CHAPTER 3

The skies became an eerily beautiful orange - red as the sun set beyond the horizons.

I stood outside the door for hours - listening to the eminent silence and the croaking of frogs far off.

" They had been gone for hours now "- I muttered beneath my breath as i paced around anxiously.

During my time there - I'd grown warily accustomed to the silence but now, it was beginning to feel unbearable .

I gulped my saliva down hard as i made a very daring decision - To go down that door as they had done.

I walked towards the small door, poking my head in for a better view - just to be sure that my journey would be safe and not....you know,life endangering.

My ears twitched- i didn't just know if it was just me being overly sensitive to sounds, but i could hear footsteps. Hurried footsteps - that sounded really desperate.

I instinctively moved my body aside, dodging a black figure that had suddenly jumped out of the dark. Panting as i collapsed to the floor,my knees weak and my legs trembling.

I stared at the figure for a while - eyes widening in horror as i screamed, scrambling backwards on all fours.

Blood!. All i saw was blood - splurting out and staining my face. It felt warm... and very sticky,with a strong metallic scent.

I looked up - for the first time noticing that the figure had no head,but it was wearing a school uniform identical to mine.

The body collapsed to the dusty floor, shaking for a few moment before becoming still.

I crawled towards the body, fighting my fears and my instincts to turn and flee. Approaching the decapitated body,i noticed a name tag on the left side of her breasts.

Ann Doyang.

I clasped my hands over my mouth, biting down my shock. The same girl who had found out about the door - was now laying down here,still and lifeless.

Trembling - i couldn't help but wonder what could have happened to the others.

Then i heard it again - the sounds of more footsteps approaching.

The other students burst out of the small door,each struggling to pass through at the same time. Pure horror etched on to their faces as they screamed out, their instincts to escape and survive going into overdrive.

They scratched,pushed and huddled over each other with blood stained bodies - some with missing limbs and gouged out eyes.

The scene terrified me.

"Shut the door, it's coming!!!!" - a female student shouted, pointing to the door with a maddened look in her eyes.

I sat down there - shocked, confused and at a loss for words. So many questions ran through my mind, i wasn't able to process all at once.

What was coming?.

Why were they looking like as though they'd escaped a zombie apocalypse?!

And where the hell was Josh?!!!.

My eyes trailed through the crowd, searching for that same old familiar back - stumbling through the crowd since my legs couldn't lift me anymore.

"Shut the godd*mn door!" - a male student yelled, cussing loudly.

"Someone's coming - " - the male student standing next to the door snapped back.

"It's Josh!!" - he cried out,his voice as loud as clear.

I ran towards the door ignoring the warning voices of everyone else - my mind was filled with only the thoughts of saving my friend.

Holding on to the door frame,i yelled out - screaming with all my might.

"Josh!!" - I called out his name in the darkness, vaguely seeing his familiar figure running towards me. But I heard no response.

"Josh, c'mon!!" - i screamed out harder this time. I heard a response - a grunt.

Behind him, another figure was quickly approaching - it seemed to be in chase but it's feet never touched the ground. And it was steadily catching up to Josh.

"Josh, faster!!" - I stretched out my hands into the darkness, listening to his jagged breathe.

I felt his hands making contact with mine as i yanked him out of the dark void allowing the other students to slam the door shut before 'it' could escape into the light.

The students found heavy stones, placing them in front of the door - securing it in place.

I sat on the floor - once again collapsed, staring at the sorry state Josh was in.

His face was scratched by what seemed to be fingernails and like everyone else,he was severely injured and loosing a large amount of blood.

"What the hell happened?!" - I asked,my voice piercing in the now dark,crest fallen skies.

"We've got to leave" - the male student who'd helped close the door stated.

"That's no answer to my question!" - I shot back at him.

"Cecilia is dead,Tomas didn't make it, Smith was stabbed, Jennifer was hung and Christopher was eaten alive" - a girl crouched down on the ground, rocking her trembling body as she spoke.

Looking at her state of mind - i could see that she was still in a state of shock,much so as the rest.

"We need to leave right now"- the previous student bumped into me,which made me stumble a few steps back.

"Let's go get Miss Swan and Mr Shawn" - a female student proposed to the approval of everyone.

One by one,they limped in search of the two supervisors.

I held on to Josh half- limped body,since he was too weak to walk by himself.

"Dude,you okay?" - i asked,worry laced in my voice.

He only groaned in agony, unable to make a sentence - let alone a word .

We walked away,with me half dragging Josh's heavy body. We searched around for the two teachers but couldn't find traces of them anywhere.

Instead,we found the old lady instead. Standing in the middle of the dirt road, looking desolated like the village itself.

"Ma, we're searching for Miss Swan and Mr Shawn. Have you seen them perhaps?" - a female student approached her.

"My,my!. I wonder why you might be searching for them" - the old lady said in a distorted voice, her head twisting backwards in a rotational 360° degrees.

"You've all been bad children, haven't you?"- she said,her body becoming longer - the sounds of her bones grating as she transformed before our eyes.

Her eyes became sulken and her lips were reddened with blood,her skin peeled off and a disgusting smell filled the air.

I held Josh's body, retreating backwards before half - sprinting as the crowd stumbled to find a way to escape.

Miss Swan's and Mr Shawn's fate were clear - and my bad hunch had been fulfilled.