Jake's sense came back one by one. Touch came first, his skull felt like it was going to explode. An irony, bitter node spread across his taste buds rapidly. Overwhelming anything else, the same could be said when the insistent ringing in his ears came to an end. The screams were the only sound he could hear. Aside from the ungodly crying, of course. The voices of his classmates begging, pleading for this all to be some twisted dream. But Jake knew it wasn't, because they would have woken up by now.
"Come on man... get up!"
Jake could recognize that voice anywhere, "Martin... T...They fell," Using his shaking arms, Jake boosted his upper body off the floor. And he learned exactly why he tasted blood. He was face down in a small puddle of it until now. Or at least that's what he assumed the big blotch of red was in the center of his fading vision. He knew whose blood it was when a single drop of the red liquid dripped from the base of his forehead.
The anxiety was finally bubbling to the surface. How long was he out? The puddle wasn't small, so how much blood did he lose? And most importantly, what in god's name was happening! Jake attempted to get to his feet on his own. But his right knee gave in just as he was applying pressure. Trying to catch himself, Jake quickly shifted his weight onto his left- only to slip on the slick, bodily oil. Martin caught Jake's hoodie strings mere seconds before he would have tumbled into an upturned desk.
"Woah easy, easy, you took one hell of a fall during... whatever just happened." Martin said as he pulled his friend forward helping him back on his feet, "Damn... you're bleeding pretty bad."
Jake's childhood friend grabbed the base of his shirt in a panic. Straining himself as he apparently attempted to rip some of the cloth off for use as makeshift medical wrapping. Through Jake's shifting vision, he saw the blooded corner of a wooden desk a few measly feet away. Surely that was the cause of his throbbing head injury. Even then he wasn't completely sold on that notion. His fellow classmates were in similar shape. Clenching wounds on various parts of their bodies. Some, though, took far more fatal injuries. "Oh god..."
Martin's fumbling with his T-shirt came to an abrupt end. Audibly struggling to choke out a reply, "Yeah..."
"No... No... No..." A young lady said with tears in her eyes. Shaking the shoulders of her friend. Whose head was hanging limp backwards. Eyes already glazed over from what Jake could see. "Rachel... Come on... Stop messing around!"
Neither Jake or Martin had any words. What could they, or anyone say in this situation? Not only would it fall flat as an attempt to calm her down. They didn't even fully understand what was going on. Jake looked away from the horrific scene, it was making his stomach turn.
"How... How long was I out?"
"Not long... maybe five or so minutes..." Martin's sentence trailed off as his gaze slowly inched back over to the weeping woman. "Fuck... this is bad man... real, real bad."
"Has someone tried calling an ambulance..?" Jake asked, clenching his forehead. "Or a teacher.. even.." The throbbing within his skull was unbearable. Like someone pounding on the walls within his mind with a hammer. Disorientation combined with his fatigue was wreaking havoc on Jake-- keeping himself still was a challenge in itself, and one he was losing. All of his weight shifted to the right, and his leg buckled once more. Falling to his knees without the aid of his distracted friend. "Damn it..." Jake cursed under his breath, legs shaking as he struggled back to his feet. Waving away a concerned Martin who tried to lend a hand once he noticed.
"I'm fine," Jake took a breath through his grit teeth, "Just dizzy is all."
"You're losing blood fast man. We need to get you to the nurse's office as soon as possible." Martin said, gripping the base of his shirt, pulling it up and over his head. "Hold still--"
"Put your shirt on man..."
"I'm fat, get over it," Martin asserted to the shock of Jake. Rarely, if ever did he witness the guy raise his voice. Plus even if he wanted to refuse, the consistent blood loss was sapping away his strength. Still though, Jake gripped onto Martin's pudgy wrist-- to which he swatted away with ease. Carefully his friend wrapped the cloth around the impact wound. Fabric darkened with soaked up blood mere seconds into the bandaging, as Martin tied a double knot at the back of Jake's head, "Not perfect but it should slow the blood. At least I think..."
