“It’s about bullying”, River summed up, finally connecting most of the relationships. “Skirt is being bullied. Ponytail is in control here – both Glasses and Skirt listen to her, although Glasses is closer to Ponytail. Bun doesn’t like it, but she can’t do anything, and Teacher isn’t helping either.”
As for Dude’s status, they’d see. He wasn’t sure yet.
“I don’t get why victims of bullying don’t retaliate. Are they stupid?”
River shot Aspen a silent look and the murderer gave him a sheepish grin.
“No offense intended?”
“Do you want a list of possible reasons?” River’s voice was dry. “Shame. Not wanting to snitch and be ostracized further. Fear of retaliation. Fear of making it worse. Fear of not being taken seriously. A feeling of deserving being bullied due to low self-esteem. Not knowing how to report, or to who, or thinking that it’s useless because nothing will change anyway.”
Aspen grew quiet. “…And which one are you?”
“Me?” River gave a tired smile. “I’m the one that doesn’t retaliate because I don’t want to spend energy on something useless. Come, they are switching rooms.”
The next class was art. They had seen it before because not everyone seemed to share it, and Bun and Skirt were in the same class for this one. Ponytail and Glasses left for elsewhere, and when River followed them for a couple of steps, he found Dude waiting for Ponytail.
He wrapped an arm around her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Ponytail started talking about something in a derisive tone, with Dude responding in a malicious one. The three of them entered music class.
This time, the scene in the art room made a bit more sense. Several guys would intentionally bump into Skirt the moment the teacher’s back was turned, and no one else reacted. When Bun saw, she tried to intervene, but only made it worse. The group of guys just got irritated and messed with the quiet Skirt even more.
Contrary to Skirt, Bun was much easier to follow. The Play didn’t mind you seeing what she was up to, so this round was much more relaxed.
Before the end of the lesson, River stepped out of the room to look around. He kept on feeling that he was being watched, but he hadn’t seen anyone so far.
Suddenly, he could hear a rattle, followed by a dull sound. His head jerked around, seeing someone stand in the doorway of an empty classroom. They were holding a wooden bat in their left hand – something they must have gotten from the gym – and their eyes were wide, pupils dilated.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Elnfg abbx tjio j rafq yjmx, yea yfobgf tf mbeiv vfmlvf bc gecclcu, Crqfc kjr ja tlr rlvf. C kjgw qjiw kjr qijmfv bc tlr yjmx.
“Yt, tfs. Ljnfc’a rffc sbe rlcmf atf rajga”, Crqfc rjlv lc j oglfcvis abcf, jiatbeut Elnfg mbeiv afii la kjr ojxf. Ktf ijra qfgrbc lc atf ujwf – jiatbeut atflg ufcvfg kjrc’a jqqjgfca ja olgra uijcmf, Crqfc tjv wfcalbcfv la kjr j ulgi.
“I’ve been watching you”, the girl said, voice uneven. “You’ve been walking around all the time. You’re calm.”
“We are observing what’s happening”, River truthfully stated, wondering when Aspen would make a move. It was just about the end of class, people would start streaming out at any moment. The timing couldn’t be worse to have a corpse.
“No. You killed someone.” The frantic voice was wavering, hinting at the mental instability. “Where’s the exit?”
River scrutinized her. She looked stressed, just short of breaking down, which wasn’t too surprising given the situation. She was young, younger than the two men. It was better to calm her down, though he wasn’t sure why she was so hostile.
Well. Maybe the corpse.
“The exit is in the safe-room. It will open once the time is up”, River said calmly. His eyes were stuck to the wooden bat that moved with every nervous gesture of the other. “You can go there.”
“Liar”, the person screamed. “You have been doing things! You, do you know this place? Do you know how to get out? …Did you take me here?”
“You should know that no one knows what this place is.” River shook his head. He wasn’t lying again – just because he knew the Gamblers had created this area didn’t mean he knew what it actually was. Besides, there truly was only one exit – the door. It was still the same one after solving the puzzle, only giving you immunity.
“Bullshit!” The girl swung her arm. Aspen took a step forward, standing in front of River like a shield. He was small enough that River could look over his head, but it gave him a sense of security.
