𝐏𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐒 || 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐲𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

(𝐒𝟏) 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝟑𝟏

Once again, may unintentionally be a long chapter.

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𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 it does keep the phantoms from coming near the graveyard, it also makes the graveyard seem like a whole concert with bright white lights. Something i've also noticed was that the phantoms don't actually die to the light, it just makes it lose its shape. That can cause a challenge, but i think we have to keep pushing forward. Especially after how far we've come.

We then start to get down the wall. Ashlyn, Taylor, and Tyler are already on the ground floor waiting for the rest of us. Logan is climbing down the ladder. Aiden decided it would be good to jump down from the bus. 'Imagine he gets hurt from doing such reckless things..' I think to myself and i shake my head.

Me and Ben are the last ones up on the bus. I sit at the edge of the bus as i really didn't want to get down. I have this feeling something's about to happen.

"Alright, let's go over the plan one more time." Ashlyn tells us. "..um-.." Taylor stutters a bit. Ashlyn looks at her curiously, the rest of us do the same. "Are we uh-.. are we sure we want to do this..?" Taylor asks as she holds the ladder and has a nervous look on her face. Ashlyn looks puzzled at her statement and she furrows her eyebrows. "..what?"

"I mean-.. y'know, m-maybe staying in the graveyard every night wouldn't be.. so bad, right? Especially with the lights up.. couldn't we just hide in here? 'Till the seven hours are up..?" Taylor asks nervously. My eyes widen at her suggestion. "I- i like that idea.." Logan says.

"Are you for real?" I ask in unison with Ashlyn. Ashlyn glances at me and seems grateful someone agrees with her. She then glances at both Taylor and Logan again. "I thought you guys wanted out of here? Now you guys are saying you don't mind being trapped here for the rest of our lives?" Ashlyn asked them.

She then turns to Tyler. "And you, why are you being so quiet? You're the one who pitched a fit wanting to go to savannah, so why are you so passive about it now?" Ashlyn asks him. Tyler seemed to flinch as she said that.

"That was before we knew about the lights and before there was a horde of those things right outside our door!" Tyler tells her as he raises his voice slightly.

"I'm not saying we should stop trying to find a way out- just.. maybe not with this particular plan. We don't really need guns anymore, right?" Tyler asks her.

Ashlyn runs a hand through her hair in frustration. "And you chose to bring this up now?!" She asks as she slightly raises her voice. I then speak up. As i begin speaking they all turn to look up at me, on top of the bus still.

"Do you guys actually want to do that? After all the things we did to prepare? We placed traps, and we asked Ashlyn parents to teach us self defense, do.. do you guys really want to back down after everything we did to prepare for this moment?" I asked them calmly as i furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

"There too many right now!" Tyler tells me as he yells.

"Which is why we set up traps in the first place!" Ashlyn tells him, yelling. She then turns around and says. "No." She puts her hands up in the air before repeating, but more sternly. "No!" She turns around.

"I'm getting that jeep. Even if we don't need the guns, we'll eventually need to go out there and learn how this place works so we can find a way out! That was what we agreed on!" She tells us with an angry voice and an irritated face.

'I get that we made this place secure and stuff, but staying here for the rest of our lives? Why? After everything we did? It doesn't make sense. Ashlyn has a point.' I think myself as i look at the scene bellow me. I cross my legs and stare at the scene from up on the bus.

"Hey, Ash.. maybe you should-.." Aiden tries to reason with her only to get cut off. "Don't tell me what i should do!" She tells him shouting. Aiden seemed to get startled at her outburst.

"If you hadn't been so persistent in bothering me, i would have never gone yo Savannah and none of this would have happened! You keep pushing my boundaries and i'm tired of it!" She tells him angrily.

I then sigh and i uncross my legs as i get up and head towards the ladder to get down. I start to head down the ladder and i hear Tyler ask Ashlyn a question. "Why are you so worked up?!" He asks her, yelling.

"Because we're ready now, but if something goes wrong in the future because i let us wait and not take initiative, i'd be the fault as the leader!" Ashlyn tells him as she yells. I could see the others feel the atmosphere get awkward at that. I stand next to the ladder.

"Yeah well nobody said you had to be the 'leader', you did that on your own!" Tyler tells Ashlyn with his voice still raised.

"Who else was going to do it?! I've been hearing those monsters all my life so apparently i have some weird connection to this place! This all happened when the phantom grabbed me, and i didn't say anything about it. I don't think it's entirely my fault, i'm just as confused and scared as the rest of you all are. But i'm the best suited to take the 'responsibility' for what's happening right?! To try and find out a way out of this mess and protect you guys as well!" She snaps at us. She then starts to take huff as she seemed out of breath.

Everyone stays quiet. I stay quiet and near her. I hover my hand over her shoulder. I look at her. "..Can i?" She glances at me with her slightly tear-filled eyes, and slowly nods her head. I smile slightly and put my hand on her shoulder.

"..Do you need a hug..?" I ask her quietly. She just hugs me. I hug her back. I could feel her ball up her fist slightly as she hugs me. I gently pat her back.

"Y'know it's good you told us this. We now know what's going on in that mind of yours." I tell her in a calm voice as i chuckle. I look back at everyone as i continue hugging Ashlyn.

"I want to make a statement that goes for all of us. I think we should openly share our thoughts so we don't cause any mix-ups. We should all communicate throughly. And if we already have a plan please, don't wait last second to speak up about something. We all have our moments, sure just.." I sigh as i take a pause.

"..Just, please, be open and honest about any of our discussions. Now, do any of you have anything you want to say, to anyone, or about anything?" I ask them. Ashlyn then let's go of the hug and looks down at the ground.

Taylor then speaks up. "I'm sorry, Ashlyn. I.. didn't realize you were taking on so much pressure on your own. And you're right.. I don't want to be here for the rest of my life. The phantoms are just a fact of this place.. no matter how many different plans we come up with, how long we put it off, or how many monsters there are, we'll still have to deal with them and get our hands dirty if we want out. The sooner we face and accept that, the faster we'll go back to our normal lives.. So forget about what i said earlier. I was just overwhelmed at the moment." Taylor says as she puts a hand behind her head and she grins sheepishly.

"I still think there's too many." Tyler says. I could see Taylor sweat drop.

"But.. I suppose you aren't entirely wrong right about now would be our best chance. I'm sure those things will just keep growing in number rather than thin down anyways." He finishes off.

"Right. Plus, Ben and Aiden don't seem opposed to the plan either!" Taylor says as she smiles.

Ben gives a nervous thumbs up as Aiden puts his knife in front of him as he smiles. "Honestly if you guys don't hurry up and continue, i'm going to jump the wall on my own." Aiden tells us.

Taylor sweat drops. "Right.. haha.." She then turn to look at Ashlyn and she smiles. "See Ashlyn, we're okay now! Things are back on track. So, don't worry about thinking about a new plan or feeling guilty for something that would have been our choice. Oh and! I'm glad you took lead of the group. Not because i think it's your fault, but because you've always been rational and your plans have helped us." Ashlyn looks surprised as Taylor said that.

"And like (Your name) said, we should openly share our thoughts! So, you should trust us with your thoughts, okay? If we had all talked about how we've been feeling up to this point, then maybe we could have avoided all the overwhelming we felt." Taylor says.

I nod at her words. "Yeah, one thing we have to do as a group is to trust and support each other. It doesn't matter what role you take in the group because that's what teamwork is." I tell them calmly as i smile.