-Evelyn's PoV-

~In The Locker Area...

All of us decided to head back inside, after the gate completely closed on us. I was leaning on one of the lockers, pondering on what we were gonna do now. Are we suppose to stay here and do nothing? Or find a way to get out? I honestly didn't know.

'What do we even do now?...' I thought, while softly gripping the book I was holding.

Veronica and Katherine were sitting down near the entrance doors. Lisa and Sophia were also near the entrance, looking out at the dark road leading to the gate. Abigail and Rodrick were standing beside their lockers, which were the last set of lockers.

Ethan and Michael were just checking their flashlights for in case it ran out of energy. Devan and Alexander were reading a book to pass the time, even though we were in this kind of situation. And finally, Tim and John were already closing their eyes, since they were kinda sleepy.

"Ugh, come on, we can't just stay here!" Abigail exclaims, bumping a nearby locker in the process by accident.

"I know, but is there even any other exit other than the main gate?" Ethan asks.

"I actually don't think so. It is called the main gate for a reason after all. Plus, all the guards would have closed all exits by now, if there were any other exits I mean." I explain. I hear Ethan and some others sigh.

"Well, should we try to find one? For in case there is any other exit." Sophia asks nervously.

"Sure, that's better than staying here and doing nothing all night." Alexander stands up, fixing up his bag as he stands.

"Can't we just stay here and sleep? I'm too tired to go walk..." John yawns, rubbing his eyes to keep himself awake.

"No excuses John, who knows what could get you if your asleep." Devan laughs devilishly. John shoots up and glares at him, eyes still closed. All of us laugh for a moment before the silence takes over once more.

"On a more serious note, judging from what just happened earlier, its not a good idea to put your guard down or something...." Veronica coughs, continuing back the conversation once more.

"Fine, i'll wake Tim up first though. It seems like he fell asleep, for real." John says while yawning.

We all nod in agreement. Some of us stand up and walk towards the entrance of the school building. I walk towards the others and look around the dark, empty road leading to the school gate.

"Guys, we should go explore now, it's better not to waste anymore time." I insist.

The others nod in agreement before walking back inside and turning on their flashlights. Even though we didn't know what to do right now, we had no choice but to at least find a way out. It's better than just staying here and doing nothing, other than waiting.

"So uhh, where do we go now?" Tim asks while turning on his flashlight.

"Well, we should go find an exit. It's the only thing we can do for now." Alexander says.

"What room do we check first? Maybe there's keys to open the gate in one of the rooms, perhaps?" Lisa asks.

"If so, let's check the staff room. Some of the keys are kept there by the janitors and all." I say.

"Good idea Evelyn, we should also hurry up if we wanna leave fast." Katherine says.

"Okay then, what are we waiting for? As you said, we better hurry up." Ethan says, quickly walking ahead of us afterwards.

All of us quickly walk behind Ethan, hoping he actually did know where he was going. After awhile, we finally stopped in front of a room with the words "Staff Room" on it.

"Okay, this has to be it right? Because this might be a decoy room or something..." Michael asks, folding his arms in suspicion.

"Well, it obviously is. So let's just open the door already." Tim says while impatiently looking at the door.

"Well, I guess let's open it...." I say, grabbing the door knob with my hand.

All of us nod in agreement before looking at the door. I grip the door knob tightly, breathing in some air before looking at the door again. I slowly turn the door knob and peek inside before looking back at everyone else.

"Okay, no one is inside. So I think we're good to go." I say while looking back at the others.

"If you say so. Come on, let's go inside guys." Katherine says while going inside the room.

All of us head inside and look around. The room was small and was just filled with stuff that the janitors and other staff members would use. On the other side of the room, there was a board with keys on it. Under the keys though, there was what seems to be a letter or a piece of paper.

"Hey guys, what's  that?" I ask, pointing at the letter.

"Let's check it, maybe its a schedule for the janitors, school's layout or something that could help." Rodrick says.

All of us walk towards the board filled with keys. Veronica grabs the letter and checks it before looking at all of us.

"Should we read it after we check the keys? Just asking." Veronica asks while showing us the letter.

"Hmm, I guess so, the letter can wait for after we check the keys anyway." Ethan replies.

"Okay then, also, should some of us search different corners of the room? To cover more ground and all because why not." John suggests.