"Comforting," Groans Jake as he held onto one of the few desks which managed not to flip over during the chaos. Slowly bleeding out with the shirt of a pal tied around his head, Jake still came out far better than most of his peers. The poor girl clinging to her dead schoolmate was nowhere near the only casualty inside class B-21. When the shaking began, desks, chairs, hell writing utensils like pen and pencils became threats. Chair legs tore through skin and bone once gravity settled and everyone hit the floor. Blood splatter stained the back walls, with matching wooden desks overturned nearby. Worst of all was the pile of mush oozing out from underneath the teacher's far bulkier workspace. Jake's stomach turned at the implication, the growing sense of utter despair crescendoing. Sweat rolled down his face as the stress came flooding out. But, and this made Jake's skin crawl, but he was happy. Happy to be alive, suffering minimal injuries compared to some other poor saps. Self preservation was nothing to be ashamed of, but it sure as hell didn't feel good to think about in this context.
"Where the hell are we!" A male student cried out as he peeked through the now shattered windows. Jake followed the voice, taking a look for himself and what he saw was anything but the usual courtyard. Expanding outward as far as the eye could see was an ocean of bubbly, dark liquid churning as if it were being boiled. If he were to compare it to anything, it'd be an ocean of black tar. With the only light coming from outside the school, shining down from the crimson full moon hanging high in the sky. So large that neither the start nor the end of its imposing shape could be seen.
Something familiar, but unequivocally unnerving. The moon's surface was always imperfect. Riddled with deep valleys and wide craters sprinkled about at random. Jake always thought it gave the orbiting body personality, imperfect yet stunning. But when bathed in the harsh, vibrant red, those very same physical quirks paralyzed him with fear. Lengthy ruts resembling cracked glass, or sliced veins with the deep craters filled to the brim with freshly drawn blood. Worst of all, and it could have easily been the head trauma speaking. But the bloodshot orb of night seemed to be... pulsating.
"Oh my god!"
"This can't be real.. Can it?"
"I wanna go home... I wanna go home!"
A choir of frightened voices overlapped with one another as the understanding, or rather the lack of comprehension about the true nature of this event. This was no normal earthquake for sure, Jake was never one to jump to the supernatural for an explanation. But there was nothing resembling a rational way to approach this. Now all he could ask was whether or not the school itself was pulled somewhere else, or if he himself was dead. Would he be able to tell one way or another?
"Mark, stop!" A girl shouted, pulling back another student's arm, "Just calm down! It'll be--"
An elbow to the stomach caused her pleas to come to an abrupt end. Doubling over in pain, coughing, forced to watch as the male student sprinted with all his worth towards one of the damaged windows. The world seemed to slow, as the distressed student made a drastic and permanent choice. Leaping from the second story, in less than three seconds a splash sealed his fate. You could have heard a pin drop, until a blood curdling scream ruptured every eardrum within the classroom.
"No, No, No!" She choked out, tears streaming down her face. Trying to make a dash for the same window. Martin instinctively charged over, arms looping around her waist, struggling as she flailed about wildly, doing just about anything to break free of his grasp. "Let me go! Mark!"
"Stop it! It...It's dangerous!" Martin stammered out. His face became bright red as he strained to keep the hysterical girl in place. His size gave him bulk, which didn't necessarily transfer over to physical strength. The teary eyed student managed to shake free, only making another two steps before Martin dropped to the floor, catching her ankle at the last second, "Let's just take a breather, okay!"
"Fuck... Off!" Martin took a mean kick to the right side of his face. Flipping over on his back, holding his face as pained groans escape his lips. Unhindered, the belligerent student ran towards the broken window. Intercepted by another pair of classmates, each taking hold of her shoulders, "Let me go!"
"Why? So you can jump," The student on her left, a girl who's blonde hair was tucked into a flowing ponytail snapped, "I'm sorry that your brother did what he did. But for god's sake get it together!"
"He... He could be okay!"
"From a fall this high up..?"
"Shut up! T-There was like water or something right? You heard that splash-- he could be drowning right now."
Her voice was hoarse, face puffy from the tears still dripping off her face. Fists, uncurled, and all defiance and struggle left as she slumped down, "He could... still.. be... alive."
"Shh... I know... I know," The leftmost student gently led the girl's body down to the floor. Once she was on her knees, they all embraced, letting the tears flow once more.
"Martin you good..?" Jake asked as he limped over towards the whining man. Offering him a hand, which he took without question.
"No... No, I'm not man."
"Yeah I just... couldn't think of anything else to say," Jake replied knowing full well that he wasn't fine. Aside from getting kicked in the face, nothing about this horror show made any sense. An earthquake would have explained the shaking sure, but, no matter how many times he saw the bloodshot moon. Casting harsh, crimson light down onto the bubbly sea of unknown liquid surrounding the school. The throbbing within his skull would get worse, physically recoiling from attempting to wrap his head around the concepts at play. Made worse from the scattered crying, sobbing, and pained yelling coming from every direction.
