Song of the chapter is Battle Cry by Imagine Dragons

-66-
-Kartik Malhotra-
-Present-

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Delmore High
26 December, 2019
3:00 am

We were wandering the beige halls of the school, trying to find a way out. We might've found a way out of the detention room, but there was still no way out of the school.

After the carnival, the school authorities usually locked up everything. So there was no way in hell we could go out.

"Guys, I can't keep walking anymore. My leg fucking hurts , I need some painkillers or something." I said, panting and leaning against the wall.

"Me too." Siya said, holding her stomach.

" Yeah, we do need medication for them." Saina said, with a  worried look. "What do we do?"

" Let's go to the infirmary. Maybe we'll find something there." Veronica suggested.

" There's no point. It'll be closed like all the other classrooms." Himanshu stated.

" Well, then what do we do?" Zoya yelled angrily.

I shut my eyes from the pain and the frustration. This was getting depressing.

I opened my eyes and saw Veronica rip out a part of her sleeve and wrapped it around my arm to stop bleeding. I gave her a tight lipped smile. She gave me a nod.

" Does anyone have their phones with them?" Himanshu asked.

We all proceeded to check our pockets, but to no avail.

"Nope." I said.

" Me neither." Siya said.

" They probably took all of our phones when we were passed out." Saina said and as soon as the sentence left her mouth, Zoya pulled out her phone from her socks and handed it to Himanshu. We looked at her questioningly.

" What? I don't carry a fucking purse. I always keep my valuables in my socks when my dress doesn't have pockets." Zoya explained. I almost chuckled.

"Thank god for that." Himanshu said as he dialled hundred on her phone. He put it on speaker so that the rest of us could hear.

As the police department picked up, the operator on the other side said, "Hello Delmore Police Station, how may I help you?"

"Hi, I'm Himanshu Arora and I'm a student at Delmore High. Me and my friends are locked in the school and we have a lot of injuries. Someone locked us in here , we're in danger and we really need help." Himanshu explained.

"Sir, I'm gonna need you to stay calm."

"How am I supposed to stay calm? My friends have been tortured and injured all night! One of my friends has a stab wound which if not tend to, could get worse."

" Okay, sir, we get prank calls like this all the time from young teens. And it's Christmas, so there's no way you're actually in your school right now."

" This isn't a prank call!" Himanshu practically yelled at the operator.

"Listen, I'll send a police car over to check out the school."

" Ma'am, I'm not joking! This is a matter of life and death!" He kept saying but the lady on the other side had already hung up.

"Fuck!" He yelled angrily.

" Moose, you're scaring me! Calm down!" Veronica said.

" I'm scaring you?! Veronica, if Kartik doesn't get to a hospital in the next three hours, his wound will get worse to the point of no return." Himanshu yelled at her.

" I know that!" Veronica yelled back, her voice breaking at the end.

A quiet moment passed between all of us. I tried to concentrate on my breathing because even that felt difficult right now. It was like there was limited air left for me to breathe.

" This is getting depressing." Saina exclaimed.

" You think?!" Zoya asked, sarcastically.

" What do we do now? " Siya asked.

"How about we go downstairs? Maybe the back exit is open." Saina suggested.

" Yeah, okay. But not all of us. Someone has to stay with Kartik and Siya unless... something happens." Himanshu said.

" Okay, then , I and Moose will go check out downstairs. Saina , Zoya,...stay with them." Veronica said and stood up.

" Be careful, guys!" I wished somehow. They both nodded and left for downstairs.

Half an hour later, the four of us were sitting on the floor, defeated and exhausted. We knew our time was coming and we didn't have the energy to fight anymore.

RING RING.

Zoya's phone started ringing in her pocket and she looked at us with concern. I asked her to answer the call and put it on speaker. She nodded and did as told.

" Hello shadows," His voice rapped through the phone. " Are we having fun?"

" Did you escape?" I breathed.

" Oh you mean after that bitch shot me in the arm and the leg? Yeah , I did." He answered.

I shared anxious glances with the rest.

"Where are you now?" I asked.

" Oh Kartik, if I told you that, then it wouldn't be any fun! Come on, guys, I need you to play the game nicely." He said.

" We're done playing your sick game." Siya said with gritted teeth.

" Aw that's too bad. Because I'm not done playing yet." His voice cackled softly. "How about I give you a clue? Come to me. After all, my door's always open." And with that he hung up.

" What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Zoya asked.

"I'm getting tired of these cryptic messages! Why doesn't he just tell us what to do?" Saina asked, frustratingly .

" Because that's no fun." I said, looking at her. "He wants us to play and strive until he kills us. He wants to enjoy our suffering."

Zoya sighed, exhausted and dropped her phone to the side of the floor. Siya suddenly sat up straight and looked at me.

" What did he say at last?" She asked.

" What?"

" What was the last sentence he said?" Siya asked me. I furrowed my brows at her.

" Come to me. My door's always open." I stated.

"My door's always open..... My door's always open.... " Siya repeated his words again and again until finally realisation hit her and she exclaimed, "Holy shit."

" What?"

" His door... it's literally open." Siya answered.

She suddenly stood up and Zoya and Saina followed.

" What does that mean?" Saina asked.

" It means the doors have been open this entire time." Siya said , as Zoya helped me get up again.

" He's been making us think that we are trapped in here all this time...but the doors are literally-"

" Open." I finished, looking at her.  "Come on, we need to find Veronica and Himanshu."

" Yeah, and get the hell out of here." Zoya added.

All of us started walking towards the stairs leading downstairs and as soon as we get to it, the lights in the hallways flicker once and go off , leaving us in complete darkness.

" Oh my god, what the hell?" Zoya shrieks.

" Is everyone here?" Saina asked.

" It's okay , Saina , everyone's here." I reassured.

" I can't see shit." Zoya yelled.

" None of us can, Zoya." Siya said.

" What do we do?" Saina asked.

As soon as the words left her mouth, a faint noise was heard on the opposite direction from where we came. I turned around and squinted my eyes to see better but it was too dark. " Guys, I hear something."

" I don't like this." Saina said, her voice quivering.

I felt Siya's hand grazing against mine and her fingers intertwined with mine. I wasn't the one to easily get scared but the warmth of her touch and the reassurance that she was here with me and I wasn't alone, set me to ease.

" I'm here." I whispered in the dark. Hopefully she heard but I couldn't tell.

Then suddenly the lights came back on and we all braced ourselves for whatever we were about to witness. But there was nothing, everything was the same. Then we heard the sound of something squeaking, like a rope coming undone or ripping apart. We turned around slowly and then several screams rang through the atmosphere.

A body, dangled from the ceiling, hanging from her neck and when her body spun in the air, we could see several stabs in her back. Her eyes were open, and her once brown hair was smeared with red.

" Oh my god, it's Sanchi."

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