14 The Grim Reaper

They slowly went outside the office to track the Grim Reaper. They immediately noticed the effects of the Grim Reapers trail, The paint on the wall started to degrade, the Lights were all blinking furiously and the windows and the floor were cracked. They also noticed that some of it start to turn back to normal, they immediately realized that the trail has is limited.

Howard thought of taking some advantage by using the trail on keeping their distance from the Grim Reaper while they don't have a clear plan on how they're going to kill him. Sam decided to carry Karen so that she won't be left behind once they attacked the Grim Reaper.

They decided to follow the trail while staying at the end of it.

"The Grim Reapers are as strong as us, But just like what I've said before, these guys have some inhuman abilities, so we must be careful..." Howard said while taking the lead on following the trail

For some reason, Shio shows no emotions as they follow the trail. She is not scared nor terrified, she looks very confident about herself.

Sam noticed it while they're following the trail, He smiled secretly as he realizes that Shio is starting to get stronger.

It was a quiet night for the four of them, the only sound that they can hear was the sound of their footsteps and the sound of the changing environment because of the reapers trail. They kept following the trail and as they reach the Second floor, Howard was able to think of a plan.

Howard explained his plan to Shio and Sam. Howard's plan will only need two persons to contribute, which makes Sam and Karen stay on a safe. Shio decided to do the plan and make them stay on the bathroom, Howard also gave Sam his shotgun in order for them to have additional protection.

"Be careful Sis..." Karen said while staying behind Sam

"I will... ok?" Shio replied

Shio left them and she followed Howard to execute their plan. Because of the trail, they were able to locate the Grim Reaper quickly, he was currently checking one of The Rooms for the Schools Club. Howard slowly approached the room while Shio was left hiding on the hallway.

The plan was to trick the Grim Reaper on thinking that Howard is alone, This will make him target Howard and focus his attention to him, He will lure him out the hallway and Shio will try to shoot him from a distance so that just in case Sam's plan will not work, She will still be safe and Howard can just lure him away from them.

In order to keep her hidden, She turned off her light which helps her to hide in the darkness while Howard turns his flashlight in order to give her a clear vision of the grim reaper, this might also help to distract the grim reapers vision in order to avoid him from looking closely to Shio location.

Because of the darkness, The girl was able to appear behind Shio.

"I want to help, I can help you to distract him, But controlling the objects around him is the best thing I can do.." The Girl said while staring at her in a creepy way

But Shio was not scared anymore from her, She smiled and she nods.

"Try to keep Howard safe..." Shio said

"I'll do my best" She replied

The girl immediately vanished into thin air

As Howard gets closer to The Grim Reaper, He noticed that The Grim Reapers hands we're bleeding. He immediately realized that Sam's plan might actually work. He decided to move closer, He went inside the room and He tried to swing a piece of wood scrap into the Grim Reapers head. But as he swings it to him, He turned into smoke and vanished, He reappeared behind him and he spoke

"you're going to kill me?" he asked

"I have too..." Howard replied while standing still but staying vigilant about the reapers action

He suddenly gave Howard the keys to open the door.

"You can't kill me, Only the girl can.." The Grim Reaper said while staring at him

Howard slowly took the keys and he calmly turned around...

"Lead me to her.," he said while staring at Howard

Howard pointed him outside the room, The Grim Reaper slowly walked outside. Suddenly, A loud gunshot was heard from a distance, a bullet went through his body and hits the wall.

"She missed.." The Grim Reaper Said

"She didn't, it just went through your body" Howard replied while trying to assess his movements

"That's the reason why I know that she missed... I should have been dead by now if she hits it perfectly.." He replied

Shio tries to aim and shoot him again, but He suddenly vanished and he reappeared behind her.

"Don't waste your bullet Shio..." He said while staying calm behind her

She calmly turns around and she looked at him.

"I'm happy that you are here... " He said

He sits on the floor and calmly talked to her

"Your idea will actually work, you just need to hit it on the right spot, yes the theory of shooting us will actually weaken our powers, but it won't kill us. No matter how many bullets it was, If you can't hit us on the core, you will never be able to kill us..." He said as he looks calmly to her

Shio puts her hands down and he sits in front of him.

"Who are you?" She asked while wondering who was the person behind the mask

Howard approached them calmly and he stays on standing up while observing the two

"It will depend on the choice that you will make in the future, Shio. Maybe I'm Sam, Karen, Howard, Michelle, Mikaela, or someone that you haven't met yet" He calmly replied while his eyes were wandering around the hallway

Shio was left in silence while staring at him and listening closely to his voice. But she can't identify who he was.

