Chapter Two: I Remember You

In the heart of the classroom, where knowledge usually blossomed, chaos took root. The walls, once silent witnesses to the mundane, now echoed with the cacophony of an ordinary Monday turned upside down. Sunlight, filtered through half-closed blinds, cast long, slanted shadows over the desks, creating a stark contrast of light and dark that mirrored the turmoil within Joze's mind.

Joze, sprawled across his desk, was adrift in the sea of his subconscious, mumbling protests against the dawn of a new week. His dreams, a refuge from the lurking monsters of his reality, were abruptly shattered by the piercing strike of chalk against wood.

"Joze! Out! Now! And I expect to see you in my office immediately!" The teacher's voice, sharp as the talons of a hawk, sliced through the laughter bubbling up from the students. Joze's eyes snapped open, his confusion tangible as he fumbled to piece together the fragments of his disrupted slumber.

"What did I do now?" he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. His hands, clumsy with sleep, gathered his scattered belongings as he shuffled toward the door, each step heavy with the weight of his classmates' mocking stares.

The sudden explosion that rocked the school's foundation halted Joze's retreat. The sound, monstrous and thunderous, clawed its way down the hallway, rattling lockers and shattering the fragile veneer of normalcy. The school speaker crackled to life, urging calm and order, but Joze's instincts screamed for action.

He sprinted toward the epicenter of the chaos, the cafeteria, where pandemonium reigned. A creature, nightmarish and grotesque, feasted upon the fallen, its scales a void against which no light could prevail, its eyes a hellish glow of crimson fury. Nearby, a student lay frozen in terror, their very essence dissolving into the ether.

With a roar of adrenaline-fueled defiance, Joze hurled a plate at the beast. The ceramic shattered upon impact, a futile gesture against the monster's hide, yet enough to draw its ire. "Hey, over here!" Joze bellowed, seizing the petrified student and propelling them both toward the sanctuary of the safe room.

The creature, incensed, pursued with a vengeance. Joze's body became a shield, absorbing the collision that sent him crashing against the wall. Blood, warm and coppery, filled his mouth as darkness encroached upon his vision.

"So this is it, huh? My end?" The thought was a whisper in the cacophony of his mind. But death would not claim him-not yet. His body moved with a will of its own, evading the monster's relentless assault. Memories, long buried, surged forth-a beast from his past, a terror once escaped.

"I can't die... not today. Cathy needs me. I won't run away," Joze vowed, his determination a beacon in the abyss. He rose, battered but unbroken, as the monster prepared to strike the final blow.

Then, salvation-a man, enigmatic and powerful, burst through the wall. "Disappear!" he commanded, and flames obeyed, consuming the creature in a conflagration of righteous fury. The man's smile held secrets and promises as he offered Joze a lifeline-a call to arms for when the time was right.

Before Joze could grasp the threads of the mystery, the man vanished, leaving behind only a cryptic message and a number. Joze's strength faltered, his injuries a testament to the battle waged. As consciousness slipped away, his last thoughts were of the journey ahead, the path of an exterminator forged in fire and blood.