“Hello everyone. How was your weekend?”
In the classroom, Mr. Isaac smiled wickedly as he glanced through his students. Katie was the only one that smiled back.
A lot of students looked worn down. They did their best to party during the weekend, but even if they drank a thousand glasses of vodka, it wouldn’t change the fact that time can’t be stopped. At this moment, all of them are here, waiting for the judgment of their twisted teacher.
“What are we doing this time? Just cut all the phony stuff out!” Kyle threw his arms up. Katie glanced at him. He looked like he just wanted to get this over with and proceed with recklessly enjoying his life.
“Great question.” Mr. Isaac explained slowly as he snapped his finger. Suddenly, a ball of black goo appeared beside him. It turned into a human figure, but anyone with a pair of functioning eyes could see he wasn’t to be underestimated.
“This creation of mine will play a game with you. For an hour, it will hunt you. You can go to anywhere inside the school. Just so we’re clear, if he finds you, he will kill you, and it will be a gorgeous sight. Of course, I know you’re still recovering from the weekend, and because I am a good person and a responsible teacher, I’m telling you a secret.” Isaac smiled wickedly and tapped the black creature. “It can’t see you if you are completely still.”
Katie frowned. It wasn’t a secret that Mr. Isaac wanted all of the students to die as painfully as possible. Why would he tell them a secret that might be enough to save them all from death?
The students exchanged intrigued looks. Maybe they could live to see another day! Only a few of them were confused. Those were the smart ones.
“My creation will remain here for five minutes. After that, it will start the hunt. Good luck and die young!”
The students fled past Isaac and his creation and ran out of the classroom. Once again, they naturally formed several groups. Eric and his pals had their weapons on, not that they might be useful against the creature. Kyle gave out a small smile as he departed alone. His pocket was full.
Katie rested her hand in her pocket and tapped her knife. She used it to kill the girl spirit, but she wondered if she could do the same to Isaac’s creation. After all, Isaac was much stronger than the girl ghost, who couldn’t even attack human beings in most cases.
“We should get to somewhere distant and open. We need to make sure it takes the creation as long as possible to find us, and even if it does, we need to be able to run.” Caitlin did her standard analysis. After all the games, the young woman was getting better and better at these games.
“If it comes to that, I might be able to take it down.” Katie commented as the two kept on walking. “And I would love to try, but something tells me that’s not going to end well.”
Katie and Caitlin walked into a crossing in the hallways. There were three ways connected to the intersection. In other words, if the two found the creation walking toward them, they had two other ways to run to.
Both girls had their weapons ready. Even if handguns couldn’t stop the creation, they should at least be enough to delay it for a while.
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A girl hid in the bathroom. She got into a compartment, locked the door, and stood on the lid of the toilet so no one could see her feet.
Unlike Katie or Terry or Kyle, this girl wasn’t a firearm wielding killer who was more than happy to do what has to be done. She wasn’t even armed. The most tool of self defense she could find was a kitchen knife. All the money she could get her hands on, she blew them away on drugs and alcohol. Right now, all she wanted to do was get this nightmare over with and go home and drown herself in substances and pleasure.
Unfortunately, that might not be possible anymore.
In fact, she would never return home again.
Footsteps appeared at the door. At first, the girl didn't think much of it. This wasn’t a passing period, but students who had to relieve themselves could rarely wait.
Standing on the toilet lid, she closed her eyes and toyed with the idea of pulling out her needle in the pocket and giving herself another injection.
Sure. Why not?
She opened her eyes again, ready to reach for her pocket.
Her hand froze when she saw what was in front of her.
A wall of black goo was attached to the inside of the bathroom door. It was just staying there, waiting. The girl’s heart skipped at least two beats. It took all the willpower she had left to keep herself from breaking down and crying.
There were dozens of students remaining! Why her?
This is so unfair!
After a few seconds, the girl realized she was still alive. Confused, she suddenly remembered the hint Mr. Isaac gave.
“It can’t see you if you’re completely still.”
A small smile of relief climbed onto the girl’s face. That’s it. That’s the way out. As long as she stays perfectly still, this monster couldn’t see her.
The goo started to move off the door. It fell on the ground and started climbing across toward the girl. It wasn’t the quickest, but it wasn’t the slowest either. For minutes, the girl didn't dare to move.
It must be trying to scare me into revealing myself! I am smarter than that！
The goo started navigating its way onto the girl’s leg. It crossed her wrist, and the girl didn't move. It crossed her thigh, and the girl didn't move. It finally stopped at her neck.
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The girl suppressed the urge to gulp.
It can’t see me...it can’t see me…
That was when the ball of goo suddenly transformed. The harmless exterior turned highly corrosive. The girl’s throat was burnt through in less than a second. The unfortunate victim tried to form a scream, partially to find help and partially because of the sheer pain, but it was too late. She could only watch as her body was burnt down into a semi-liquid, semi-solid compound on the bathroom floor.
Slowly, the goo navigated its way across to what was left of the girl, eating and drinking up every single fraction of the corpse.
When it was done, it has visibly grown.
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Caitlin and Katie waited at the intersection. Their handguns were deep inside the pocket of their jackets. They didn't want to risk breaking the curse by showing their weapons to students and teachers going across the hall.
Surviving the games was tough enough. Fighting off the cops would only add to the problems.
Suddenly, both Katie and Caitlin heard something.
“Caitlin?”
The two turned in alertness. They both had one hand inside their pockets, holding onto a handgun. If they wanted to, they could easily shoot through their clothes and catch any enemy by surprise.
