With the backdoor to the classroom open, the freezing wind poured into the room. Sitting right next to the door, Jay tried to shield the wind by pulling his thin jacket closer to him, but to no avail. Surveying the room, his classmates didn't seem like they cared about the upcoming midterms. Laughing and shouting, one could not tell from the atmosphere that the midterms were around the corner. Still trying to fend off the autumn breeze, Jay suddenly felt a light tap on his shoulder. "Are you alright? You are shivering," a soft voice asked as Jay turned his head. It was Louis, his best and perhaps only friend in this high school. Jay stared blankly at Louis's face for an uncomfortable amount of time. There was always something so ethereal and enchanting about Louis's looks, something that Jay just couldn't explain. Because of his otherworldly looks, Louis also gained some attention from other girls and even some boys.
"Is there something on my face?" Louis asked, his dark pupils added a slight melancholic feel to his face. "My bad, I spaced out," Jay said, shaking his head as he snapped out of the trance. "What were you saying again?" Jay asked, trying to focus on anything other than Louis's face. "I was just checking on you," Louis said, putting half his weight on Jay's desk. "I'm alright. I just need a better jacket," Jay said, looking at Louis's outfit. Wearing only an oversized shirt and jeans, Jay couldn't understand why Louis could bear the chilling winds. "I could lend you my..." Louis was interrupted by the bell. The aluminum door opened, and the teacher walked in. His lifeless eyes and messy attire displayed his fatigue perfectly, he was too old to have the strength to deal with the noisy class.
"Back to your seats," he said with his raspy voice, which was easily drowned out by the dozens of voices. Eventually, they finally noticed the frail man in front of the classroom, slowly meandering back to their respective seats. Drowsy, Jay had no interest in the equations or whatever the teacher was teaching. But before he could drift off into dreamland, the alarms of all their phones went off simultaneously, the blaring noise instantly woke Jay up. No more than a couple of seconds, the whole classroom began to shake. "EARTHQUAKE!" one of the students screamed, as he hid under his desk. Jay panicked at first, but quickly forced himself to calm down. Some of the students hid under their desks, while others were on the ground, shivering in fear.
Looking at the ramshackle ceiling fans, Jay positioned himself away from under them. Louis followed him, the two of them squatted in the corner of the room, silently observing what was to follow. The lights began to flicker, fans gradually slowed down, and the phones all went off. Cracks spread throughout the drywall, dust falling from the ceiling. But before anyone could react, they were all assaulted by a wave of dizziness. Squatting, Jay's vision blacked out, his stomach acid was trying to find a way out. The putrid smell of puke and urine instantly filled the room. Slowly regaining his consciousness, Jay could feel someone patting his back. "What's wrong?" Louis asked, helping Jay back onto his feet. "You didn't feel that? The sudden wave of dizziness?" Jay replied, as he looked at the others who were in much worse condition than him. "Of course I did," Louis replied, suddenly getting a bit more defensive than usual, as if he were slightly panicking.
Reaching for his phone, Jay was going to call for some ambulances to check on his classmates. "Mass hysteria? Food poisoning?" he tried to come up with possible explanations for the weird phenomenon. "No service?" Jay thought, as he checked his phone's connection. "Can you try calling 911?" Jay asked Louis, since his phone somehow lost connection. Pulling out his phone from the pockets of his jeans, Louis also tried to call for some help. "No connection whatsoever," he said, shaking his head as his expression turned grim. The lights were out, the only thing that was lighting up the room were the rays of the afternoon sun shining through the lightly tinted windows.
But before Jay could allow his mind to wander off, the aluminum door began to tremble. Someone or something was banging on it, repeatedly and slowly increasing their strength. More dust fell from the cracks on the ceiling, the noise captured the attention of the students who remained conscious. "The door is unlocked!" Bill, a short-tempered student who often got into fistfights, shouted. But the one outside the door ignored him, they continued to bang on the door. A dent appeared on the hollow aluminum door as it slowly caved in. Grabbing Louis's arm, Jay yanked him towards the backdoor that was on the opposite corner of the classroom. The two stood next to the door, preparing to leave immediately if necessary.
