Ceremony of Sacrifice

The hall is dark, the lights are off. Lanterns are nowhere to be seen and the only source of light is from the moon. Layn and Anna are walking down a hall. They are currently on the 1st floor, far away from the auditorium.

"It's all very quiet, huh?"

Layn remarked. It was indeed very quiet, after all the chaos and bloodshed that took place down in the auditorium, it felt creepier somehow to be this silent.

"Most of the students fought in the auditorium, I don't think there would be many to fight now..."

Anna was walking ahead of Layn, and she was feeling a bit uneasy. Not because of what happened in the auditorium, but because of Layn. According to Anna, this should have been all new to Layn. The blood, the gore.

He should have been scared, and asking questions right now, but he didn't. He was strangely quiet, as if he understood everything, as if, this isn't the first time he saw so many people die.

"say Layn, so, you expected this all to occur? Cause you clearly seem to be very calm-"

"I didn't, and I'm not."

Layn's reply was quick and simple, without any emotions or hesitation. Anna did not know Layn very well and neither had she spent much time with him, but it would be obvious to anyone, that Layn isn't in his usual self. Layn was dead serious about this, as if he had a goal that he needed to achieve. No matter what. Anna thought of it and wanted to ask Layn this but-

"so now what? What are we going to do next?" asked Layn.

"well, for starters, we need to get you a sacrifice... I'm sure you know what that means?" replied Anna

"yes, and I'm not really supportive of it. Is there no other way than taking someone's life?"

"I'm afraid not. And we need to do this quick, less than 2 hours are left until noon."

Layn looks at Anna with a concerned look. As if he is suspecting something and wants to ask questions. Anna noticed this and-

"what is the matter Layn? If you want to ask me something then don't hesitate-"

"why are you helping me?"

A straight forward answer without any hesitations, he has been thinking of this question for a long time and waited for an opportunity to ask.

"w... what do you mean? I mean... ugh, fine... I guess I can't hide it anymore. You had to know sooner or later"

Anna gave out a sigh, and stopped. Layn also stopped and both of them are stared at each other. It was very dark, you couldn't see very far ahead in the hall, but since Layn and Anna were close enough to each other, they could.

"you see, I, Lady Anna Valafer..."

Layn is fully concentrated toward Anna, ready to listen to her reasons.

"I, am in love with you"

"What?"

Layn was surprised and his serious look vanished in seconds after hearing this. He was a bit shocked and stood there in awe until he comprehended what Anna said. He was blushing and his face was a bright ruby red. He stood there like a statue, scratching his head.

"oh, I, I see... Haha"

"Finally, you are back to your usual self."

Layn smiled while scratching his head, and Anna chuckled. It was like the two of them were having a friendly talk amidst the darkness. For a split minute they had forgotten about the situation and had a good laugh, when suddenly-

"Layn behind you !"

"what-"

A knife came flying behind Layn, Anna could not react quickly. It was too dark to see who threw it, but the direction was clear

"Gaah!"

Layn was on his knees, grinding his teeth in agony. Anna didn't know how to react and grabbed on to Layn, supporting him on her shoulder. Both of them were trying to escape by running to the opposite direction.

"Layn are you okay!?"

"y... yeah I'm fine. The guy got me though, my leg..."

Layn's left thigh was stabbed with a small knife. The knife was still in his leg, and he was bleeding. Layn stumbled while he was being supported by Anna.

"Anna, we need to fight together and beat whoever that was, come on let's go-"

"I can't, Layn."

Anna replied with a low voice, as if she wanted to help but could not.

"w... what do you mean Anna?"

"Layn, I can't help you. I am a second year, and you have just enrolled. It is forbidden for us to help you during the enrollment day. If I'm caught carrying you, it is enough of a reason to expel me. So, I can't help you, you have to beat that person by yourself and get your sacrifice.

Layn was confused. He had several more questions to ask, but he knew this wasn't the time. Layn then let go of Anna and stopped. He faced the direction the knife had come from, ready to face the attacker. Anna stopped too, she stood behind Layn and knew what he was up to.

"Right now, I have many questions, Anna. But first..."

A screeching noise was coming from that direction. As if something big was being dragged. The noise was getting closer and closer, and slowly the person was visible as he was coming nearer.

"Is that a living being?"

Upon the person being close enough to be visible, Layn and Anna were both surprised. The person looked like an adult man, though he was a teen. He had a big muscular body, and was almost twice the size of Layn. He smirked while he carried a small knife in his right hand and was dragging something down from his left hand. Upon a closer look to what he was dragging-

"w... what is this? Don't tell me-"

It was a body. Yes, a person. Covered fully in blood, while the man was dragging him by his foot, leaving trails of blood on the floor.

"you already got your sacrifice! You don't need to kill someone else-"

Anna was interrupted by a big loud laugh. The man laughed at Anna's words and said-

"you think I'm killing for sacrifices?"

"you monster..."

Anna murmurs to herself. Layn did not say anything, he was angry. The person was not killing because he was forced to but rather because he simply wished to quench his thirst. Layn tightened his fists.

"Layn we need to get out of here, he is not a person you can defeat-"

Layn doesn't respond. He stood in his place, facing the man. His fists were ready to punch, his stance was ready to fight. Anna thought that Layn was a rookie who knew little to nothing about fighting and death, but looking at him now, she felt she was wrong.

"Come here, my second sacrifice!"

The man left the body on the floor as if it was trash, and dashed towards Layn with his knife. Layn quickly moved to the side, dodging the man barely, but the person didn't stop there. He threw his knife while Layn was in a vulnerable position.

"Layn!"

Anna shouted in a worried tone. Layn's back was faced the wall and the knife barely misses him, while the man brought out another knife from his back pocket, and slowly walked to Layn.

"enough games boy, time to die!"

The man chuckled while he raised his knife to stab Layn. Layn couldn't do anything, or rather, it looked like he chose not to?

"LAYN NO!"

Layn closed his eyes, as if he knew he was going to be killed. The man attacked with his knife and then-

"Gaah!"

Blood all over Layn...