"Sure, who knows what else could be in this room other than these keys and that letter." Alexander says while looking at the letter Veronica was holding.

"Alright then, since there's 13 of us, 7 of us will check the other side of the room, while the other 6 will search some of the keys here and see if they're important to us. Understood guys?" Rodrick says.

All of us nod in agreement before splitting up to search the room. I was one of the 6 people who were supposed to search the keys, so I decided to check the board filled with keys first before checking somewhere else.

"Let's see what kind of keys are here..." I murmur to myself.

There were alot of keys, some I have never even seen before. There was a key for each classroom, which I think all the advisers had a replica of the key for their class as well. There was also the key to the faculty room, which I think the head teacher or principal also has a replica of.

I checked some of the other keys but some of them were mostly for important rooms, none for an exit or anything. But I actually noticed something very weird about the keys. There were no keys for some rooms or areas. If I had to mention some, it would be the Music Room, Student Council Office, The Gym, Photography Club Room and finally, the Library.

I kept on wondering why these specific rooms didn't have their key. Did some of the teachers keep the key for those rooms? Or were the keys lost or something? I immediately thought it was a good idea to ask the others about it.

"Hey guys, have you seen the keys for the Music Room, Gym, Photography Club Room, Library and for the Student Council Office?" I ask, making sure everyone can hear me.

"So far I haven't seen the key for any of those." Sophia says.

"Yeah, me neither. Why do you ask?" Alexander asks.

"Don't you think its weird how there's no key for any of those specific rooms?" I ask.

An awkward silence shushes all of us in the room not a single sound to be heard except our steady breathing.

"Hmm, now that you think about it...." Lisa speaks up, breaking the short silence.

"Yeah, that is a bit weird though..." Michael says.

"Maybe some of the other teachers have the key to those rooms?" Katherine says while thinking of other reasonable answers.

"I don't think so. I don't think teachers would bring the original key with them. Just like the classroom keys, which are here." I say while pointing at a bunch of keys.

"Well, we better find the keys for those rooms. Maybe there could be something important inside those rooms after all." Rodrick says.

"Good idea, maybe the key for the gate is inside one of those rooms or something." John says.

"B-but aren't those rooms related t-to the dead students?..." Sophia asks with a scared expression.

"I'm not that sure. But Evelyn, that's the yearbook we got from the Faculty Room, ight?" Veronica asks, pointing at the book I was holding.

"Yeah it is, why?" I ask, wondering why Veronica would bring up the yearbook.

Veronica quickly glances at Alexander before looking back at me. Alexander looks at Veronica with a curious expression before realizing what she meant some how.

"I think its because the students who died are in that book. Like their names and info I mean. But that isn't assured, really." Alexander says.

"Oh I see, I guess your saying we should check the yearbook, is that what you mean Veronica?" I ask, finally understanding her statement from earlier.

"Yeah, just to check if those students are related to any of those rooms and all. Like if they do something related to those." Veronica says.

I nod in agreement before opening the yearbook. I flip through some pages before reaching the page where all the 'dead' students were at.

"Let me read this real quick, is that okay?" I ask.

"Sure that's fine, just tell us when you're done cause we're gonna continue searching the room." Rodrick says before turning around to continue searching the room.

I nod before turning to face the yearbook again. All I have to do is see if these students were related to the following rooms after all. Which meant reading their info and all.

Students of 2004-2005

Ava Bauer
-Music Club Member
-Choir Member
-Dreams to be a Pianist or Singer

Sebastian Bolton
-A Very Well Known Student
-Popular Among Girl Students

Zoey Cabarera
-Journalism Club Member
-Is In Charge Of The School Newspaper
-Assistant Librarian

Samuel Carlson
-Photography Club Member
-Is In Charge Of The School Newspaper's Pictures

Noah Valentino
-Basketball Team Member
-Is A Well Known Among The Athlete's
-Is A Tri-Athlete

Charlotte Ivory
-Student Council President
-Well Known Among All Students
-Honor Student

After reading the names and small pieces of info about the students, I slowly closed the yearbook, which made Veronica and Alexander turn around to look at me.

"So, are they related or anything?" Alexander asks.

"It seems so. Well, I don't know how the guy named Sebastian was related to any of the rooms but I think he's related to the students." I say.

"Since that's done and over with, can we read the letter now?" Abigail asks.

