Chapter 5: Bonfire

" I fell asleep?" Adam said, puzzled. His eyes were still drooping, but he felt somewhat refreshed. Taiwo was sitting next to him and had just woken him up.

The room was lit, Kelvin and Kaleb were standing in front of a mirror dressing up.

Kelvin looked extremely handsome in his casual wear, and Adam didn't know if it was him or if Kelvin seemed somehow different.

While Kaleb, well, bodyguard pose as always with blank looks.

The room was spacious, with two bunks far apart, leaving a large center occupied by bags and other items. Taiwo was beside Adam, observing him.

"How long have I been asleep?" Adam asked.

"Not sure, but when we woke up, you were still sound asleep. We were about to leave, so I thought I should wake you up," Taiwo responded matter-of-factly.

_What the heck? I fell asleep for that long,_ Adam thought. It was one thing if he fell asleep and woke up before them, but another if they woke up before him. He would be completely defenseless at that time they were awake who knows what happened?

_And what with the headache?_

"Are you all right? What happened to your hand?" Taiwo asked outstretching his left hand to touch the said arm which suddenly made Adam jerk up.

"What?" Adam looked at his arm and saw bloody marks. His face went blank, It looked like the handy work of fingers.

_I did that to myself? Wait, something's wrong, what's up with the headaches,_

His yell turn the gazes of  duo who were dressing in front of the mirror to him.

They all had puzzled expression.

Adam held his head, shutting his eyes in the process.

He was trying to remember something.

Some flashing memories which were extremely blurry passed through his mind, everything about it seemed so weird, and intense emotions started building up in him when he tried to remember the content.

_ A dream_

Adam thought. He couldn't remember the content, but he started remembering the emotions he felt. He felt despair, such strong and intense despair that he didn't think he had ever felt anything like it.

_What's going on?_ Adam pondered, yet he still couldn't remember the dream or remember doing that to himself.

"Adam?" Taiwo pulled him out of his trance when he saw his weird actions.

"I'm fine, just trying to recall something" Adam responded before asking, "The party will start soon, right?" While asking, he got up and left his bed,  then proceeded to grab some clothes, making sure they didn't have any weird smell before putting them on, after all, they weren't his.

Then he looked at himself in the mirror out of curiosity, but that took a lot of courage to do because of fear of what he might see, what if he too had that dead man's skin.

But to his shock, he still retained his facial look, he was still him.

_ This doesn't make any sense, what happened to the real Obehi? and shouldn't the father have been puzzled when I first arrived at the receptionist hall_

After pondering on it and finding no reasonable explanations, Adam unnaturally threw the conjecture out of his mind.

The four of them left their rooms and met other students who were their neighbors. They proceeded to the elevator.

They were going to take the stairs, but Adam had strongly decided against that. _My life is too precious,_ he thought, after all, he had been warned not to do so.

When he got into the elevator, the rest followed suit, but previously Adam noticed their unnatural and creeping look when they were heading toward the stairs. Coupled with the corridor that used light sensors, meaning you would be shrouded by darkness amidst the light, that was one of the reasons he had decided to take the elevator instead.

Still, he felt some lingering fear. _Things aren't as they look_ he thought. But when they got into the elevator, their expressions became normal again, and chattering began. Adam quietly stood at the back, silently chanting in his heart, "They better not do anything weird."

****************

"New kid, what class are you in? You seem pretty young," a girl with braided hair said, engaging in a conversation with Adam. But he had already lost interest in the conversation, partly due to the girl's looks - pale skin- and partly to his mental state.

He was busy observing the other through his side view, taking note of any kind of threat towards him, but nothing happened.

Shadows could be vaguely seen around a huge bonfire in the middle of a field,

It seemed like a normal hang-out, there were drinks and some snacks, and other than the place being dimly lit, everything seemed... Normal?

" You are not listening, are you?."

"Hmm? No, I'm not ... I have to go meet my friends" Adam roughly gave an excuse and left the girl. He sighed as he worked around, they all looked normal, and the danger he expected to meet here didn't occur, if not for their pale skin that looked like that of the dead, Adam would have mistaken them for real people, well they once were.

Speaking of wishes, Adam didn't even know his state, if he was dead or alive, what was going on on the other side right now, the other captured kids, if he was dead and his body had been dumped, if this was the land of the dead, if he was one of them, and the trial he had to pass was for every dead soul.

But Adam didn't want to think of that, it would have been better if he was dead and had no consciousness, then been dead and having one, then contemplating on whether he was dead or not.

Sigh!

_ Complications, this is what adults face, ... Uh, what's that?_

Adam caught a movement in the trees nearby, on looking closely he could see a man with broad shoulders squatting, he seemed to be tailing someone. The man was going deeper into the woods as his direction was towards the woods directly opposite the other building which is beside the boys' dorm where the field is stationed.

