Day 2 in August 17, 2017
Time: Unknown

James was a mumbling mess when his consciousness started back up again. His shook his head, burying his face deeper into what he's currently leaning on. It's soft and warm and his eyelids were so heavy, refusing to open.

He mumbled again and a finger combed his hair.

"You like this, don't you?" said the masculine voice.

Masculin-- what?! His drowsiness was gone all of a sudden and his eyes snapped open. When he looked up he saw Mark's face looking down at him, bored and pissed off. A terrified scream left his throat and he just realized something: a dude was cradling his head this whole time. He felt violated. Where was his muse? He thought she was the one doing that? Did he happen to hallucinate earlier and thought this guy was her? No! He wouldn't be able to live that down if that actually happened.

He harshly smacked Mark's crude fingers off of his head and pushed his whole body away from him. Get that out of here. He wanted to lean on a girl not a guy, dammit! No wonder his neck was stiff-- he was using a guy's belly as a pilow. It's hard as hell! He thought, disregarding his earlier compliments of it being soft earlier.

"Where's--"

"Fei?" Mark cut him off and he nodded, thankful of the confirmation that Fei was actually by his side earlier. "She and the girls went to the gym to shower off. Josh is with them to stand on guard, in case anything happens."

"Okay," he answered simply. Mark's touch was still etched in his memory, it was infuriating that it took all of his willpower just to stop himself from running around the room and setting himself on fire at the very end. "Hey," he started, breaking the awkward silence. Mark raised a brow at him, impatience growing on his expression. "Fei hugged me earlier, right? Not you," he asked and prayed that it was not the latter. Fei would do that for him right? She's nice enough to give someone a hug. So, she won't fail him if he asked for one, right? Right?! His mind ran a million miles per minute to try and give himself a pat on the back, supplying him with supporting facts so that he would feel good about himself.

He was about to smile when Mark beat him to it. His face was bearing a smirk, it was evil like he knew something James didn't and it scared the hell out of him.

"I don't know. You tell me," he said in a cold, haunting tone as he walked past by him. Mark went for the door, not forgetting to give him a smile one last time.

And just like that, James' confidence turned into doubt and he almost went crazy trying to convince himself that it was all a joke.

Mark was laughing nonstop when he arrived at the gym. It took a lot from him not to laugh at James' horrified face right then and there. He kept on telling himself, not now, don't laugh now. Save it when the joke already dropped. And he barely made it. Once his hands left the doorknob of the caferia, he ran like hell and let his laugh explode in the empty hallways. If someone could've heard it in this time of the day, they would've thought it was a mental hospital escapee, laughing at how brilliant his evil plan was. Well-- his plan was brilliant but he's not in anywhere close to being mental. That's what Mark thought of himself but when Fei's eyes landed on him, she begged to differ. He is definitely mental. And she watched him arched his back in laughter with half-lidded eyes. Barely, impressed but... not really.

"How's James?" Fei asked in the middle of his outburst. Her hair was on a puff of cowlicks and frizzy strands that her bobcut made her look like a walking mushroom. She was wearing their school track suit that's all bunched up on her limbs, fabrics failing to straighten enough due to her height not being able to accomodate all of it's length.

Mark wiped at his eyes, his tears finally showing with too much laughter. "I think we just lost him."

"What do you mean by that?" she asked again.

"That guy froze when he thought that I was the one cradling him this whole time. But in reality I was just holding him for about a minute." He whizzed and Fei was about to let out a chuckle when the door was kicked open by none other than James.

They stopped and stared at him. His eyes were in a constant glare and, he may not noticed, it but his mouth was pouting. "Oh, I see," he said, clearly hearing what Mark had said earlier. They thought he would throw a fit but was surprised that he didn't. He just went in, sat on one of the bench and dug a tracksuit for himself in one of the lockers. He was surprisingly calm, and it may just be their imagination, but they think he's a bit embarrased or even shy about something.

The silence was broken when Sammy went out of the shower, her lips curved upward on a pleasant smile.

"I finally got those purple blood off me," she said, her eyes closed and when she opened them, she was met with everyone's silence and their eyes boring into James' head.

