A Heartfelt Gift

Anna stood in front of the door to class 12-B once again. Within her arms was Mr Li's bloodstained coat.

Seb's words kept on repeating within her head.

"…Mr Li was just shot to death…"

Someone had just died, and she was currently holding the very proof of that.

A part of her just wanted to get rid of the thing right away…

But Sebastian had asked her to trust him.

It was extremely hard to do that right now.

His eyes seemed to be bottling up a lot of rage… and the way he had kicked Mr Li out the door.

Did Seb know what was going to happen? Did he do that on purpose?

Anna felt scared.

She didn't know what was going on.

She didn't even know if the was the right thing to do.

But that is just the way life is. Once you agree to do something, there are no take-backs.

You either swim together or sink together.

Time seemed to pass at a snail's pace as she waited for Josh to come up.

The coat in her arms grew heavier by the minute.

The sickly rust-like smell of blood assaulted her nose and made her nauseous.

Each passing second only served to increase the pit of dread that had taken root in her stomach.

Luckily, she didn't have to wait for too long as Josh came running up the stairs around 1:44.

She hurriedly opened the door to the room and threw in the coat as instructed.

The students of the class stared at the coat as it fell to the ground.

However, Anna had already run off by then, joining up with Josh as they ran down the central corridor.

If the school building was shaped like a 'T'.

Anna came from the left-wing, Josh from the right-wing and they were both going down to the base together.

Anna glanced at Josh as they ran for their lives.

"Wha - hah – What are you running from?"

Even though she was actually quite physically active, all the fear and tension had left her exhausted which made her pant for breath as she ran.

"A bunch of… lunatics… with guns."

Anna's eyes widened in shock.

She was immediately questioned back by Josh though.

"What about you?"

"I-I don't know ... didn't check."

"..."

"..."

They both exchanged a look before sharing a helpless chuckle.

They saw Seb sitting on the stairwell as they approached the classroom.

He just smirked at them before speaking,

"You guys don't need to run anymore…"

.

"What are you … talking about… Seb?"

"Yeah… there are … lunatics… with guns behind us."

Seb just shook his head before continuing.

"You were a little early… but that's better. The two sides will have enough time to decide on a winner."

The confusion on their faces didn't last for long as they were suddenly interrupted.

"HEEEEEEE! HEEEEE! HEEEEE!"

Dreadful, bone-chilling laughter had suddenly burst out from behind them.

They turned around to see a sight so horrifying, so gruesome, so hair raising, that they wouldn't be able to forget it for the rest of their lives.

On one side were dark shadowy creatures that had seemingly crawled out of the abyss.

They had long sharp claws, elongated teeth, and hunched backs.

Their bodies were ashen grey reminiscent of a decaying corpse.

There wasn't a single strand of hair on their bodies.

What was worse was that they seemed to be rushing out endlessly from the left-wing.

On the other side were militiamen armed to the teeth with tactical gear and assault rifles.

In comparison to the revenants, they only rushed out in teams of 5 at a time from the right-wing.

At first, both parties would have continued to chase after Josh and Anna, but the moment they came across each other, sparks began to fly.

To the revenants, it was quite clear that the firing squad/militia was responsible for the death of their precious hostage/teacher.

On the other hand, to the militia, the revenants were most likely related to the 'void'. Even if that wasn't the case, there was no way they wouldn't defend themselves once attacked.

Thus, what was once a grand chase had now turned into a battle between two factions.

Seb couldn't help but grin widely at the sight of the carnage in front of him.

The moment it was determined that more than one faction was present in the school, it meant that he could use them against each other.

So what if he wasn't strong enough?

So what if it was impossible for him to defeat that monster of a school shooter?

So what if the school was full of horrors beyond his imagination that were waiting to rip out his throat the moment he made the slightest of mistakes?

He would use them all.

He would use everything at his disposal to survive.

He would just let his enemies take care of each other instead.

In the end, he just had to be present to collect the spoils of war.

How wonderful!

How pleasant!

How delightful!

Sebastian felt that he was unstoppable as he watched his enemies tear each other to pieces.

The revenants weaved and dodged as they ripped out the throats of the militia with their claws and teeth.

The militiamen arranged themselves into formations as they shot, they burst-fired their semi-automatic rifles at the twisted abominations in front of them.

Their ability to calmly function was admirable. That and the fact that they were clearly using military-grade weapons meant that the organization they belonged to must not be underestimated.

Slowly as more and more of the soldiers and eventually their leader came in to support, the fight started to shift in their favour.

Sebastian however was unfazed.

He turned to look at the shooter who was standing right next to him at the exit of the stairwell.

