Chapter Twenty - Sometimes you can't save everyone...

Amanda Walker was hiding in a closet, tears were streaming from her eyes and she was trembling with fear like a green leaf, her breathing was fast and she was on the verge of a complete nervous breakdown, the only thing that kept her from screaming was her own hands, with which she choked her own mouth, she was watching the classroom decrepit through the cracks in the cabinet, her eyes wide open with pure fear.

How had things come to this?

She and her friends just wanted to be part of the cool girls, she thought it would finally stop the bullying, that it would make them get along with everyone, maybe even get a boyfriend, she never imagined it would be the beginning of her biggest nightmare.

Amanda and her two best friends, Julia and Isabella, constantly suffered at the hands of other girls. Amanda was extremely shy, her face was marked with freckles and her self-esteem was almost nonexistent, Julia was very short and chubby, the cool girls used to tease her height and weight, and Isabella, Isabella had everything to be one of the popular girls, she was thin and beautiful, but she was poor, very poor, and her father, he worked as a janitor at the school, which caused her to be ostracized.

The three had become best friends, united by the common pains, but the three longed to be popular.

The answer came to them in a 'magic' way, Amanda was in the library when she accidentally dropped a book, when she bent down to pick it up she saw something stuck under the bookcase, her curiosity made her take the object, only to realize it was an old diary worn-looking.

The diary belonged to a girl named Elisabeth, it contained all the details of her life.

When reading her diary, Amanda felt extremely close to Elisabeth, they had a lot in common, just as she, Elizabeth was shy, loved books and was an outcast in her school days. But everything changed on a certain night, according to Elisabeth she and her best friend found a ritual in an old book, after performing the ritual Elisabeth got what she always wanted, from that day on she was completely transformed.

Her shyness disappeared as if it had never existed, her body changed and she became stunning, she went from nobody to the queen of the school, the entire description of how to perform the same ritual was written in the diary.

Amanda shared the diary with her friends, the ritual in question needed at least two people and after much preparation they decided to perform the ritual during the summer vacation.

Isabella stole her father's keys so that they could enter the school, Amanda and Julia managed to gather all the ingredients described in the diary, after this, when the girls managed to gather enough courage they finally decided to go ahead with the ritual.

They chose to perform the ritual during the summer, because, according to Isabella's father, the school security guards were so bored that they slept all the time during the students' vacations. The complaints of Isabella's father proved to be real when the girls managed to easily pass through the sleeping security guard.

They went to the library and started the ritual described in the diary. The ritual was quite simple; at three in the morning on a new moon night, bring a glass chalice and a silver dagger to the center of the library, draw a circle with white chalk on the floor and place twelve beeswax candles evenly spaced, the participants should cut the center of the left palm and dripping their blood into the silver chalice, all must enter the circle together and recite the sacred chant in the night.

The diary continued with a chant made of meaningless words, Amanda and her friends spent days rehearsing to memorize the words, they performed the ritual as described in the book and for a moment it seemed that it had not worked.

Amanda was disappointed, but what did she expect? Did she really believe that a magical ritual would solve all of her problems? Maybe everything in the diary was just delusions from a girl like her, or worse, it could all be a setup from the mean popular girls, a new way to humiliate her and her friends.

They were ready to return home, defeated, when the nightmare began, the school corridors was different, long and with no apparent end, they could not see anything outside the windows, only the light of a non-existent moon that illuminated vaguely the hallways, all classrooms had the doors wide open, and were completely empty, with bits and pieces of text, mathematical formulas, and similar random things written in white chalk on the boards.

The girls were already on the verge of despair when the nightmare became worse, the classrooms and corridors started to become more and more degraded and the boards are so covered that their writings was intelligible.

It was then that the girls began to hear the sound of laughter. Amanda wanted to run, Julia fell on her knees on the floor, unable to take any more steps, Isabella pulled out a small knife and shouted at whatever it was that did not approach them, or she would open it from belly to neck.

A series of laughs was the answer to her bravado.

A female figure began to approach the dark corridor, the figure looked normal until the one of the girl's lantern lit up her face. Eyes of a full lifeless black color and a smile that went from ear to ear, covered with sharp teeth, the figure began to twist and break in front of the girls growing and stretching the limbs, the jaws stretching and opening,large enough to swallow them completely, it was at that moment that Amanda ran.

She regretted that, leaving her friends behind and running alone, Julia's cry of despair would chase her to the end of her life, she remembered seeing Isabella try to push the creature away and get caught, her body tucked in on those horrible jaws, she wanted to help, she wanted to save them, but the only thing her body did was run, Amanda ran with everything she had, she ran until the ruined walls became covered with dried blood, when she can't managed to run no more, she hid herself into one of the classrooms.

The room was the most twisted room she had ever seen, something red and some unidentifiable meaty thing were scattered on the broken chairs and tables, the only thing standing was the closet in which she hid, the board in the room was the worst thing, above all. In white chalk that covered the board, a word written in red blood color stood out.