"Oh my." Her fingers tapped her lips in a modest manner, stunned at their stance in the most ladylike way. "Is something the matter here?" she asked, her voice gentle.

"President, James is acting weird." Josh pointed at James, his tone sounded like a child reporting to his mother about his playmates' behavior.

Sammy's eyes landed on James but he ignored her and went on his way and entered one of the showers, slamming the door on purpose. Sammy smiled at that, a knowing expression appearing on her face.

"I think he's fine," she said and everyone reluctantly agreed with her.

When everyone was done showering, they all went out of the gym clad in their tracksuits and their eyes protected by a pair of glasses. They scanned their surroundings as they paved their way through the empty hallways. This part was relatively clean, the floor was not drenched in multiple colors of blood and no broken glass shone on the floor, the floor it itself was the one shining. It was so imaculate that it was throwing them off. Their faces reflected on it, it was a bit of a blur but nothing was more uncomfortable than your own worried expression looking back at you and Fei prayed that hers wouldn't wink at her out of the blue. It was not an odd fear to have. Everything in this world could throw them a curve ball at any moment and she hoped this wasn't one of those. Her mind was scaring itself with it's own thoughts so much so that she didn't notice that she stopped blinking, her eyes trailing the other her that's on the floor.

"Hey," Sammy called all of a sudden and they all halted. When Fei lifted her head, her eyes landed on the plackard that's hanging by the door. It said: 2-C. It was their classroom. She was too busy looking down that she failed to realized that they're headed to their classroom. No one thought about it. And no one was planning on going there. It's just their feet, taking them anywhere they could.

"Should we..." Sammy took a step closer towards the door, pointing at it. "Check it out?" She tilted her head.

That's right, they were planning on checking that room tomorrow but now that they're literally in front of it, there's no reson to push the schedule further.

"I think we should," Josh stated. "The strange occurance started in our classroom, maybe it's somehow connected here."

"Then let's get it over with." James agreed and Fei nodded, ignoring Mark's mumbling protest of how he was out of place and how he excluded himself everytime they say "our classroom."

They all entered the room, neither one of them was willing to be left behind and Laine was surprisingly quiet through it all, just silently tailing them, and copying their every movement.

"Nothing's changed," James said, raising his arms beside him.

"No, wait." Sammy raised a hand and approached the board, her brows furrowing as she stared at what's written on it.

No light was turned on but the green tinged moonlight that's coming from the outside was enough for them to see that a date was written on it and it was in Sammy's handwritting. It said: August 11, 2017, the day the incident happened in the real world version of this classroom. Their faces flocked the words that was written in chalk, still pondering what it meant. The other classrooms were empty. Really empty. Even the boards were pristine clean, free of dust as if it was never touched and constantly maintained. But this one-- it was used, white powdery smudges were still present from previous works.

They're eyes skimmed it's details like they were appreciating art, the whole room silent and dim. Until it wasn't anymore. Their eyes almost got blinded when a new kind of light went through the windows. The green faded and was replaced by a grayish white light, the kind they grew accustomed to in the real world whenever rain was expected to pour. Fei blinked fast trying to see past through it but there was nothing on display past the windows. It was just gray, like a canvas forgotten by it's pianter.

A tapping sound echoed in the room and their heads scanned the whole place frantically. The sound bounced off everywhere and it's origin was difficult to pinpoint but slowly and gently, the trailing echoes stopped and the sound concentrated onto one spot of the room and it was the board.

Sammy let out a shaky breath as she stepped away from it, the others doing the same thing behind her. It tapped and tapped until it became a familiar scrapping and that's when they realized that it sounded like a chalk scraping against a board.

New letters appeared on the borad and their eyes reflected the new characters as it formed little by little. Fei gasped when she recognized the words in front of her-- it was the lesson their teacher was writing when the writing on the board happened. Did that mean that they could write back, too? Did it came from here? And if it is, who wrote it--

Fei's question answered itself when Sammy lunged herself at the board, picking up the chalk at lightning speed. Her hand was almost a blur as it scribbled something and Fei's eyes widened when Sammy stepped aside and she saw the word "help" written by her. That's it! Sammy was the
one who wrote it from this side. Fei's brain went into a deep delve into her memory when she remembrered that Sammy was absent the day the incident happen. She called in sick and she may have never found out the real story behind the occurance.
She never knew what words appeared on the board but here she was now, writing the exact same words, unknowingly repeating the cycle. The others from the other side was probably in chaos right now. Sammy had no idea what she had just done, she was desperate to send her messege across dimensions that she forgot to think about the implications.