But due length of the Field and from where the students are roaming, seeing the man shuddered in trees and squatted is extremely hard, Adam only saw him by accident and partly because he was closer to the woods and away from the bonfire.

Out of curiosity, Adam walked closer to the man, but there was still a distance between him, it was right at that moment he could see who is been tailed, it was a male and a female.

_Interesting, probably I can get clues from this and get more points, no wait, what if I put my life in danger by doing this?_ but Adam still went forward, creating distance behind the unknown man and followed them into the woods.

Adam looked behind him and saw he had created distance from the circles of kids, on seeing the numbers, ranging up to hundreds, Adam gulped.

_ imagine if all of them attacked me_ Adam still viewed himself as an outsider.

He turned his gaze forward and followed behind the man who was tailing behind the students.

_ I wonder what is going on, that man doesn't look like a student, probably a teacher, but I wonder what he is up to_

Adam kept thinking of possibilities, and unknowingly they left the field and went around the first building area through the woods, now they were at the back of the second building, it was for the girls' quarters.

The school surroundings was indeed huge, especially the woods close to the wall and the fields, Adam could barely see any students and the light from the bonfire was his measurement of the distance back to the party.

"Uh?" Adam heard a twig snap behind him and turned to look back, an enlarged fist covered his sight.

Pain assaulted his nose and cheeks, Adam dropped to the ground after a growl, before he could think things through, his legs were abruptly been dragged, his body was on the ground and his feet were the only thing above ground, been dragged

Adam yelled, but the pain made him shut up, coupled with the fear and panic, quite an experience.

Before he knew it, his feet were slammed to the ground, and a strong grip got hold of his hand, pulling him up.

" On your feet and move"

Not knowing what was going on, Adam obeyed immediately, he staggered towards the direction he was told to go and entered a small compartment, Adam managed to get a glimpse of his surroundings before he was shoveled into the small structure, the place was close to the wall. it was the first time he had seen the wall, the height is so long, he can't even see the end with a glimpse

Adam didn't need to touch his face to realize there was blood on him, the pain was intense but not as intense as his fears.

_ I'm in danger now!_

"Sit right there!", the culprit who dragged him earlier yelled, Adam compelled, not before looking at the other captives, they seemed to be students.

The place was freakishly dark, students were sitting around, with their hands tied, Adam could barely make out their facial looks, the dim light wasn't enough for that.

His hands got tied up too, the culprit then used a piece of clothing to wipe Adam's bloody nose.

" There, I don't think your nose is broken" The man gave a sinister smile.

The psychological blow to Adam's mind could not be rated, the ominous feeling of being back in that room gripped his heart, this looked very much like it, except his hands were tied and he wasn't starved yet.

Adam was getting uncomfortable, but the feeling in his heart, or rather in his mind, felt familiar, he had been in a similar situation, where?

_ The dream_ yes the dream he had earlier.

He remembered a fragment of it now, he was sitting in a room, like this, and his hands were tied but that wasn't the problem.

Adam looked beside him and saw naked captives, they looked bony with their head hung low, what got Adam's attention next was the other strangers, they looked Ominous.

It was s group of stiff beings, their figures swaying motionless, they were dressed in complete red, including their hoodies, and they stood in a formant leaving an aisle at their center.

The first sets had their backs facing Adam while the sets at the opposite side of the aisle had their frontal facing Adam, they had no face only darkness could be seen in the hoodie

At that moment of observation, something else caught his attention, another set of beings was walking on the aisle, their movements slow, and the whole scene seemed eerie.

Unlike the others, the newcomers were dressed in white, and uneven dots of red could be seen stained on the whites. A figure walked through the aisle followed by another man and it continued that way.

Just like the others, this new set had hoodies over their heads, and their facial figures could not be seen underneath, just darkness.

When the fifth person walked by, the next person entered Adam's view, Adam's heart froze, his gaze fixed on the next figure.

Adam could smell blood in the air, the surrounding walls that came into his view were dyed red, a strange melody resounded in his ear, and his eyes fixed on that being.

Slowly and ominously the figure raised its head and faced Adam, only darkness met Adam's view, and when things couldn't get any scary, the figure's hand slowly took off the hoodie and a face that tore Adam's eyes almost tore Adam's heart, it was hideous and yet he couldn't remember what it looked like.

Yelling, Adam's view came back to the present and what met him next were the strange gazes.

Adam's heart was trembling with trepidation, yet those around him didn't know that, they thought someone had gone crazy.

" Why the sudden yell?" One of the captors asked and before Adam could respond, a door was pushed open.

" Well, well, boys we are going to have a feast tonight," a familiar voice said lecherously, behind him were some other boys.

