I gasped, collapsing to the ground.
Witnessing the beginning of a fatal road accident from the back seat was as terrifying as it sounds.
It took me a few seconds to collect myself again.
And when I did, I frowned.
Why the fuck was I still in this mysterious, swirling shadow dimension?
'Hey?' I called out into the nothingness.
I stood up and flexed my limbs, all of which were thankfully still attached and functioning.
'I've answered your questions,' I said again.
My voice rang out in the void, sounding far braver than I actually felt.
That was probably a good thing.
'I know the plot. I know that you, the shadow creature attached to the Director, are the main entity in all of this,' I said. 'All the curses around the school were created by you.'
There was no response.
I swallowed, then continued on nonetheless. 'Th-those other things were mere manifestations of the tragic events that led to the Director summoning you. Echoes of the fear, pain, and madness experienced by all the various people connected to the plot.'
There was some movement in the darkness in front of me.
'That is what you used to keep the people at this school trapped in an ongoing cycle of terror and agony.'
'…Oh?'
'Tell me more.'
I felt a tremor at the sound of that horrible voice.
This thing wasn't like the others.
It wasn't bound by rules.
It could kill as it pleased.
It was… intelligent.
I forced my voice to remain steady.
'The Director's madness and grief at the loss of his grandson, especially in such a gruesome manner, is the final piece of the puzzle,' I said.
'He summoned you, and made a deal to bring Mark back to life. In return, he was willing to feed you as many souls around the school as you could manage to kill with your death conditions.'
'That…'
'That is correct! Good job! Good job!' the voice cheered.
In the vast expanse of the shadows before me, I saw something unimaginably, incomprehensibly large shift again.
It was right in front of me.
I sucked in a gulp of freezing air, but forced myself to remain right where I was.
I wasn't going to back down here.
'Good job!' the voice repeated. 'But… there is still something that you're missing…'
As it spoke, its horrible, jolly tone gradually deepened until it turned into a visceral growl.
…Shit.
'I'll make it easy for you. Just answer this one question…'
I could physically feel its low, rumbling voice in the deepest parts of my bones.
I felt sick.
'Just one more thing…'
'…'
'What caused me?'
…
…
Again!?
I shut my eyes to think.
It hadn't been enough to bring up the Director's situation.
So…
…
It wasn't just the one thing.
All the events that had taken place, and all the characters in the plot, were connected.
The Director's despotism, Mark's antisocial behavior, Clara's mad rage…
But also…
The apathy, or even active support, from the other students.
Cronyism in the administration.
Cowardice.
Selfishness.
Tyranny.
Insanity.
…
It wasn't just the Director.
I opened my eyes.
'The dark sides of human nature,' I said.
'At this boarding school, everything that could go wrong, did. And the darkness of human nature is what gave you power over them. You aren't here just because Director summoned you in his desperation.'
'You're here because of everything.'
'…'
'Ha… Haha. Ha! Ha! Ha!'
I blinked at the sound of that disturbing laughter.
The last time I'd heard it, Mason had been killed.
…had I fucked up?
'Let me tell you something funny,' the voice suddenly said.
'No, that's ok,' I shook my head.
'I wasn't lying to him, you know? After draining this school of life, I really would have brought his grandson back.'
'People like that are more useful alive…'
There was a gusty sigh.
I suddenly noticed that the shadows around me were getting wispier.
'What a pity that you severed my connection before I could…'
The voice was becoming fainter.
'But! Let's not be sad! As long as filthy, weak humans exist, we will get to meet again.'
'Next time, I'll make sure to crush you into a pancake!'
'A pancake!'
'Ahaha! Hahaha! Ha!'
The shadows finally parted, and I found myself back in the Director's office.
I was collapsed by the wall on the far side.
The air was still hot, and thick with acrid smoke that stung my throat and eyes.
However, the fire had gone out.
And all that was left of the summoning patterns was a scorched black floor.
I slowly pushed myself up, coughing painfully.
My throat felt like it had been shredded.
But I was alive.
'You made it…' a hoarse voice whispered, before the speaker also broke off into a fit of coughs.
I looked to my right, and saw Aron leaning against the wall, his face covered with soot.
He flashed me a grin, then croaked, 'Good job, newbie.'
I slowly dragged myself over to him.
'Were you… also…'
'Stuck in a QnA session? Yeah. It ended with that thing promising it would squeeze my innards out like an orange the next time we meet.'
I frowned. 'It said it'd crush me into a pancake.'
Aron coughed.
'I guess it likes you better,' he said. 'Anyway, c'mon. We should get to the portal, before -'
'Ugh… Nnn… no. No!'
I whipped around to see the Director sagging against the entrance.
With unsteady steps, he walked through the smoke to the burned part of the room, and collapsed onto the floor.
His fingers scrabbled through the twisted remains of the burnt herbs and bowls, uncaring of how hot they still were.
Finally, he found the small trunk and hugged it close to his chest.
Somehow, that alone had not been destroyed by the fire.
'Nnghh… why…'
I caught Aron's eye, and the two of us ignored the sobbing man and quickly made for the door.
We still weren't wearing any shoes. Our footsteps were quiet.
Even so -
'Y…you. You!'
I whipped around, just in time to see the old mad suddenly running towards us with surprising agility.
Under one arm, he still held that small trunk. In the other, he was swinging a long, metal poker.
'Where the fuck did he suddenly get that from!?' I exclaimed.
'Who cares?' Aron yelled. 'Run, Neil!'
And even though all I wanted to do was find a cozy spot to curl up in and rest for a bit, I ran.
We raced down the hallway, skidding and sliding in our socks, as the enraged man chased after us.
Down the stairway.
Through the lobby.
'Shit. He's fucking fast!' Aron hissed, glancing back.
He suddenly dived my way and pushed me down.
Halfway through falling, I saw a blurry grey line as the poker arced through the air.
Through the exact spot where my head had just been.
I slammed on the tiled floor, Aron's weight on top of me making the impact worse.
But when I heard the heavy metal implement clanging loudly as it fell nearby, I knew I'd gotten off easy.
'Thanks, man,' I said, quickly scrambling to my feet.
Aron did the same.
He reached out, as if to pick up the poker, when I jolted at a sudden noise I heard.
A metallic - click!
'Leave it! Run!' I roared, dragging him out the exit with one arm.
'Was he cocking a fucking gun!?' Aron asked as we ran.
CRACK!
A spot on the grassy patch of ground to my right exploded, answering his question.
'Weave! Weave!' I yelled.
We stopped running in a straight line, and started weaving through the trees and shadows, making our way towards the student dorms.
CRACK!
I don't think I'd ever run so fast in my life.
Then again, I was running for my life.
CRACK!
I raced into the building, Aron just a few feet behind me.
As one, we raced up the stairs.
Please let the portal be where we think it is…
Please.
I rounded the corner at the second-floor landing, then froze.
In the dark, I could make out a few NPCs standing right in front of me. They were looking down at me with an odd, cruel look in their eyes.
It was some of the other guys from our level.
'So, do you know what's going on here?' one of them asked coldly, swinging around a heavy, metallic baseball bat.