The Tower's Voice

Chapter Five

  Mono comes over to me when the bucket stops swinging. "Are you okay? That was close." I nod. "Yeah, we just gotta watch out for raised floorboards." I explain. He nods and we continue on our dangerous journey. We crawl under a hanging light fixture and I see the body of what looks like a child. But, their head, oh god their head. It's smashed like porcelain. I swallow the bile rising in my throat and continue forward. We crawl under some lockers and when we come out I look at Mono, he's impassive.

Does anything phase him?

  I grab his hand as we walk through a doorway. We past some lockers and an overturned desk. I look down and stop myself before I step on the raised floorboard. I point it out to Mono and we jump over it together. We turn to go down a hallway when a kid darts out from behind a locker and runs across the hallway. I jump back startled. I grip Mono's hand tighter and we continue walking. It's hard to see because there's no lights here. I take another step forward and I hear a familiar click. I turn and tackle Mono to the ground and I hear a loud bang behind us. I turn and see a locker fell to the ground. I sigh and stand up. Mono climbs onto the locker and then jumps onto some lockers blacking up a doorway.

Smart.

  I follow him and grab his hand as we jump down. We walk forward a little and I see a table with a gouge in it. There's a duck toy in front of it and a raised floorboard. No doubt a trap. I see the position of the gouge and realize we can duck when the trap comes crashing down. I laugh at the cruel joke in front of us and Mono looks at me odd. "Just stay here." I say. I walk over the raised board and wonder why it didn't move when I stepped on it. I get my answer when the next one moves and clicks. I duck as a light fixture swings down from the ceiling and crashes into the table above me.

  I crawl out from under the light fixture and Mono surprises me by pulling me into a hug. "Never do that again! You hear me? Never!" I laugh a little. "Ok, ok. I won't do that again." He releases me and I climb onto the light fixture. I then jump onto the table. There's some crayons and a picture of an eye. I jump down and Mono follows me. I grab his hand and walk through a doorway. We pass a trashcan full of paper and books. I see a hammer up ahead and drag Mono behind me as I run forward. I let go of his hand so I can grab the hammer as I run towards it. Suddenly a locker crashes down on me. I hear screams of children but one scream drowns them all out.

  "SIX!" Screams Mono. I'm such an idoit. I slam my body against the locker trying to get free. "SIX! SIX HEL-" Hearing his scream get cut off like that fills me with terror. I slam against the locker again and it moves. I slam against it again and crawl out from under the locker. I see some kids running away and I chase after them. They climb a ladder and pull it up out of my reach. A board covers the hole in the floor and I feel terrible. I lost Mono. I stand there for a minute before wiping the tears from my eyes and walking back towards the hammer.

  Rage fills my body. My blood runs hot through my veins. I want to kill every single child in this building for taking Mono away. They took my Mono away. I crawl over the locker and grab the handle of the hammer. I see a kid in front of me and I drag the hammer behind me as I sneak up on them. "Peek a boo." I whisper as I slam the hammer into their head. Their body falls to the ground lifeless as the pieces of their head litter the floor. I feel satisfaction after killing that child. I drag the hammer into the next room and I see a kid tearing apart a frog. I see a raised floorboard and a desk beside it. I put down the handle of the hammer and crawl under the desk setting off the trap.

  I hear the scream of a kid. A bucket swings past and I hear the satisfying sound of breaking glass. I wait for the bucket to stop swinging before crawling out from the desk. I see a chair under a door and climb onto that. I crawl through the broken window of the door and continue forward intent on killing every child that gets in my way. I walk past what looks like a elevator that has a lock on it.

I need a key.

  I continue walking and as I near a doorway at the end of the hall I hear what sounds like writing. I crouch down and sneak forward. I enter the door and look around a cupboard to see a woman writing on a chalkboard. She stops writing and turns around. I cover my mouth so I don't gasp. It's the ugly lady from the picture. She turns a page in her book and goes back to writing.

Apparently she's a teacher. So that's what I'll call her.

  I sneak behind the desks and when she stops writing I hide behind the one in the middle. The Teacher goes back to writing and I sneak into the adjoining room. I see a key on top of a bookshelf.

There you are.

  I walk up to the bookshelf and start climbing it. Halfway up it starts to tip and I jump to the side. As it hits the floor it bangs loudly and I hear a shriek from the other room. I quickly grab the key, shoving it into a pocket of my coat and I hide in a box. The Teacher enters the room and extends her neck searching for me. When she can't find me she retracts her neck and closes the door behind her. I want to throw up the little food in my stomach. I crawl out of my box and I see a vent that wasn't open before is open now.

You'll be fine, it's not like she can chase you very fast. Oh wait, extendable neck.

  I sigh quietly and go over to the vent ready to get out of this school.