13 THE KEY AND THE GHOST

The four of them entered the door and went downstairs.

"This must be leading to the high school minichapel." Shio said as they carefully went down the stairs

"How convenient..." Howard answered

"Do you think she will send more of your kind here?" Shio asked in a curious tone

"Maybe...." Howard replied in a straight tone

"tsk, keepers huh, what pain in the ass.." Shio replied

"I know..." Howard calmly said as they stop at the rooms entrance door

Howard signed Shio and the rest to stay at his back. While aiming his shotgun, he slowly opened the door.

The door creaks as it opens slowly while staying vigilant, He entered the room quickly and he immediately checked it. Shio was right, The room was the high school's minichapel. He shines his flashlight in the whole room and there he saw some vines going through the wall, The tree that destroyed the bridges outside was able to pierce through some of the walls.

Howard was able to check the minichapel quickly because it was just a big vertical room with four pillars that supports the roof, in short, it was just like any average minichapel.

"So, what what do we do now?" Howard asked as he sits on a chair

"Shall we use this as safehouse? we can't just roam around" Sam said as he starts to investigate every corner of the room

"What if we just look for the key as fast as possible, if we can get out of here as soon as we can then we will be able to discover a lot more places to hide.." Shio suggested while assisting Karen

"Did you just forgot about what happened? That bitch manipulated the time, we can't hide. we have to keep going..." Howard answered while leaning back to his chair

"You're right.. we can't stay here nor we can't look for any place to hide, because there is no safe place for us to hide.. she can do whatever she wants, She can make the cloud rain fireballs if she wanted, we have to keep moving." Sam said as he stops and sits down on a chair

"She might have a weakness or something... something that will allow us to even the odds" Shio asked with a curious tone

Shio suddenly realizes something...

"What is this lamp, Sam? this isn't electric, this is a gas lamp, where did you get this?" She asked

"(chuckles) I never thought that you are going to realize it that quickly..." Sam said while showing a little bit of happiness

"This kid is really creepy.." Howard stated as he stands and stretches

"What, I don't get it" Shio asked in a curious tone

"let's just say that both of us knows what must happen before.. He knows it because someone told him or something and I know it because I read your book in the library.. the problem doesn't have a conclusion yet, So we don't know what will happen in the end" Howard explained thoroughly

"So you know that dal-gu will die, you know that the girl will be able to manipulate time, you know everything?" Shio asked in confusion

"No.. we don't know everything, some of the things that happen in your history book was changed, like dal-gu's death, he must be the who is going to kill me on the middle of the journey. But now that he is dead, I don't know who will do it or will it still even happen" Howard explained thoroughly

"So why don't you just tell me, so that I can do everything I've done in order for us to leave this place now.." Shio replied in a frustrated tone

"We can't tell you because you did something that you don't like... " Sam answered

Shio was left in silence after hearing that...

"Kid... just like I said, your story is changing slowly, we don't know if you are going to take the same path that you took before or are you going to lead us to another path... but no matter what happens I can ensure you whatever the choice you decided to make, two of us were guaranteed to get out of here alive.." Howard explained thoroughly

"then what will happen to the other two?" Shio asked in a worried tone

"your choices will decide their path..." Sam said in a serious tone

Shio was left disturbed after hearing what sam said

"Shio.. let's just think about this on another time, for now, we need to get out of here." Sam said in a calm tone

"Yeah, you're right...so what will we do with the light?" Shio asked

"We're going to put all of the bullets from your gun inside the lamp, we need to coat it with the oil used by the lamp because it has a special element in it.. then you are going to shoot the girl, it won't kill her but it will drastically weaken her.. after that she won't be able to know where we are nor manipulate time...but for now we need to find the key" Sam explained thoroughly

"Does the book knows where it was?" Shio asked

"No.. because you played a different game according to the book.." Howard said

"She was trying to manipulate what is in the book too. but we must not let that happen, We must have the same result..." Sam said as he slowly opened the door and went outside the room

The three of them followed Sam as they investigate every floor. Just like the other building, The high school building was consist of seven floors, one floor was intended for the school chapel, while the rest were dedicated for the students and teachers room.

The interior design of the Highschool building was different from the elementary building, traversing it at night only with light also changes the look of the place a lot. It was bigger and wider, even though every room has a lot of school equipment, the rooms felt empty. As they reach the fifth floor they decided to check the Faculty rooms. The faculty room is design like the classroom, it has two-doorway, one near the staircase and the other one near the other rooms.

Shio was catching her breath for a little when Sam noticed her

"Hey... are you okay? I'll take care of Karen.." Sam said as he takes Karen

Shio sits down and tried her best to relax

"She is afraid of the dark.." Karen calmly said

"So that's why we don't have power..." Howard said while investigating the area

"I'll stay here with shio for a while, Karen, can you help the old man on searching for clues?" Sam requested

"Sure..." Karen said in an energetic tone

She immediately went to Howard and helped him while Sam took care of Shio, Sam offered his bottle of water. She accepted it, she drinks the water while looking at Karen, Sam noticed it.

"You're doing good.. don't worry, I'll make sure that both of you will get out of here alive" Sam said while making he guide her head to lean on his shoulder.

While Howard and Karen are searching for Clues, Shio and Sam are sitting on the floor.

"Hey.. look at the board" Karen said as she accidentally shines her light on the whiteboard

"what is it?" Howard asked

"There are some markings in there..." Karen said

Howard checked the board and he also noticed the markings.