It was Sammy all along.

"Is anyone there?" Sammy said, her hand writing the same words. Her eyes were watering and she was giddy on her feet, not knowing that the people on the otherside had already ran out of the room, and no one was paying any attention to it anymore.

There was no response, just as Fei thought.

Sammy went for the board again, racing against something imaginary and she wrote the last word that only Fei was the only one brave enough to look back to at the real wolrd.

"Please help us". She wrote and she never would have thought that in the near future that she would be included in the word us. The chalk in Sammy's hand snapped and it seemed like a sign telling them to stop trying.

Everyone's face had became solemn as they watched Sammy's knees hit the floor in defeat.

"This was the closest way home but... I can't understand," she said, her voice shaking as tears threathened to pour. Her hand reached up and touched the lecture that the teacher had written. It had stopped minutes ago. Hinting them that the connection was already over. "Why did it stopped responding?" she asked, her voice small and heartbreaking. The failed attempt crumpled another foundation of hope inside them, some showed it on their faces, some hid it well, but this world was ruthless and it never gave them a chance to grieve when a figure appeared out of thin air.

The feet was the first one to make it's appearance known, disturbingly laying on the floor barefoot until it grew up to it's knees and towards it torso. It stayed quiet a while on that part that it made them wonder why it's taking too long but they soon found out why. They took small steps backwards as an idea formed in their heads. It has a long upper body and it's already arching it's back just to fit the room. It formed and formed until it's shoulders materialized next and it went to it's neck until it finished with it's face, materializing in front of them at point blank range. Sammy, who was taking the lead was on the front of it all, her nose was already touching it's own and they took bated breaths as it opened it's mouth wide enough to fit them all.

"Class is over," it said, it's voice low and loud as it's mouth took exaggerated movements for words. It's eyes were dark swirling orbs that's as big as Sammy's head. They would know because they were watching it all from behind her.

There was a beat and a blood curdling scream ripped through Sammy's throat.

"GET AWAY! GET AWAY!" she yelled, her arms flailing and her eyes shut tight as she tried to fend it off.

"Stab it in the face!" James yelled from his spot and Mark came running in, knife at the ready.

"Don't tell me what to do!" he yelled back and his other hand pulled Sammy by the collar and threw her by the side while the other went in for a full swing, stabbing the monster right at it's cheek.

They were about to celebrate as they admired the assault that they'd made but it was shortlived when the knife was pulled into it's flesh, it's skin completely absobing it, not even retaining any scratch.

"I-I don't think we'll be able to beat this monster," Mark said as he stepped back, dread taking over him at the phycal invulnerability of their opponent.

"Move!" James said in a rush and Mark moved aside just as a knife came flying in from behind him, only missing him by an inch. It was a bull's eye and it burried itself into the monster's forehead. Still, it gave no reactions and they went on a full on flight mode despite it's lack of movement.

James threw the door open, a loud thud resounding the room as he yelled at them like a commander, cursing them to get out of the room. Everyone rushed out as they were told, pulling someone next to them whenever they can. Once they made it out in the hallway, they didn't gave it any chances and continued on running, adrenaline pumping in their veins.

Fei looked back at the utter and complete chaos that was left in the room, the action familiar as she did so. The real world version of their classroom filtered in her eyes' lenses and she could see her and her other classmates cowering in the hallways again, seeing the words for the very first time. Back then, it was not a monster that drove them out of the room, it was written words. It was merely words if you really think about it. And if you were her now, you wouldn't think those words were something to be scared of anymore. Now that she's in a different world, she finally saw it in a different light. Instead of a poultergeist, she now saw it as distress signal purposely ignored, and twisted in ways that no one would listen to it. And instead of being scared, it had now made her sad. They just lost another way of getting home.