“Just wait in the safe-room.” River didn’t care if someone else sat at the side while they solved the puzzle. Better yet, she’d be out of the way if they just watched and didn’t move. There’d be no need for Aspen to kill her if she was quiet and obedient.
“No. No, you’re lying!” The ramblings grew louder. River’s eyes twitched between the bat and the shadow of an adult that was walking down the hallway, a teacher.
Shadows wouldn’t react to you carrying things most of the time, but that was under consideration of you not being painfully obvious. Swinging the bat around didn’t belong to that category, and the shadow was slowly approaching with jerking steps.
“Place that bat down”, River warned, turning tense. “You’ll attract the shadows.”
“You’ll kill me! If I put it away, you’ll kill me and leave on your own!”
Whatever it was that overwhelmed the stranger – whether it was fear or a natural persecution complex – she refused to put the bat down. Her movements turned wider, the bat swinging defensively.
“Stay away from me!”
The window next to her broke with a crack.
There wasn’t enough force behind the swing to shatter it, but a pattern like a spiderweb appeared where the bat touched it. Small pieces broke down.
The whole situation froze. River took a stumbling step when Aspen suddenly walked backwards, essentially pushing River along with him. Surprised, River’s eyes were glued to the shadow.
It bubbled like boiling water, then broke open as if a thin surface layer had burst. There was a tiny area somewhere where a human’s heart would be located that looked… blacker than the rest, as if it was the core from which the rest of the body stretched out of.
Like a slime from a fantasy story, it enveloped the stranger’s back and sucked. Screams began to ring out when the pain settled in and the stranger thrashed around in terror and agony.
Blood splattered against the window.
The shoulders broke into pieces first. The arms followed, twitching and crunching as if someone was running over them with a steamroller.
A force too strong to be resisted dragged a whole human into the small hole, bit by bit, tearing and splattering to achieve its goal. Her voice changed from a scream into a gurgle, desperate and agonized, her wide eyes not leaving River for a moment.
He watched as they slowly lost their life before vanishing into the black hole as well.
River felt bile in his mouth. Black spots dotted out the scene like an abstract censorship, spreading all over his sight. His knee buckled.
The last things he felt were someone grabbing his wrist and the relief at not having to continue to watch.
It wasn’t a great surprise to River that he had fainted after the sight. While he had seen Aspen kill a few people before, it wasn’t the same as the sounds and the stench of people getting crushed to bits. The twitch of their limbs before it was sucked into the black void, the squelching of flesh and cracking of bones, the blood and viscera being pushed out through the violent force.
He still felt nauseous at waking up, so he did not open his eyes but tried to regain his wits.
He was somewhere quiet, a wet towel or piece of cloth placed on his forehead. He could feel an additional weight on his chest – very even, maybe a coat or something, possibly a blanket.
Through the lifting haze, he could hear someone else breathe. Deep and quiet, right next to him.
The someone – Aspen, he was quite sure – had picked his hand up gently. He could feel the boneless fingers between his own, much softer and more slender than his. They absentmindedly rubbed his hand, sometimes pausing at his wrist.
Involuntarily, River felt himself breathe in deeply and exhale in a long, calm sigh. He blinked his eyes open and looked at Aspen, who stopped fiddling with his fingers when he realized River was awake.
When the easterner made no motion of pulling his hand away from the touch, Aspen lowered his head again and continued.
The whole moment was brittle.
It was serene and quiet, a bit of comfort inside this weird world. The warmth of their skin was shared through that simple contact and River found his fingers twitching lightly in response to the small hand touching them.
He wondered how long it had been since he last thought that he would be fine if someone did not break contact. Nothing that held any negative intentions, nothing that felt fake.
What an irony, to feel secure around a murderer. Maybe it was because he didn’t expect any tricks – if Aspen wanted to kill him, he would. There’d be no false words or painful ploys, only a knife in his stomach or a push on his back. Death would be fast and simple.
Aspen was sitting curled up and his face was showing an uncertainly twisted expression. He looked feeble and timid, two words that River hadn’t thought he’d attach to Aspen.
Oh? Aspen?
Thank you for the chapter!! <3
Thanks for the chapter ! ^^
I’M BAAACK! I’m looking forward to their progress.
Thanks for the chap!
I love their relationship and interactions with each other ☺