"Yes, You won't identify who I am by listening to my voice, this is called magic, you can't also use my body nor my face because I decided to keep it hidden, Just like Sam, I also must keep the future from you Shio" He explained while pointing his fingers to shio and tapping her shoulder

"I need to know, I want to save them... All of them, I want to get us out of here, now..." Shio exclaimed while getting a little bit teary-eyed

"wait.. if you are one of us, why would you kill the girl?" She asked

"I didn't kill her... The girl in the hoodie disguised as me did. her plan was for you to kill me instantly, and she also tried to fool me by saying that if I killed the four-person group who were roaming in this building, I will be reunited with you. When I felt your presence, I tried to find you and kill you immediately..but I got into my senses when I saw you in the faculty room. I remember who you are. A Human heart and mind were very surprising at times.." He replied in a calm tone

She laid on the floor and dropped the gun to the floor, she tried to control her emotions while Howard focuses on watching the Grim Reapers movements

"Shio....you must remember what Sam said, we can't tell you what will happen in the future or else worst thing might happen. On our indicated future, Your decisions saved two lives, what if we told you what happens and because of that all of us died? It is better to keep the ending the same rather than making a worst one.. well, you are already changing the story, Dal-gu is dead, I'm about to die too, this might be a better ending.." He calmly said while looking at her

Shio looked at him immediately and she answered

"What do you mean You're about to die too?"

"I have to tell you what to do so that once you face her, you will not miss.." He replied while pulling her shooting hand

He guided her finger and pointed it to his chest.

"Shoot us here.. once you've done it, you will be able to kill us, but if you miss, your bullet won't go to waste because it will weaken us" He explained

He gets the gun from the ground and made her carry it with his shooting hand.

"pull.. the... trigger.," he said while making her aim the gun at his chest

"No...I won't kill you.." She said

"you have to remove your emotions, there will be a time that you have to shoot one person that is close to you... maybe it's because you have to save the other person or maybe its because you have to save that person from himself or herself... right now, this situation is pretty because you don't know me.." He replied as he guides her finger to trigger

Shio hesitates to shoot him which is why he tried to force her finger to do it. He locked her finger and he slowly pressed the trigger, he didn't press it until the end because she was hesitating to look at him. He put his other hand on her face, he calmly made her look at him. Some dark smokes start to appear in his collar, it went to his mask to show an expression of him smiling.

Shio was left staring at him.. she starts to see some memories about her within the place, a memory with the person in front of her, she can't see who it was, if it was a boy or a girl, and old man or a kid, but even though the memories aren't clear, she didn't realize that some tears start to drip from her eyes and she also didn't realize that she was able to pull the trigger.

As the loud gunshot echoed in the quiet hallway, The Trail of the Grim Reaper started to vanish, the sun starts to rise and the sunlight starts to shine on the dark hallway.

"Stay strong, Shio Kaiba... One day, You will see....the light of day..."

He calmly said as he starts to turn into dust. His body starts to degrade quickly, from a solid human body it quickly turned into smooth sand. His clothes including his mask fell on the floor

Sam and Karen went to Shio as they saw the light going through the hallway. Howard stays with her while she is still getting her thoughts together.

She decided to get his mask and put it in her bag. As he gets his mask she saw something shining in the middle of the dirt. She took it and she saw the bullet used to kill him. She took and put it in her bag with the mask.

"Let's go?" Howard said as he taps her shoulder

She nods and she immediately stands up. They decided to go down the ground floor and open the gates..

"So what now?" Sam asked while carrying Karen

"Let's go to the gym, we need to find Mikaela.." Shio said as she immediately takes the lead

After experiencing a very dark night, Shio decided to keep going without sharing a word, Sam and the rest followed her lead. It was a very heavy night for them, but they know that there's no time for them to rest.

Now that Shio has an idea about the location of her friend, she was very motivated to find her and bring her with them. It wasn't her fault why Mikaela was dragged into the world, but she knows she can help her to get out.

As they reach the gym, they noticed that the door was open. Shio immediately pulled out her gun while Howard aimed his shotgun. As they approach slowly, they hear something rushing out the gym, running while dropping everything in its way. Both of them aimed tightly at the opened door when suddenly a girl appeared rushing towards them...

Both of them didn't pull the trigger of their gun because they immediately saw a human girl running behind them and not a monster. The girl hides behind Howard and she spoke

"Help me..." She said while shaking in fear

As Shio hears her voice, she immediately realizes that it was Mikaela.

"Mika?" She asked while looking at her

Mikaela looked at her quickly after hearing a familiar voice..

"Shio? what are you doing here?" She replied in a trembling tone

Suddenly The Girl in the hoodie went outside the door.

"Oh.. you're already here? that was too quick, I thought the Grim Reaper will be able to buy me some time.." She said as she stands still in from of them but Shio took advantage and shoot her on chest

The bullet missed, it hits the left side of her core missing it just by a hair inch.

"Bullet never works... when will you learn that, Shio?" She said in a disappointed tone

Howard immediately went close to her and shot her directly with a shotgun. The bullets hit her and she flew to the wall.

"RUN INSIDE NOW!" Howard shouted as he shoots the girl again

They all ran inside while leaving the girl shouting in pain outside. Howard locked the door and they immediately rushed inside the gym to look for a for them to hide.

"THIS... FUCKING... BITCH!" The girl shouted as she releases a powerful force that busted the door open.

The girl was very angry, a very dark smoke was flowing outside her body, the holes in her mask shows a bright red light while both of her hands and feet deteriorate everything it touches. she breathes heavily while making slow and heavy steps. Even though she was not bleeding, the pain was stuck in different areas of her body, Something that she wasn't able to feel for a long time.

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