A clatter came from the shattered window. Jake and Martin immediately turned their attention towards the noise. Shards of glass were knocked to the floor. Displaced by an arm coated in an inky black solution, as it shuffled from one end of the ledge to the other. Dripping some of its viscous fluid to the floor, which turned to steam upon contact.
"G-G-Get away," Martin was stumbling over his words as the unidentified arm began slipping, leaving an imprint of its presence on the wall as it slowly lost hold. "Get away from the windows!"
"Huh," One of the three students consoling one another nearby the destroyed opening mumbled. Stifling a gasp once she saw the ghastly limb. Quickly scrambling away, as did the other student next to her. Face scrunched up in fear, though the girl with tears still fresh in their duct, she stayed.
"Carla!"
"What are you doing!"
"M... Mark," Carla asked, voice laced with trepidation. Though it soon gave way to an unsettling optimism, "Mark! I knew it! I knew it!"
The shadowy arm thumped against the wall, once, then twice, each time causing the hairs on the back of Jake's neck to stand up. And it only became more desperate. There was no way this could be Carla's brother, zero chance that this was the same Mark who dove out the window. The drop should have knocked the wind out of him the second he made contact with the water. And that's ignoring the fact that there was no sound of a struggle of any kind. No gasps for air, pleads for help, thrashing, nothing like that. One splash after he jumped, nothing more, and nothing less. Though Carla must not have been convinced, walking up to the window with outstretched arms and a bright smile. He wanted to stop her, but the pain in his head intensified. The words caught in his throat and his muscles were so tense he could hardly breath.
No one else tried either, frozen in place as Carla pulled the arm into the room. Wisps of white hot steam came from her hand, flesh sizzling though she was undeterred. Once inside, she threw her arms around the figure, burying her face against its chest. "I... I thought you were gone for good this time..."
Drenched in a seemingly thick layer of the unknown slime. Laid the shape of a human-- head, torso, legs, all the basic blueprints of human anatomy were there. With one identifiable trait missing, where the face should have been was nothing more than a flat surface. No bump or ridges indicating a nose drowning in the unknown waters now surrounding the school. It was as if an artist drew the silhouette of a person on a black surface, and it emerged from the canvas.
"Oh your arm," Carla gasped, "Why didn't you say something sooner? Does anyone have a bandage? Mark is hurt."
Protruding out from the figure's left arm, a thick shard of broken glass wedged within the flesh. Who knew, the piece could have been longer. Although when Carla spun around, her friends took a step back. Skin pale, the expression on each one steeped with despair. Martian turned away, hurling onto the ground. Jake opened his mouth, though once more struggled to find his voice. Choking out a silent scream, unable to look away, even if every fiber in his body was begging him to. The entire left side of Carla's face was burned, to the point of being unrecognizable. Skin flaking off to reveal the tender flesh underneath. Liquidating where the unknown substance remained. She paused, touching the singed half of her face, trembling as she did.
"Ah--" Her moment of lucidity was cut short. The shadow effortlessly cleaves the girl in two. Splattering red crimson across the faces of those closest to her. The two halves hit the floor with a wet smack. What blood remained on the creature's left arm, which had morphed into a solid straight line, with several jagged edges, sharpened to a fine point. Boiled away until there was nothing left. The room was thrown into chaos, those who survived the initial quake bolted for the doors. Shoving, punching, and clawing to be the first ones to get away. This included Martin, one of the first to flee since he was closest to the door. Alone, Jake limped towards the exit, the banging inside his skull only getting worse. Something as simple as moving, put a tremendous strain on his being. And his pace wasn't acceptable, easily thrown to the floor by someone running high off fight or flight.
"Shit..." Jake groaned whilst his body refused his commands to stand and run. Then, he heard something move from the other side of the room. Summoning what strength he had left to roll onto his back. Stomach churning as he watched helplessly as the creature marched forward. Its movements are slow, clumsy, like a baby who recently jumped from crawling to walking. The shadow's bladed arm scratching the floor with an irritating whine as he came closer and closer. Jake shut his eyes, but then the footsteps stopped. When he opened them again, the entity was crouched next to Carla's bisected upper body. Watching, observing, until eventually the creature leaned in-- pressing its face against the lifeless body of one of Jake's fellow students. The sound was awful, sizzling as smoke billowed out from all sides where contact was made. And when the silhouette was done, it glanced at the only living being still in class B-21. Having forcibly taken the last pieces of its imitation, facial features. But an imitation was never perfect. The beast had no nose, but a row of human teeth, and one single enlarged puffy eye awkwardly centered at the base of the head. Which winked at Jake, lips curling into a wide toothed smile.