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"What is wrong with you?" Bill shouted, as he opened the door. He was prepared to punch the person that was behind the door, but he suddenly froze in horror. Peaking through the
ajar door, Jay could see a grotesque figure staring right at them. Although humanoid, there was no chance that it was anything remotely close. It looked like a six-foot rat that was standing on its hind legs, with more human-like limbs and a long but powerful tail. "What the hell?" Bill exclaimed, as he backed up. Entering the room with a weird looking dagger in its hands, the monster screeched loudly. "FOOD! DELICIOUS FOOD!" it screamed in a high-pitched voice, as thick and putrid saliva slowly dripped from its mouth. Its long whiskers trembled, snout twitching as it took in the delicious smell of fresh prey.
Observing the monster, Jay suddenly felt a weird sensation. It felt as if something inside him was analyzing the creature, his pupils dilated. Foreign information began to flood his mind, informing him about everything about the monster.
[Ratmen, Commoner graded beast, behaves similar to a rat, not being picky about what they eat. Has the strength of a normal adult male, but with a sturdier body. If one loses its temper, will angrily lash out to anyone who dares to antagonize it.]
"What in the world is a Commoner graded beast?" Jay thought, backing up. Louis remained pretty calm as if a monster of this caliber was nothing for him to fear.
"TINY HUMAN, FOOD!" the ratman screeched, lashing out at Bill. Perhaps it was due to the adrenaline pumping through his veins, or perhaps it was because of the numerous fights he got himself in, Bill managed to react in time. Grabbing a nearby wooden chair, he swung right at the screeching monster. Bang! The chair splintered as it smashed right into its snout. Crimson, viscous blood slowly seeped out from the small cuts, the ratman was clearly aggravated. "DIE!" it screeched, brandishing its dagger. Seeing that the dagger was going to pierce through his classmates, Jay subconsciously reacted. He felt like he could establish some sort of connection with the ratman, a link between their minds. A wave of hunger and rage swelled in Jay's heart, he was experiencing the exact emotions and thoughts of the ratman.
Feeling the foreign thoughts probe its mind, the ratman was stunned for a split second, dropping the weapon in its hand. Seeing the small window of opportunity, something awakened in Bill. Suddenly, his muscles began to swell up, veins began to bulge. Delivering punch after punch, he began to pummel the ratman. The ratman tried to retaliate, trying to crush Bill's head with its yellow front teeth. Choking the ratman, Bill felt the cold and putrid saliva dripping on his face. Jay rushed towards the weapon on the ground, snatching it. Bill and the ratman were locked in a stalemate, their strength were not too different from each other. But Bill's weird condition couldn't last forever. He could feel his strength slowly weaken as he slowly lost his rage. But before he succumbed under the strength of the ratman, Jay stabbed the ratman right in its stomach, thick red blood poured out of the wound.
The ratman shrieked, the sharp pain caused it to back up instinctively, letting go of Bill. Bill couldn't miss the perfect opportunity to deliver another flurry of punches, his fists drenched in the warm blood of the ratman. Falling prone on the ground, the ratman scrambled to get up. With the dagger in hand, Jay slashed at the ratman's black beady eyes, blinding it in a couple of attacks. "YOU CAN'T ESCAPE THE KING'S WILL!" the ratman screeched, before the life in its eyes snuffed out. Two tiny orbs barely visible to the naked eye floated towards Jay and Bill, vanishing into their head. Jay could feel his strength increase slightly. "Killing creatures allows us to grow stronger?" Jay thought, wondering if they were suddenly inside a video game or something.
Lying on the ground covered with blood, Bill and Jay were panting heavily, the feeling of shock and fear slowly manifested as the adrenaline began to wear off. They could feel their hearts thumping like it was going to burst out their chest. Louis stood next to Jay, half-kneeling to check if he was hurt. Seeing that there were no visible wounds, Louis let out a sigh of relief. "That was not the smartest decision you could've made," Louis said, scolding Jay for his recklessness. "The large rat said that it was going to eat us all, I had to do something," Jay said, wiping off the blood on his forearm. "The rat said that?" Louis asked puzzled, all he heard were squeaks and screeches. "The rat literally screamed at us, didn't you hear it?" Jay asked. "You could understand it?" Louis asked, since all he heard was squeaks and screeches.
Before the two could finish their conversation, they were interrupted by a sudden voice. "Hand over the dagger, or else," Bill said, looking at the rustic weapon in Jay's hand.