(This is one segment that I'm certain I'm going to have to go back over and do some rethinking on. It doesn't quite seem to fit what I'm picturing in my head, and I'm not certain if I'm conveying the scene properly. Let me know if you guys can visualize this little snippet, or if there's a spot that needs clarification, expanding, or editing. I'm not 100% happy with this scene, but at the same time I don't want to get bogged down here and lose the general flow of the story as it's currently floating around in my head. I revisit this with some heavy thought in the future to see if I can bring it out more to my satisfaction.)
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Uncertain what to do or where to go, Rebecca glanced down the hall towards the other rooms, and then in the other direction towards the stairs to the first floor. Forcing her feet to move one small step at a time, she hugged the wall tight and crept ever so cautiously towards the staircase before peeking nervously around the side to glance down. The stairs were covered with another layer of thick green moss and vines, and a large mound of dense slimy greenery was heaped up at the stairwell landing where the stairs turned back and continued on down under the upper hall, and the odor of overripe flesh rotting hung over everything.
Gagging slightly from the stench, Rebecca cautiously crept down the slippery steps, making certain to test each step fully before she relied on putting her balance on it, as she eased down to the landing. Leaning, glancing around the edge and on down the steps to the first floor, there was another large mound of grassy moss heaped up at the bottom of the landing that almost blocked the way completely. If it was just a little closer, or a little wider, the only way down to the bottom would require climbing over the mound itself before getting to the bottom floor.
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Curious about why a mound of moss might be growing here, when the staircase had been empty that morning when she had started to take Matthew down it, Rebecca slowly tugged at the vines and moss to pull them aside. At first, the vines were difficult to pull, seeming to be stuck to something, but with a little insistent force, she pried them apart, letting the stench of putrid decay burst forth in a wave that made her stomach churn and her stomach almost expel the Eggos she’d eaten for breakfast that morning. Eyes watering and nose burning, she slowly leaned forward to inspect inside the small opening she’d torn in the mound.
“BLAAAARRRGGGGHHHH!” Knees buckling, Rebecca dropped the sword she was holding and fell on all fours as the contents of her stomach sprayed everywhere.
Guts. The vines were growing in someone’s soft flesh and when she’d pulled them apart, she’d ripped open whoever’s stomach they had grown into. By sticking her head to where she could see, she was greeted with the view of intestines spilling out someone’s midsection, and vines trying to take root and use the decaying flesh to grow.
The mounds at the platform and at the bottom of the steps were the piled up remains of her classmates who had either fallen, or been pushed down, the landings as everyone tried to rush down and away from the monsters above in their mindless fury to escape.
For a brief second, her mind wondered if perhaps the person she’d saw was her classmate, or even her teacher, and then her stomach instantly recoiled and she was back spewing what felt like everything she’d ever eaten in her life out amongst the mossy steps.