"Jake!" Someone screamed, right as a metal trash can was hurled at the lurching monstrosity. Who gurgled as Jake was helped up, and swiftly ushered out of the room. The teen's vision was faltering, but when he looked up at his savior, he knew who it was based on the shape of their head alone.|
"Martin..?"
"Yeah it's me," He replied extremely out of breath, "Just hold on..."
Martin took a turn after jogging down the hall as fast as he could while shouldering his friend. Yet all Jake saw was a blur, a mess of shapes and colors vaguely situated in the shape of a person. The blood loss was getting to him. Though his ears weren't given the same luxury. Forced to listen as the voices of several frightened peers were silenced. Some begged, others struggled, but as he felt more and more wetness splash against his body as Martin led him through the halls. He knew they all met the same end.
"These things are everywhere...fuck...fuck!" Martin was losing his cool. Who could keep their sanity in a time like this. All momentum halted suddenly, and Martin stopped in his tracks. "Shit!"
"Help, HELP!" A woman cried at the other end, only for the disgustingly distinct sound of cracking bones, culminating in a wet pop. Jake's vision centered only for a moment. Giving him an impression of the horrifying demon at the end of the corridor. Nearly twice the height of the terror inside Jake's classroom and with bulging muscles the size of his head. He was facing away from them, hands clenched together with a torrent of red water spilling through its fingers. At least what wasn't immediately boiled away.
"I'm sorry," Martin mumbled underneath his breath as he turned away and took Jake down the opposite direction. "I'm so sorry..."
"Where are we going," Jake asked with rapidly increasing breath.
"The science room," Martin huffed, "You know the one with the hidden room behind the teacher's desk? Figure we can hide there..."
"Hide...?"
"You saw what was outside. We aren't getting out through the exits, that's for sure."
Gunshots echoed in the distance as Martin and Jake moved past one of the two staircases which led to the lower levels. A small blip in the general ambiance of blood curdling screams. Though Jake felt a hand grab hold of his leg-- knocking the injured student out of his friend's grasp.
"I don't... I don't..." Jake met eyes with another student, face bruised, scratched up in so many places he didn't know where to mention first. Laying flat on the floor-- within the stairwell's landing. Jake tried to shake free, but the man's grip was unyielding. At least up till a blackened pike screwed its way in through the back of the student's head, and out of the other end. In a panic, Jake fell backwards, hands cut as thousands of tiny shards of glass from a shattered trophy case embedded themselves deep.
As the mockery of human form emerged from the stairwell. This one was different-- instead of one singular eye, it was an amalgamation of several all lumped together, wrapping around the entirety of every corner of its head and face. Each blinking out of sync from one another, as if carrying a will of its own. Both arms were transmogrified into two four inch wide, spiraling outward into lengthy javelins with pointed tips. Sweat came pouring down Jake's body as he crawled backwards, until he felt his back press against the frame of a shut door. Backed into a corner, all he could do was watch as the mimic ran a third of its spear-like appendage straight though his chest.
Slowly the warmth faded.
His vision which was barely holding on in the first place disappeared completely.
And one by one every individual sense stopped registering. He was dying, unable to let so much as a silent scream out as his consciousness dipped further and further...
...
Though the unmovable stillness eventually rippled as a spark came back to him. Jake's body still wouldn't respond, but he was alive, be that in reality or in the afterlife. Not like he'd know much about the difference anyway. The surrounding area was completely dark. Exactly like the world which now encased the entire school. But there was no bubbly lake of tar underneath him. It felt neither solid nor without substance, as if he was floating. An existence without any kind of stimulation. The darkened void was dead silent, and he could not feel anything. Nothing to prove to Jake that he was even tangible. Though the spell was broken, from a cat's meow of all things. Jake's chest felt heavier, explained once a charcoal black furred cat lurched over him. Nearly blending in with the backdrop completely were it not for those golden eyes.
"You're... that same cat from this morning?" Jake questioned himself, not expecting an answer. Though one came regardless of expectation.
"You're not dead," The voice paused, "At least not yet."