"Everyone, turn off your lights please." Howard said

"Shio hold tight for now.." Sam said as he turns off both of their light, She immediately holds Sam's hands.

Howard took The Kitchen Torch from Sam and he used it as a light to shine on the writings.

While Howard is walking back to the whiteboard, no one can deny that all of them are surrounded in darkness. In this case, the eyes of a normal human being will start playing with them, showing figures and more, which is the same thing that is currently happening to Shio.

Sam noticed that Shio hands hold tighter and tighter.

"Are you okay shio?" Sam asked

But Shio can't answer, she decided to nod slowly while in order to tell Sam that she's fine even though she wasn't because she can see something that Sam can't see.

"I'm here okay?" Sam said as he tries to comfort her

Shio tries to relax but it is hard for her to do it because even though she is sitting next to her, She can see a girl sitting at her right side staring, She can't look directly but she can somehow see that this girl is wearing a torn school uniform, her head is full of wounds and her eyes were jet black. She is just sitting still staring at her.

Howard turned on the torch, and he immediately read what was written on the whiteboard. The light coming from the torch was also able to make the girl disappear.

"It is moving, It is breathing, It is alive, a location for the key that you may find, but it is dangerous to keep it in mind..."

"That a bad riddle..." Howard said

"It wasn't a riddle, It was just a simple clue with some rhyming words." Karen replied

Suddenly, the sound of clinging keys we're heard from the hallway, it was accompanied by a sound of heavy footsteps walking closer to the room.

"That must be the keys..." Karen calmly said

"Everyone stay quiet.." Howard calmly said as he immediately turns off the kitchen torch, But with that, the girl reappeared

Shio breathes slowly as she sees the girl is no longer at her side but in front of her. The girls face is very close to her face, She can't feel her breathing which but she can now clearly see that this girl is not just an imagination.

"Shio.... don't move..." Sam said as he can now see the girl

"You can see it?" Shio asked calmly

"Yes.. but we also have a bigger problem outside.." Sam replied

The girl looked at Sam slowly, but she immediately looks back to Shio... Shio can't breathe properly, Sweat starts to drip from her face, Even though she wanted to scream she can't because there is something outside.. Her eyes got a little teary-eyed when suddenly she stopped being afraid.

She saw tears pouring from the girl's eyes and it wasn't like how the horror movies describe it, it looks very normal that you might think that the girl who was crying is alive.

"Kill that man for me...please?" The girl said as she cries softly

"What happened to you?" Shio whispered

"I was trap here.. Someone said that if I face my fear I will be able to get out, so I did...until he came to me... He was my last fear, I tried to face him but he was a lot stronger than me, he killed me with a metal rod and he stabbed me with a knife that he always carries..." The girl said

"Who told you to do that?" Sam asked

"A newly arrived girl, the last time I saw her, She was inside the Gym.." The girl answered

"Who is it?" Shio asked

"I call her Mika because that was a lot shorter than her real name..." The girl answered

Shio immediately remembered about her friend..

"Mikaela.." Shio said

"yes, that was her.." The girl answered

"Hey stop talking!" Howard whispered

They immediately stopped because the footsteps were coming right behind the door. A Shadow of a person was seen in the door lite.

The footstep stops on the door near the classrooms as the four stops making noises.

"Please.. kill him for me, So that I may rest in peace, I don't want to see him and suffer the same memories I had before.." The girl said but only Shio can hear her

The door suddenly opened slowly, Howard immediately went to grab Karen and hide behind the teacher desk while Shio and Sam were grabbed by the Ghost toward to another teachers desk.

The man entered the room and he shines his flashlight to check the area, While he checks the room from the door Sam slowly took a quick peek in order to see what he looks like.

The man is wearing a jumpsuit while holding a metallic bar on his right hand and a flashlight on his left, he is also wearing a scary ghoul mask just like the girl in the hoodie, but his ghoul mask is a lot more simple, it was just a white ghoul mask with bloodstains in it. Then he immediately noticed a bunch of keys laying on his side...

He immediately realizes that they can't get the key without killing this guy.

"This game is really different from what happened before.." Sam said

He suddenly notices Shio holding the clip of her gun and while putting three bullets.

"what are you doing?" Sam asked

"You told me to put my bullet at the oil of the lamp to coat it with it right.. I saw what the man looked like, She looks exactly like the girl. I can feel the same aura from that man" Shio said as she puts the clip in her gun

"(Softly chuckles) Good..." Sam said as he keeps an eye on the man

The man closed the door and slowly left the area.

The girl also disappeared in thin air. The Four of them gathered together and talked softly

"So what's the plan? we know where the keys are" Howard said

"He's exactly like you and dal-gu..." Sam replied

"No--- he has a mask, which means his higher than us, we can't normally kill them, Just like the girl they also possess some inhuman abilities. We call them the Grim Reapers." Howard explained

"So it just made my idea stronger, there is really no way for us to get that key without putting him down.." Sam replied

"Nice choice of words kid, I thought you will forget that we have some young one's listening in here..." Howard said in a taunty tone

"I'm not stupid, Old man.." Sam answered also in a taunty tone

"(chuckles) So what's the plan?" Howard calmly asked

"Yeah? What's the plan, Big Sis? Do we put him down?" Karen asked

"Yes, Karen. I'm going to try if Sam's Idea of a coated bullet will really work, Let's put this guy down." Shio said as she reloads her pistol

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