"Sure i'll open it now I guess." Veronica says while opening the envelope. She pulls out a neatly folded piece of paper from inside it. It still looked pretty new or recent.

"I guess you should read it first Veronica." I say.

"If you say so Evelyn." Veronica sighs?

Veronica slowly unfolds the letter before quickly glancing at it. She had a confused expression on her face before looking at us.

"That's weird, there's nothing on the letter." Veronica flip the paper over several times, a dumbfounded expression on her face.

"Wait, are you serious?" Tim asks with a confused expression.

"Yeah! I'm serious, its bla-" Veronica suddenly drops the letter, making it land on the ground. She stepped back, fear present in her eyes.

"What's wrong Veronica?" I ask, wondering why Veronica looked suprised.

"I-its writing by i-itself, l-look at it..." Veronica stutters while pointing at the letter.

I nod before walking towards where Veronica dropped the letter. I slowly reach to pick it up and slowly turn it over so it could face me.

"What the heck is this!?" I exclaim, looking at the letter with a suprised face.

I understood why Veronica was shocked about the letter. It was because there were bloody fingerprints on the letter, as well as the contents of the letter being written with blood. There was also one more problem, the letter was still being written on even though I was holding it.

"Umm, guys you can hold this." I say while hurridly giving the letter to Alexander without him noticing it.

"Evelyn, what's wrong?" Alexander asks, noticing me place the letter on his hands.

"You can be the one to hold that, okay?" I step back and smile he best I could without showing a hint of shock.

Alexander had a confused expression on his face, probably wondering why I gave it to him. He looks at the letter before immediately dropping it on the floor.

"Evelyn, what the heck? That letter was writing by itself!" Alexander exclaims, pointing at the letter on the floor.

Because of Alexander's statement everyone immediately turned to look at me, Veronica, and Alexander with a curious face. Everyone immediately huddled near the letter and looked at it.

"Uhh guys, I think we should read this right?" Katherine suggests.

"I think so, is it still umm...writing, though?" Veronica asks, walking closer to the others.

"Uhh yeah, it is. Anyways, why are we talking about if its still writing or not?" Abigail asks.

"Well, so we know if its haunted?" Tim asks with a confused expression.

"I think we should say everything here is haunted, now that we've also seen that." I say while looking at the letter.

"I completely agree." Lisa sighs.

"A-anyways, let's read it..." Sophia stutters.

I nod before walking towards everyone as well. I look at the letter before bowing down to see its contents properly.

"Can you read it for us Evelyn?" Rodrick asks.

"Sure, let me just read the contents of the letter out loud real quick..." I say while looking at the letter to read its contents.

To anyone who finds this,

If anyone can find this, then please read it. I'm guessing you're reading this for a reason, right? I'm guessing that reason is because you're trapped in the university. Now you must, no ALL of you must be wondering, 'how do we get out of here?' Or something like that, right? Well let me just explain a few things for all of you on how to get out.

First things first, yes, the school is haunted, so you'll obviously encounter stuff that isn't normal. Like ghosts, random blood on the walls and all those 'kiddy' stuff. Next, Time will not move until all of you do, 'something'. So until you do that, 'something' or more specifically 'some things', Time will not move and it will be stuck at 10:00 pm forever, okay?

Now here's where i'm gonna explain that specific something. That is, all of you have to free all of the 6 students that died, which you just read in that magical yearbook you found. If you don't, as I said, time won't move at all so all of you will be stuck here forever.

Now don't think freeing the 6 students is an easy task. All of you have to solve puzzles to get to the rooms that each of them died in. After that, the ghost of the student in that room will test you with a small game or some riddles. If all of you did what they asked correctly, then all of you freed that student.

But let me just say there is, 'one' problem or thing I have to say. That is, two people will be chosen by the ghost after all of you finish the student's test. Something will happen to these two students, but I won't say it since I want all of you to figure it out. Well, I guess all of you will know when you meet the first student. Its gonna be a pleasant suprise, I just know you'll all love it.

Well ,that's all I have to say for now. You will find more of these kind of letters in the future. Goodluck in your search and hopefully, all of you get out of the school. Well, if you can I mean. Also one small thing, in the cabinet near the board of keys, there's a piece of paper that says what your supposed to find so I suggest getting that first. I wish you guys luck, well, if luck is something ANY o you have that is...