TRAITOR

She was there now, crying desolated, full of disgust for herself, she knew there was no escape, it was a matter of time before the creature found her, she regretted everything, wanting to be popular, having found the diary, to have shown it to her friends, to have accepted to perform the ritual and, mainly, to have run and left his two best friends behind.

"Aaaamaaaaaaandaaaaaaaaaaa...." A frightening voice called out to her, the strange creature entered the classroom. Amanda pressed her mouth harder, too scared to even breathe.

"Let's play, Amanda..." the creature scoffed. "Don't you want to see your friends?" the figure disappeared from Amanda's line of sight, her eyes began to darken with the lack of oxygen and she forced herself to breathe just a little.

"I FOUUUUUUND YOU!" The creature screamed, as she rolled up the closet doors, Amanda didn't even have time to scream before the creature's huge twisted arm grabbed her by the neck and hurled her against the blackboard.

"Argh!" Amanda moaned in pain, twisting herself into a fetal position.

The creature laughed with macabre pleasure. "Run Amanda! Run! it's not funny if you don't even try!"

Amanda struggled to come in her feets, her heart was racing and she ran out the door and into the dark corridor, the creature followed her with a macabre laugh, "Run Traitor! Run faster, I'm almost catching you!" the creature was getting closer and closer.

Amanda's lungs could not take it anymore and she started to lose speed, the creature took the opportunity to hit her with her arm, throwing Amanda against the wall of the corridor, Amanda tried to get up but the creature holds her, stepping on her chest with her crocked legs. The creature brought its hideous face close to Amanda and whispered:

"Enough playing Amanda! It's time to eat..." The creature's jaws started to open and a rancid smell filled Amanda's nose, she wanted to scream, but the weight on her chest prevented her, she cried without stopping and, in a way, she felt she deserved that, she deserved that end, killed by an abomination to abandon her friends, she closed her eyes.

A whistled song filled your ears.

The whistling sound came from the corridor, It made the creature stop its attack, it turned towards the sound and screamed; "WHO'S THERE?"

Something crossed the air at high speed.

The creature let out the loudest, most guttural cry Amanda had ever seen, she realized that the weight on her chest had lessened, she opened her eyes to see that the creature's leg had been cut by something, its strange foot in the shape of claw was the only thing left, still clinging to her chest, she looked at the creature, the creature was squirming on the ground holding the stump of the torn leg.

"MY LEGGGGGGG!!!!"

A dark figure crossed the corridor at high speed and grabbed the creature by the remaining leg, he lifted the huge creature with unatural easiness, hitting it against the ceiling and the floor three times, in an absurd display of strength, throwing it against the corridor wall with such force that the creature destroyed the wall and fall iside the class.

The figure finally became visible to Amanda, he was clearly a broad man, dressed in a black hooded jacket, his face was covered with a strange black dragon mask with horns and fangs that covered his entire face, his eyes had a strange bright color of golden amber.

"Are you okay?" the figure asked.

Amanda nodded her head positively.

"Good, I'm going to take care of the lady and I'll be back to help you... Here" The man made a hand move and pulled a blue blanket out of nowhere, he put the blanket over Amanda's shoulders and only then did she realize that her clothes ware in tatters. "Will not be long..."

The man prepared to enter the room, where the creature moaned in pain, when Amanda grabbed his leg. "Wait..." the words came out with difficulty. "My friends!"

"Your friends?" The figure was confused, he turned to a direction in the void and asked "Tia, do you feel anyone else?"

The figure was silent for a few seconds and I continue "Is there any way to save them?" again he was silent, "Okay, let's do this!" the figure turned to Amanda. "Don't worry, I'm going to save your friends."

The figure entered the room and Amanda tried to drag herself to observe through the hole, she could not see anything in the darkness of the classroom, the little light that came from the window in the corridor only let her see that the man was crouching over the creature.

"Spit!" the man's voice rang out. The creature did not respond, Amanda heard the sound of the man sighing and something breaking, and them the creature screamed in pain.

"Spit!" the man's voice rang out again. "Go to hell!" the monster screamed, another sound of something breaking, and more screams from the creature.

"Spit!" the man's voice sounded, now with a little tone of anger. "How… how can you hurt me? What are you?" the monster cried.

"SPIT!" the man screamed, several noises of things breaking, the creature let out a howl of primordial pain, so loud that Amanda had to cover her ears.

"PLEASE! Just spit them out! I don't want to hurt you anymore!" The man's tone was strange, he looked... displeasured?

The two were silent for a few seconds, the creature seemed to give up, the sounds that followed were the sounds of an animal vomiting, the man left the room with his two friends in his arms, they were covered with a strange mucus and were passed out, he put the two close to Amanda.

