̀͞͞ĺ̴o̷͘͜w̧̢͘͡͞ì̸n̛͏̴̨g̵ ̴̀͟͡i̸̛͘n̕͢f̷̀͞l̶̡a̷̕҉̶t̸́̕i̧͘͟ņ͏҉̡͠g̡̛͢͟ ҉́͢b̧́͠r҉̕͟͝é͟à̷t̸́͢h̵͘͢i͢͜͏͏ń͟ǵ̴̢ ̵̧̢͘͘s̡̢̧͜p̧͡҉͞į̵̡͠҉ĺ̢̛͞l̶͟͢͞͞i̛͜͜͢n҉͡ģ͠͡͡ ͘̕͜͢͞ş̧͘ṕ҉r̸̸͡è̵̷̢̢a͟͏̧͝d͜҉̢͏͘i̸̕͞͠n͞҉̵҉͡ǵ̢͟ ̡́͝͡d̶͠r̶̨i҉̛́͘b̶͘͝b̶͝l͘̕i͟͞͏n̛͘g̢̀͡
"Hey–!!!"
Kat jerks awake, as his right arm is yanked roughly. A dull pain emanates from the palm of his left hand. It's gripping something tightly.
redA knife.
Just a plastic, cafeteria knife - they wouldn't give out real knives to students, even to cut their food. But the red mark on Kat's right wrist, throbbing freshly with pain, indicated that it had very much been used like a real one. One of the plastic teeth was snapped off of the knife's 'blade', as it failed to break the skin.
Tightly gripping his right forearm, forcing his palm into an upturned position, is the boy with the crumpled shirt from before. The one who had passed him the note during class, and the one who had been watching the three of them from a distance just a moment before.
"You still here? Stay with me. Put that down. Come on."
Keone put a bit too much weight into holding onto Kat than was necessary, but Kat had no idea what had been happening just before that point. He was standing in a different part of the cafeteria than he had been before. His phone had clattered to the ground, without him noticing, in the place he thought he'd been up to just a second ago.
"Don't fall into it." Even though Kat was very much lucid, painfully lucid at that moment, Keone was still calling out to him as though he were dazed.
"Hey, you– you're here, right? Are you with me?" A few meters away, at the desk, Chester was reeling from something, as though he'd been struck in the head. He was only dazed for a moment. But as he turned back, he saw Rebecca, clasping her head with both hands, knuckles white, fingers digging into her scalp.
"Oh my god." Her voice shook, as she blinked, recognizing the cafeteria table and the rotten food below her. Her voice was low and almost imperceptible.
"Oh my god. Oh my god oh my god oh my god–" All around them, students continued to eat their meals in silence.
disconnectedNo one cared.
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