But Caitlin visibly relaxed when she saw who it was. A small smile found its way onto her face.
“Hey Zach.”
She threw Katie a reassuring look.
“Oh.” Katie rose her eyebrows. Her eyes were trained on the boy. He was the standard teenage boy. Blonde hair. Average height. The edge of his phone could still be seen outside his pocket. She didn't feel threatened by him, at least not physically.
“This is Zach. He’s a friend of mine. We have the same PE.” Katie almost thought Caitlin dodged her inquiring look. The blonde’s eyes were fixed on the boy. “Look, Zach, we’re sort of busy right now, so...don't you have a class to go to?”
Zach glanced at Caitlin, at Katie, and then back at Caitlin again. Suddenly, he seemed to have realized something.
“Oh...oh! I understand. I’ll get out of here right now and leave you two alone.” He suddenly grinned. “A word of advice. If you want to do that, better hide in a corner.”
Katie rose her eyebrows. She felt slightly better about this Zach for this, but Caitlin’s response made her frown.
“What? No! We’re not...” Caitlin’s face turned red as she realized what her male friend meant. She was about to explain when her eyes landed on something.
Something behind Zach. Something black.
A giant ball of goo.
Caitlin leaped forward, grabbed onto Zach’s hand, and yanked him back. The boy was caught by surprise. Before words of doubt could leave his lips, he saw the black presence.
“What the hell is that?”
“It is...wait a second! You can see that?” Caitlin’s surprise almost overcame her fear of the goo. The curse Mr. Isaac placed on them should be enough to blind those outside the game of any supernatural occurrences. In her mind, Zach would be confused by her actions, but he would dismiss it just like everyone else.
Now that Zach was dragged into the game, Caitlin didn't know if the goo would hurt him.
Katie drew her handgun.
The goo crawled forward. The path it took was covered with corrosive acid that easily burnt through the carpet. What it could do to human bodies was something no one wanted to see.
Well, almost no one.
“Zach!” Caitlin wasn’t worried about Katie. She knew her best friend was more than able to handle herself. Zachery, on the other hand…
“You have to listen to me very carefully! I need you to stay completely still! Whatever happens, don’t move an inch. As long as we don’t move, it can’t see us!”
At the moment, Zach had a million questions. What is this goo? Why is it here? Why is it after them? But all those questions came together and formed a single reply.
“Ok.”
The three teenagers froze in their tracks, not daring to move a single inch. A secret part of Katie wanted to poke that goo a bit, but she wisely suppressed that foolish thought.
The goo moved around like a headless chicken. Two steps forward. One step to the side. Three steps back. Another step forward.
The three froze there for half a minute, but all of them started feeling their muscles strained. Standing still wasn’t difficult, but standing still for 30 seconds, scared for their lives and not moving an inch, was much more intense.
Zach could already feel his legs trembling.
The goo took two more steps toward the opposite direction. Caitlin secretly took a breath of relief. With any luck, they could last until the goo wanders off in the wrong direction.
That was when the goo leaped into the air with astonishing speed and agility. It was aiming for Zach. The sloth it once had completely disappeared.
Zach saw the goo coming right for his face, but he was paralyzed by fear. He had no idea what was going on in the first place. The goo would land on him in moments.
If Caitlin didn't grab onto his arm and pulled him out of the way.
The goo landed on the ground, scorching a giant hole through the ground.
The entire time, Caitlin had a question at the back of her head. Mr. Isaac told them as long as they stayed completely still, they would be unharmed. Why? He obviously didn't want the teenagers to live through this. The answer was clear. He wanted to do what he has always done: make the students die in fear and desperation.
That was what he did in all the previous games, and that was what he is trying to do now.
A quick death was just meaningless to him.
What was more fear-inducing than having a tiny piece of hope to cling on for, and just before making it out, that fragment of hope turned out to be completely false? The unfortunate victims would be thrown from heaven straight to hell.
Their mind would still be struggling to understand why this plan didn't work.
Mr. Isaac didn't lie, at least there was no evidence that he did. He said the monster couldn’t see anyone who was completely still. Fair enough, but define completely still. Even if someone thought they weren’t moving, every inch of their skin was actually vibrating. Even their eyes were constantly moving involuntarily. It was simply built into the human genes.
If you go into the cellular level...even a corpse couldn’t escape the eyes of the goo. Maybe freezing themselves in absolute zero temperature might work, not that freezing to death would be any better than being corroded to liquid.
Sly.
On the side, a shade of disappointment flashed through Katie’s eyes. She came to the exact same conclusion that Caitlin did. The entire time, her pistol was trained on the goo, ready to fire. If the goo went for Caitlin, she would be between it and Caitlin, and a hail of bullets would have been rained down already.
But the goo went for Zach...Katie didn't have a fraction of the need to keep the boy alive. In fact, especially after what Caitlin told her at the amusement park, she had a desire to kill every single man that Caitlin knew.
Physically, Zach was nobody, but romantically, he was a threat.
Sure, trying to sabotage someone’s life just because she was a little jealous, ok, scratch that and replace it with very jealous, wasn’t exactly noble, but Katie didn't quite have the best moral compass.
Now, the perfect opportunity was ruined. Katie didn't know if she should be happy at how smart Caitlin was or be angry.
Nonetheless, she knew it was her turn to act. The previous inaction could be explained by the element of surprise, but it has been several seconds, and both of them knew how she loved a fight.
With her G43 in one hand and her knife in the other, she moved above the hole generated by the goo.
All the while, she didn't hesitate to try to impress Caitlin with a word of warning.
“Run!”