It didn't take long for me to be done gathering useful material.
The sound of the second set of footsteps disappeared when I met up with Aron again.
He nodded approvingly at the wooden boards and rolls of fabric tucked under my arms.
'That'll be a crazy big fire.'
He'd done his bit in the music section.
I could already smell the sharp, sweetish smell of fuel before entering. And once I did, I saw large stacks of flammable material arranged by the windows facing the administrative building. There was even a small pile of colorful celluloid guitar picks in the mix.
Both of his cans had been meticulously emptied all over the stuff.
I added the things I'd found to the piles, and started emptying one of my own jerry cans.
Then, I took a lengthier sheet of linen, tucked one end deep into one of the piles, and dropped the other end out the open window.
It fluttered and flared in the nighttime breeze.
I doused that as well.
And finally, we were done.
Carrying our last remaining can of fuel, I followed after Aron as we left the building.
We rounded a corner, and ended up right underneath the window we were at.
The length of linen was just within our reach.
Wordlessly, Aron pulled out a lighter.
Click!
I saw his face illuminated by the tiny flame, shadows dancing across his features as it wavered.
His eyes met mine.
'Let it burn,' I whispered.
He nodded.
Carefully, he raised his hand.
Hiss… WHOOSH!
We quickly ran for cover the moment the fabric lit up.
It was like a large, blindingly bright fire dragon had suddenly come alive in front of us.
Its burning form snaked up towards the room at an almost incomprehensible speed, and then –
WHOOSH!
Rumble... ROAAAARRR!
A giant fire boomed to life in the music room.
Already large, twisting licks of flame appeared out through the window, spitting plumes of black smoke out into the night sky.
We had distanced ourselves in time.
I had squinted my eyes in anticipation.
Even so, the acrid smoke and the sudden heat hit me like a wall.
My eyes teared up almost immediately, and I quickly covered my nose and mouth with the top of my shirt.
Had this been my own body, I might've been rendered helpless already. Even with my mild asthma, I would've been curled-up and coughing on the ground right now.
Fire is a terrifying force to behold.
'Quickly,' Aron whispered hoarsely. 'Other side. Other side.'
I nodded, and the two of us hurried around the building, to the other side, until we were finally safe in the shadows again.
Just in time.
The crackling and popping of the large fire rang out like gunshots in the quiet of nighttime. There was also a constant, angry roar as it continued to spread, eating away at the wooden paneling and furniture inside the extracurriculars building.
And then…
There was another, louder roar.
I felt a shiver run down my spine at the sound of the inhuman voice.
Still crouching in the shadows, Aron and I slowly inched forward, to the side of the burning building.
We could see the entrance to the administrative building from here.
The front doors were thrown open, and a gigantic, solid dark mass undulated out of the building. It didn't have a form, but grew and spread in all directions, until the whole entrance was obscured by its incomprehensible form.
The hairs on my body stood up at the sight.
At the very base of the dark mass, I could see the figure of the Director, almost bent double.
'No!' I heard his broken voice yell. 'Can't… let it spread!'
'We will put it out,' the dark mass hissed.
'Can't let… anyone… leave! But they… will not stay… if it spreads! No!'
'Nooo,' the dark mass repeated. 'They will not. They will leave.'
'Must… put it out!'
Yes. We cannot allow that, can we? Nooo. So, we will put it out.'
'…Hurts…'
'Keep going. We will have fun after that! As soon as we put it out! Fun!'
Its pulsating shape drew nearer to the building.
The Director dragged his broken body along underneath.
Slowly, as the figures moved, the darkness receded away from the administrative building.
I glanced at Aron, whose mouth was set in a hard line.
This was it.
It was now or never.
Quickly, quietly, we ran along the shadowy edges of the building, and sped down the path towards the side of the other building.
There, we waited and watched from the shadows as the Director slowly trudged through the entrance of the burning building.
The darkness went with him.
As the last of its tendrils folded into the building, Aron and I sped towards the other entrance, and broke into the administrative building for what was hopefully the last time.
We didn't wait any longer.
We didn't look back.
All caution was thrown to the winds as out shoes thudded urgently on the floor tiles.
We raced towards the stairs, skipped over the tripwire, and sped up towards the Director's office.
I could feel my heart pounding in my chest.
My ears kept straining, trying to listen for the creature.
Had the dark mass noticed?
Had it already put out the fire Aron and I had worked so hard to build?
Was it already on its way back?
Would I suddenly hear that horrible roar descend from above?
Was I mere moments from being crushed to death?
Still running, I slapped myself hard.
Not the fucking time, Neil.
We reached the door.
Without wasting a second, Aron raised a leg and kicked hard.
The door flew open, and we raced inside, straight towards the unfurnished side of the room.
I pushed open the panel in the wall, while Aron kicked the carpet back to reveal the strange, chalk-drawn patterns on the scuffed floor underneath.
He took the last jerry can from me, and started pouring its contents onto the floor.
And as fast as my hands could manage, I started tossing the items from the hidden hollow outside, right onto the fuel.
They clattered and clanged as they fell onto the ground. Aron quickly drenched them, too. After a moment's thought, he also doused the small trunk that was there.
He glanced up at me, and I nodded.
We never did manage to figure out what was stored inside, but it made sense to me to get rid of that too.
Then, we froze.
It's not like we wanted to.
It was an involuntary response to the horrific, raging roar from outside the building.
The noise was so loud that I could feel the floor under my feet shudder. My bones and organs felt like they were rattling around in my body from the vibration alone.
It felt like something was jammed in my throat. I could barely breathe.
It knew we were here.
It was coming.