"What do I do now?" the Man asked, Amanda was confused, but he continued. "Just trade them... Yes, I'm sure! ... Since I decided to save them I will do the job until the end!" it was obvious that he was talking to someone seh can't see.

A series of points of light began to gather in the man's hands, then a glass bottle with a shiny golden liquid was in his hands, he poured a third of the liquid into the mouth of each of the passed out girls, he raised the bottle to Amanda and said, "Drink!"

Amanda couldn't even question it, she automatically obeyed the figure with bright eyes and drank the golden liquid, a warm sensation spread from her stomach all over her body and she felt her body's pains begin to subside.

The man turned to the room and went in again, the creature moaned and cried in pain. "What do I do with you?..." the man sighed.

"What ... what are you?" the creature moaned, the creature's shape began to diminish, becoming a girl again, tears were streaming down from her eyes, "Why... Why didn't anyone save me like that?", she cried. The Man crouched down in front of the ghost girl.

"I'm sorry," the man said, in a sweeter voice than Amanda expected for the situation.

"It will hurt?" the ghost girl asked.

"A little bit, I'll try to be quick"

"I never wanted any of this..." the ghost girl cried "I was just a normal girl! I had my whole life ahead of me! They took everything from me! Everything! And I got stuck here! For so long! With nothing and nobody! Only pain and hunger! So hungry!" her face started to change again.

The man touched her face tenderly, which brought her back to normal. "It's not your fault..." The man pulled her into her body and hugged her. "Don't worry, you can rest now..."

"I... I want to see the stars..."

The Man took the ghost girl in his arms and left the room, Amanda flinched with fear. The man approached the three girls, a strange black substance started to come out of the man's body, enveloping everyone and hitting the walls, creating strange cracks in the air itself. "Close your eyes." The man advised Amanda.

Amanda closed her eyes and heard a noise similar to broken glass, when she opened her eyes she was back in the library, next to the two friends.

"They'll be fine" the man said, "Anyway, you better call for help" he turned around and started to leave with the ghost girl in his arms.

"Wait! Who are you?" Amanda screamed.

"Nobody!" The man spoke without turning, but he stopped. "How did you get there?"

"We... did a ritual... the diary..." Amanda replied.

"Diary? What diary? " The man asked.

Amanda pointed to the diary on a table "There!"

The diary started to float and disappeared. "I'll take this!" the diary disappeared in the air, "Goodbye girl! Don't fall for another one like this, next time you may not be so lucky!"

The man turned, still with the ghost girl nestled in his chest and started to walk the distance, his figure began to become transparent in the air.

Amanda was soon alone with her friends.

"Unnng"

Amanda heard the groan of her friends waking up, she turned to look at the two, Julia and Isabella were sit in the ground. "What... what happened?"

Amanda hugged the two girls. "Isabella! Julia! Forgive me! Forgive me!" she was waiting to be pushed, but her two friends hugged her back. "I shouldn't have run! I shouldn't have done the ritual!"

"You fool, running was the best thing you could do! We should all have run!" Isabella replied.

"None of this is your fault, we decided to do the ritual together!" Julia replied.

The three girls stood there, hugging each other while crying, until the security guard found them and called an ambulance.

***

"I missed the stars so much..." The ghost girl in Locke's arms moaned softly, her figure was full of cracks. "Thank you..." she closed her eyes, her body started to fall apart in Locke's arms.

Locke was looking at the stars in silence.

"That was on purpose..." Tia said. "Someone trapped this poor girl's soul in that tiny rift on purpose! Someone made her become that thing! And someone made this diary to attract people!"

"I know" Locke was angry. "But I couldn't see who is to blame, I tried to look at her memories, but her memories were confusing... The faces... The faces were covered up... She didn't even remember her name... She just remembered the pain of losing everything... And I killed her!"

"Whoever did this was turning her into a monster, and she didn't want that..." Tia sighed "The world is a dark place, Locke... Sometimes you can't save everyone..."

Locke shrugged. "But I... I had to hurt her... torture her... I can't forgive myself for doing this..."

"It was the only way! Three girls are alive today because you saved them! Isn't that enough? "

"No, it's not."

Locke jumped from the school roof into the night sky.

***

Amanda woke up in a hospital bed with her mother at her side, the first thing she did was ask about her friends. Her injuries were practically nonexistent, in fact she felt in better shape than in her entire life, and they soon let her visit her friends.

The other girls was also fine, their injuries was a little more serious than Amanda's, but the doctors were amazed at the speed at which the girls condition improved.

The police asked Amanda a few questions and she reported everything that happened, without hiding anything, she expected to be called crazy, but the policemen's just looked at each other, one of them got up and took the radio out of his pocket.

"Central, we have a code ∄"

Soon after, both policemen left without asking more questions, a few minutes later two figures in suits entered Amanda's room.

"Hello Miss Walker, I'm Agent Durand and this is my partner Garrard. We both would like to hear more about last night."