I blinked.
'An extra life. Like –'
'Like, if you die within an instance, and have one of those, you get to not be dead that one time,' Aron confirmed.
After a moment, he shrugged and added, 'You still have to finish the instance that killed you, though. The only way to leave these worlds alive is through a portal.'
I exhaled slowly.
'Tempting, isn't it?' Aron asked with a laugh.
'Yeah,' I admitted. 'I can see why you don't just go around telling everyone about it. Though it's not like I was planning on dying in here in the first place. Why on earth would I run after a second life?'
'Pfft –'
'Dude, shut up,' I huffed.
Yes, I hadn't realized how dumb that would sound when I said it.
No, I didn't want to talk about it.
I swiftly changed the topic.
'How do you know about this anyway?'
'Senior player in my testing phase instance,' Aron grinned. 'Helpful guy, but shockingly lax with information. He knew someone, who knew someone, who'd tortured the information out of a griefer, who must've found out some other way.'
'As for Sheila… who knows how she knows. Mason's the only one I was familiar with from that group.'
…
…
We'd lowered our voices to half-whispers after leaving the student dorms. As we approached the main administrative building, we lowered them even further.
The two of us were still quite a distance away, but I could tell that something was different tonight.
The view through the windows was still blocked by drapes, but something about the upper levels looked… off.
I drew my brows together, trying to make sense of what I was seeing.
Y'know how you can tell when the lights within a room have been switched on, even if you're looking in through covered windows? The way the shutters or drapes still allow some of the glow to escape through the gaps and edges?
I realized that this was the exact opposite of that.
It was like there was an all-encompassing, all-consuming darkness pulsating within the building.
It was so dark that it stood out even in the dead of the night.
It was so dark that it bled through the drapes.
It simply couldn't be contained.
This darkness wasn't a mere absence of light.
It was an entity.
Unbidden, my mind recalled that horrible, giggling creature from yesterday. That incomprehensible, formless weight. And the awful, crushing noise from when Mason had been –
I stopped in place, my muscles taut.
'Plan B,' I muttered.
'Good call,' Aron whispered back.
He'd also stopped walking.
We already knew the Director had been tipped off about 'snooping' students. We knew there was a chance he'd be waiting, prepared.
Looks like he was.
There was no way we were getting into his office right now.
And so, we redirected out footsteps towards the parking lot instead.
It was well past midnight already.
The freezing air bit into my skin, and I could see my breath visibly puff out in front of me.
Our footsteps crunched on the damp grass as we hurried across the grounds.
The path ahead was lit only by the deliberately dimmed beam of Aron's flashlight, aimed low directly in front of us.
When it finally illuminated paint lines on concrete, I allowed myself a small sigh of relief.
We'd made it to our destination without facing any trouble.
When we'd stopped at the parking lot earlier this afternoon, I'd spotted a utility shed nearby. And within the shed, stored carefully on the lowermost shelves at the back were plastic jerry cans.
Fuel.
'How much d'ya think we'll need?' Aron asked, already struggling with lugging one of the large containers.
'Leave that,' I said. 'There's no way you're gonna be able to carry a twenty-liter can all the way back. How many of those smaller ones do you think you can manage while running?'
He frowned. 'Uh… Running? One… maybe two for each arm?'
'Just take one for each,' I advised. 'I'll do the same. We shouldn't need any more than that.'
'Why are we running anyway?' he asked.
'Because it's time we get this over with.'
…
…
Back in the main area, we continued to give the administrative building a wide berth.
Instead, we made our way to the extracurriculars block nearby.
The two of us walked in, our shoes tapping softly against the tiles.
The moment we did, I picked up on the mild scent of dust. Clearly, no one had been taking the time to do much sweeping in here of late.
Given the situation of the school, I didn't exactly blame them.
Aron turned to me.
'I think I'm gonna start with the music room,' he whispered. 'It's upstairs, and on the side facing the administrative building. More importantly, it has a bunch of flammable stuff.'
I nodded.
'I'll grab the larger stuff,' I said. 'Cork boards, fabric rolls… It has to be a spectacle if we want to draw the Director's attention.'
'Just make sure you don't accidentally light yourself up,' Aron grinned. 'Meet me in the music room once you're done.'
'Mm,' I nodded again. 'See you then.'
We parted ways.
I shifted the jerry cans I'd been holding to one hand, leaving the other free.
Then, I started walking with deliberate, timed steps as I made my way around the building.
Tap-tap. Tap-tap.
And after about a minute, sure enough…
Tap-tap. Tap-ta-tap-tap.
'There you are,' I whispered.
Then, I focused my attention on doing what I'd said I would.
I started walking around the eerie, empty rooms and corridors of the building.
Both my footsteps, and those of the creature following after me, echoed softly in the dark.
Whenever I found something I thought was large enough, and flammable enough, I tucked it under my arms and continued along my way at the same, steady pace.
Our initial plan had been to sneak into the Director's office as we'd done the previous night, and destroy all his ritual paraphernalia – especially the summoning patterns he was keeping hidden underneath the carpet.
Since we'd already uncovered the plot, and confirmed he was the only source of the curse afflicting this school, we knew we wouldn't face any backlash from an unknown third party.
However, the Director was ready for us tonight.
We'd been expecting that, too.
And so, we'd switched to Plan B.
Plan B, to put it simply, was,
Let it burn.