It had been a moment since he had arrived but he just chose to stay still and watch the pandemonium.

Seb indicated toward the militia members before asking

"Friends of yours? Aren't you going to help them?"

"You could say so… but these scrubs aren't worth helping."

Sebastian just silently stared at the shooter in contemplation.

He still hadn't confirmed if they shared the same tattoos.

Well judging from the shooter's words, they were probably a part of the same organization but had different ranks or something.

"What about you?"

Seb's speculations were brought to a stop by the shooter.

He gestured towards the revenants

"Friends of yours?"

Seb couldn't help but suppress a snigger before replying.

"You could say so…"

"Your friends seem to be losing, aren't you worried?"

Seb just stayed silent and stared at the shooter again.

Since he had planned this, he had reason to be confident.

No matter how strong bullets were, in a cramped space like this revenants that moved at untraceable speeds had the advantage.

Moreover, Seb had personally witnessed the terror of these beings.

It wasn't just limited to physical attacks.

They could even attack the mind.

They could … multiply by converting others.

"There's no need to be in a hurry. Just enjoy the show in front of you. You don't know what will happen until the very end."

Seb and the shooter exchanged a look before they both exchanged a laugh that wasn't a laugh.

The shooter just stayed silent and watched on.

Honestly, he had no idea what was going on.

Their plan seemed to have been thrown down the drain before he even arrived.

Moreover, the kid sitting on the stairwell next to him was too abnormal.

Even though he could not feel even a shred of danger emanating from him.

The kid seemed to have the entire situation under his control.

The shooter directed his attention back towards the battle.

To be honest, even though the scrubs seemed to be winning, the kid was right.

When it comes to the supernatural, ordinary people don't ever stand a chance.

The battlefront was pure chaos.

The intermittent sounds of guns firing, the shrill laughter and shrieks of the revenants, and the groans of the fallen filled the corridor.

Luckily the fight didn't go into any of the classrooms and kill any students by accident.

Any additional casualties would only serve to increase the number of the revenants.

Already a few of the slain militiamen had risen up from beyond the grave and started slashing at their former brethren.

The revenants rushed in like a tide flowing back and forth as they relentlessly took part in the slaughter-fest.

Just when it seemed that their numbers were dwindling and they were on the verge of losing, they would burst out with unprecedented strength.

It was like they weren't individuals but a massive consciousness that spread like a plague.

However, this back and forth didn't last for long.

Like Seb had deduced earlier, the true horror of these creatures wasn't in their physical attacks … but in the mental ones.

They soon started to chant loudly in unison.

"JOIN US! JOIN US! JOIN US!"

"JOIN US! JOIN US! JOIN US! JOIN US! JOIN US! JOIN US! JOIN US! JOIN US! JOIN US! JOIN US!"

The movements of the gunmen started to grow more and more sluggish as they started to succumb to the spell.

The leader tried to resist by using his megaphone but that was smashed before he could use it.

As more and more people fell to the revenants their power started growing stronger.

And so did their resentment.

A thick miasma seemed to hang in the air around them.

The stale gruesome stench twisted and turned as it swirled around their enemies.

Their bodies started rotting and decaying at an ever-increasing rate as a pitch-black sludge started to get excreted from their bodies.

They huddled closer and closer together as the sludge started to accumulate into an unholy amalgamation.

The bodies of the fallen weren't spared either as they started to get sucked into the sludge as well.

The revenants started to fuse together, their individual bodies all disintegrating in the process as the sludge grew bigger and bigger.

In the end, it came to a stop when an enormous abomination about eight feet tall came into being in front of them.

Multiple body parts were sticking out of it, were they arms or legs, hands or feet.

Multiple eyes clumped together near the top while the rest were spread out throughout the body.

Ears, noses, mouth, guts and other broken pieces were jutting out of weird and misshapen angles from within that mess.

The amalgamation squirmed and pulsated for a while before it stabilized its form into a humanoid like structure as the black sludge started to solidify keeping it all together.

In front of them was something that could only be described as something that should never have been brought into existence.

A monster straight from hell that had come to indiscriminately wreak havoc on the world around it.

However, Sebastian didn't feel afraid.

Even when he was stared at by all the eyeballs on its misshapen figure, even when its multiple mouths opened and close to make all sorts of guttural nerve-wracking noises.

He only felt glee.

After all, he was the one who was responsible for creating this monster.

It wouldn't be wrong to say ... this was 'his' creation.

He turned to look at the shooter with a wide maniacal grin on his face.

"So Mr Shooter, how do you like my gift? … "

"… I really hope that you will love it."

"After all, the only reason I did this ... was for you!"

"MUAHAHAHAHAHAHH!"