From someone you'll meet soon,
Unknown

After I finish reading the letter, it immediately stopped writing, stopping at where it said 'Unknown'. I look at the letter again before looking at everyone else. All of them had a confused yet suprised expression for some reason.

"So, its saying we have to free the students souls or something?..." Sophia asks.

"I'm not sure, but that's what it says here..." I say while looking at the letter.

"But what does it mean by 'two people will be chosen by the ghost of the deceased student.'?" Michael asks.

"From what Evelyn read from the letter, it said 'try to find out what happens to those two students.' which means something creepy or weird might happen to them..." Veronica says.

"Well, it also said we have to solve puzzles to get into the rooms that the students died in." Ethan explains.

"But what rooms are those? Like the rooms they died in, I mean." Lisa asks.

"I think they're the ones that didn't have keys." Devan says.

"Most likely. They seem to be the only rooms that are locked and don't have a key." Abigail says.

"Can we actually check the cabinet now? Since the letter said check the cabinet for a piece of paper." John yawns, laning against the wall to keep him steady.

"Sure, lets hurry up so we can explore already." Tim says

We all nod before walking over to the cabinet near the board filled with keys. It was an iron cabinet which was a bit rusty since it was very old already. I grab the handle of the cabinet before opening it. There was a folded piece of paper inside, just like what the letter said.

I grab the paper inside and and slowly unfold it. I flip the paper over to see a bunch of items along with room names written on it.

"There's a bunch of rooms and beside each one are items." I say.

"Can you tell us the rooms along with the items for it?" Rodrick asks.

"Sure, let me just read it out loud for everyone." I say while looking at the piece of paper.

Please find the following items for the following/given rooms:

Music Room- 4 Music Sheets

Library- 4 Books

Photography Club Room- 3 Cameras

Science Lab- 2 Flasks

Gym- 2 Jerseys

Student Council Office-1 Class Picture

"And that's all the stuff that's written on this paper." I fold the paper in half and tuck it in my pocket.

"Well, I guess we need to find those don't we?" Tim says with a frustrated tone.

"I guess so, its the only way to get out of this place too." Lisa says.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Lets go so we can immediately get out of this place." John says.

"Wait, before we go we should group ourselves first." I say hesitantly.

"Huh? Why do you say that Evelyn?" Sophia asks while quickly turning around to face me.

"So we can find each item quickly. Remember, 5 rooms need more than 1 item, so I think its better to split up so we can find the items quickly." I say.

"Hmm, sounds like a good idea. Since you suggested it Evelyn, can you be the one to make the groupings if thats alright?" Rodrick asks.

"Sure, does anyone have a piece of paper so I can write it down? Also a pencil please." I ask.

"Here you go, I brought these for in case." Alexander hands me a pencil and a torn page from his notebook.

"Let me write the groupings real quick then..." I strt jotting down the groupings that I thought of.

~3 minutes later...~

"Okay, here it is. You guys can read it first if you want." I say, giving all of them the list of groupings.

Groupings

Group 1

Evelyn
Lisa
Sophia
Rodrick

Group 2

Alexander
Katherine
John

Group 3

Veronica
Devan
Michael

Group 4

Abigail
Tim
Ethan

"Woah these are actually some pretty good groupings Evelyn." Veronica says while looking at the paper.

"Thanks Veronica. Anyways, shall we go now everyone?" I ask.

"Yup, i'm fine with my group so I guess we can go now." Michael says.

"Don't forget to bring the keys that we found, we can use them along the way." Abigail says while taking some keys for her group.

"Good idea, its better than going back here and getting the key for the room we're supposed to open." Alexander says while giving me and Veronica some keys for our groups.

"Okay everyone stay with your group members starting right now. Split up and try to find the first item we need, which is a Music Sheet." Rodrick says while walking outside of the room.

We all nod in agreement before walking out of the room, making sure we brought our keys with us. Hopefully we can get out of here safely, but for some reason I had a feeling that wouldn't happen...

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Hey guys! Long time since I've updated anything actually, so nice to see you all again in this chapter! I had exams so technically why I couldn't update any stories for awhile. So the next story I will most likely update will be Both of us so stay tuned for that!

Don't forget to vote, comment or even follow if you like the chapter! Don't be shy to comment whether it's criticism or just a comment passing by, don't be afraid to write it down in the comments! ^^. Also, don't forget to add this book to your library so you won't miss any updates! ^^