Z I M A  R E G I U M

I widened my eyes, hearing my name called out. Akio looked at me with a sympathetic look as I tightly gripped the baseball bat on my hand. I could feel the looks of my new classmates at me as I gulped.

I can't believe it. It was already my turn. And unfortunately, it was night time. Which means, ghosts are lurking around the hallway. I then looked up at the speaker, hearing a few twisted laughters erupting from it.

I then glared at it before answering them with a cold tone.

"I choose dare." The twisted laughters faded down a bit as a girl quickly answered me.

Her tone was a little bit cold and a bit sinister. In simple words, she sounded like a real demon. She only said one phrase that gave me the shivers down my spine.

"Goodluck." The laughters then left, making it too silent for my liking. I then approached the table, picking a folded paper on the hat before opening it.

Upon reading it, I knitted my eyebrows in confusion. This was a bit longer than normal. Also, this was different. Why does it feel like something bad's going to happen?

I read it once again, making sure that I didn't miss anything important. Looking at the dare, I gulped. This was really challenging.

D A R E
Find Shin Takara on the 3rd Floor of this building. He would likely roam around near the music room and the photography room. Once you find him, gather the following without dying in his grasp: his name tag, his camera, his notebook, and his sister. You only have 30 minutes to do this and five minutes to go back. Goodluck.

I then approached the door, giving one last glance to my classmates. They return the look I gave them, a worried look plastered on their faces. I'll see them soon. I'm sure of it. I opened the door, holding the bat tightly before running to my right.

I could hear a young girl calling out behind me, making me run faster. Not today, ghost. Seeing the stairs almost in view, I ran much faster to lose her. I then went upstairs, looking for a guy wandering the halls.

Seeing one, I asked him.

"Hey, are you Shin?" I asked, seeing him turn around. He glared at me, his cold lifeless eyes made me stumble back. Why the hell does he look like Akio? I backed away a bit too fast but then saw him walking towards me in a menacing pace.

When he was almost near, I ran back downstairs, hearing his footsteps behind me. I then saw a little girl on the end of the hallway, mentioning me to follow her. Shin was getting near so I looked back, trying to hit him with a baseball bat.

I thought that it would go right through him since he was ghost and all. I was wrong though. He grabbed it, pulling it out of my grasp in ease. I then widened my eyes before running where I last saw the girl.

"O-nii-san!" the girl yelled, making Shin stop directly on his tracks. He just stared at the girl in disbelief, making me a bit far from him. The girl then ran back towards me, grabbing my hand to make me run even faster.

"Come on!" she told me before we turned right and went inside the Martial Arts room. I then saw multiple bodies, making me look at them in interest. I never really admitted it to anybody but I'm a bit of a sadist. I love watching people killed and looking at dead bodies.

But I would not kill a person just to satisfy myself with the result.

She then mentioned me to one of the bodies, making me look at it. It was Shin's body with his name tag pinned on his left. I then took it out as the girl grabbed my hand once again before running outside and went downstairs.

This time, she gave me a bloody key. We then stopped in front of a locker, with a name Shin on it. I then opened it with the key, seeing the camera and his notebook.

Alright, I got the three items.

But where the hell was his sister?

I then felt a tug on my jacket, making me look down. The girl then mentioned me to follow her as we went back upstairs and to the 2nd Floor. There, I saw Shin, leaning on the wall. He looked back at us, finally giving a smile.

"I see you found my sister," he said, making me jump a bit. His voice was deeper than Akio and a bit serious than him. But they were very similar to each other. He raised his eyebrows at me before walking towards us.

"O-nii-san!" The little girl greeted her brother before hugging him. For the first time in this hell hole and one of a kind academy, I smiled.

He then smiled at me before looking down at his sister. I then looked at the items on my hand before giving it to him. He then knitted his eyebrows before pushing it back to me.

"Give it to Jun. She'll need it more than I do." I then looked at him, a bit shocked about what he said. He knows Jun? How the hell? They didn't even met yet, right?

I then saw his sister waving goodbye at me as they both walked into the vast hallway, disappearing after a minute. I then ran back to my classroom and opened the door.

Jun looked at me, smiling. Seeing the items on my hand, she gave me a confused look. Akio, on the other hand, was looking at Jun's DSLR. He seems a bit too focused to even notice that I was back.

"Here you go, Jun." I then gave her the items, making her look up at me with a knitted eyebrow, a confused look on her face.

"What's this?" she asked me as I answered her question.

"Shin told me to give it to you," I said as Akio finally looked up, ignoring the DSLR on his hands. He puts the camera down on his lap before giving me a puzzled look as he heard Shin's name.

This guy is jealous. I'm sure of it.

"Shin?" Akio asked as I saw Jun looking down at the items I gave her. She looked up at me before giving me a sweet smile.

"I'll work on it as soon as possible. It might take me an hour but I'll be sure to solve it," she said as Akio turned to her, giving her a raised eyebrow. She then nodded to me as I already understood what she meant.

She already met Shin.