_ Kelvin?_ Adam recognized the owner of the voice, he got happy but then, his face fell at what he heard next.

" I know you guys will need a few students to carry away, but let's enjoy them first ... But wait why are they boys among them, oh, don't tell me some of you like men." Kelvin had a fiendish laugh.

" And why is it so dark in here? someone turn on the light"

The lights came on, and yep that is him, Kelvin.

On seeing his figure clearly, Adam confirmed he wasn't mistaken and soon he became puzzled.

Kelvin's gaze swept the room like a predator eying his prey, and then his gaze met Adam's, kelvin froze for a second, before facing the man next to him.

Pointing towards Adam " And why is he here? Didn't you get the info that a new kid came?"

" We did, but ... I caught him tailing one of our men in the bush, seems suspicious.

I have chosen him as one of those we will take" The man responded indifferently

" He is a new kid, what if his parents ask for him?"

"That's exactly why I'm choosing him, he is a new kid, so you don't expect his parents to be worried about him, just when he is newly brought. Your principal will handle the communication between him and his parents via letter or whatever. It will take months before they notice anything wrong."

The man responded plainly.

Kevin shrugged and turned his gaze somewhere else, because of the now bright room, Adam could see clearly, so noticing the features of Monica wasn't a problem.

Resting silently on the wall sat a girl, her hair wasn't braided like most, it was short and straight, and she had brown skin,  that seemed to be too smooth, despite being pale, did nothing to spoil its beauty, she was Monica, of course Adam didn't know her name yet.

Pretty-faced Monica, right now, was squatting on the floor like the rest of them, her hands tied, her face looked up and guilt would build up to anyone who saw such sight, she looked pitiful, and behind all that was hatred, she was looking at Kelvin.

" You know, you could just accept me, hm? we don't have to go through this process" Kelvin muttered, his name eyes suddenly seemed unfathomable, and Adam still couldn't believe that this was the guy who gave him a warm welcome.

Suddenly, a door banged open, a young man who was a student - Kaleb, stood at the door, he had a panicked expression.

" Boss, the teachers are acting up again, salami asked us to handle it." In a low tone, he added " he seems to be threatening us".

Kaleb having those facial expressions seemed weird coupled with his pale and dried skin, but Adam didn't have time to ponder on that, his heart was in a mess trying to piece things together.

" Did they suddenly get bored and decide to act up?" Kelvin responded to no one in particular.

Behind him were people Adam thought to be his boys, and what about those three guys, they didn't look like students, more like grown-up men, they had iron-clad faces standing straight and expressionless.

" Fine, let's go check it out, this can wait"

Kevin walked out, he looked like a boss indeed, deep in white long-sleeved black trousers, they seemed to compliment his features more.

The others followed leaving behind the three men,they stood at a corner of the room.

" I don't want to suffocate in here" someone mused before walking out.

" Perch, where are you heading?!" Another yelled why following behind him, and a conversation between him and Perch started outside. And the last man, well, the guy just shook his head bitterly, " I can only wait" and murmured while glancing at the room almost full of students before turning off the lights and heading out.

After the iron door jammed, Adam was sure everyone in the room could hear the rattling noise outside, the chain binding the door, and somehow it made fear creep into Adam's heart.

The small room has two doors, Adam sat close to one of the doors which he came in from, earlier he saw one of the captors lock the door with a key and the other door is where the rattling noise came from.

"Hu...." Adam sighed, he took his head back and stared at the dark, a suffocating silence fell in the room, rasping breathing could be here, but none of that concerned him,  'that's why I chose him' was the only thing that was in his head.

He was too smart to not know what that meant, There was a high probability of death, but he didn't regret tailing the man though, sooner or later he was going to fall into mischief, Adam was sure of this.

Tailing the man and getting caught was just him getting into the mischief quickly, a mission of surviving a night was no joke.

_ No, I shouldn't stay here and wait for my outcome, I need to get out of here, this is like before when I was starved and powerless, this mission must be passable somehow _

_ wait, it just tells me to survive a night, so I can do things like there is no tomorrow right?_

_ If only I could escape and hide and wait for morning_

_ What if morning doesn't come and I stay here forever? Maybe I need to complete the mission before I can get out of here_

_ wait, isn't the mission for me to survive a night, _

[Survive a night at First-grade boarding school. ____50%

Figure out why the students can't leave the school ---- 20%

What is their fate? ____20%

Change the storyline ____ 10% plus a new random spin at the Bonger's wheel]

Weirdly enough he could remember the detailed mission requirements.

_I need to get out of here... Ahhh, this rope is so tight I need to free myself from here_  Thoughts rang through his mind, as he tried to comfort himself somehow and find ways to get out.

Suddenly, Adam's eyes shone with brilliant light.

_ Oni!_