Eclipse of Hope

Chapter 5: Hide & RUN

"W- what even is that?" Camille mumbled beside me. The figure slowly went to the children who stood there, not knowing what to do. "Hello?" the boy said, walking closer to the figure.

His smile widened, showing his teeth. The boy chuckled softly in return. My stomach swirls, it doesn't sit right with me. Its eyes, black iris, were showing danger and hunger the more I looked, even from afar.

The air still thickened with silence as the boy came closer, thinking the figure was a friendly creature. "What is it doing?" Camille whispered. "I don't know," Daeh-yun mumbled under his breath. I wasn't sure either. "I believe it's the seeker," Daeh-yun whispered. Both of our eyes widened. "Make sense, but the boy still hasn't hidden yet," Aoki added.

Slowly, the figure opens its mouth before snapping the boy's head, the sound of the crunch thickens through the room, crimson liquid splattered on the floor.

Our eyes widened in fear, trying to process what just happened. IT SNAPPED HIS BONE AND ATE HIS HEAD, THAT'S WHAT. I couldn't believe my eyes- was this real or some nightmare I had been spawned?

Camille almost screamed before Aoki quickly covered her mouth with her palm. "Shh," Aoki hushed sharply. She was frozen in fear, her pants muffled from Aoki's palm.

My lungs tighten so that I have to pant to breathe. The boy's head was crushed in its mouth, blood splattering all over the floor. One of the kids screamed, ringing the room. My eyes quickly scanned, it was a girl, hiding behind the merry-go-round.

Within a second, the girl's head was gone, dropped on the floor as blood spattered everywhere her expression was still horrified and now her face didn't move. My heartbeat was getting louder as my cold sweat dripped on my forehead. The kids near the girl screamed, running away, not realizing it was a fool's move.

The figure dashed, again, their head was chopped off and dropped off the floor. Blood was everywhere, running through the floor. I pant heavily, is he coming towards us, US? My mind filled with those thoughts, I'M SCARED, I'M SCARED, I'M SCARED.

"We should get out here before it comes," My thought was interrupted by Daeh-yun's suggestion. He looked at me, making me shiver down my spine. Slowly he patted my back, it made me feel relieved for some reason.

We both nodded before slowly getting up. They were children running away and got attacked, some kept quiet and stayed hidden.

The figure slowly walks around, looking for other students as we slowly crawl to the rope ladder we climbed up earlier. The figure went to the other side, we're safe to run now. Slowly, Daeh-yun went down first before scanning his surroundings to look out for the figure.

"Hurry," Daeh-yun said, keeping his voice low. Camille slowly went down as Aoki followed. Finally, it was my turn, I went down, gripping the rope with sweaty hands before I hopped off the rope ladder.

"Now, what do we do?!" Camille's voice reveals a hint of fear and panic. Sakura's gaze focused on a path just a bit further from here."We should split," Sakura looked at us. "W-why?!" Camille's voice cracked into confusion and shock.

"Because we have to find the key, I'll go with Daeh-yun, Camille with Eileen" Sakura glanced over at Daeh-yun, seeking agreement. He nodded slightly, "It will be easier that way, let's go find the key,".

Daeh-yun and Sakura then run towards the other side, right where the entrance is. While me and Camille were still standing, unsure what to do. "Let's go," I said, holding her hand, hoping it would calm her down. She took my hand as we walked in the opposite direction. Her trembling hand began to loosen as we walked.

I turned on the flashlight again as we walked, corpses passed by right in front of our eyes but I tried to stay calm, taking deep breaths until it tightened my lungs before letting it out slowly.

We walked a bit further, walking slowly so we wouldn't cause any sound before I saw a wooden-oak door.

There was a small gap, it wasn't really close. I slowly shifted forward to the door. "E-Eileen, where are you going?!" Camille hushed but decided to quickly go behind me. I slowly open the door, making a loud, eerie creak that makes me shiver. It reveals a pitch-black room.

The eerie atmosphere was still in the room, my limbs suddenly went heavy and froze. I can't..I can't be afraid, I must go in and find out.

I pointed my flashlight towards the room as I shifted cautiously in, there were red sofas and chairs in the room, the wall was plastered with red wallpaper with a few scratch marks revealing the white, concrete wall.

. The light of my flashlight revealed more as I went deeper. There was a big bookshelf filled with thousands of dusty books, there was a wooden desk and a chair that was in front of me. What is this room? I thought.

I went towards the wooden desk, there was also a desk chair, and the backrest and seat were in black mesh covered in flakes of grey dust. I walked closer to the desk, it was also covered with dust, and the desk lamp was covered with flakes of dirt particles.

What is this place?" Camille furrowed her eyebrows and followed me from behind. "I-I don't know," my voice echoed softly. There were many sheets of yellowish paper on the desk beside the lamp. I slowly pulled one from the top and analyzed it.

The crinkled paper was written in cursive handwriting. "Entry 22 (17th April 1993): Harbinger's research" the title was written in bold.

" It has been three weeks since we kept the two prisoners in a cage. According to my observation today, one of the eclipses sadistically killed their pair and ate it due to starvation. It was fascinating to find out it was a cannibal creature, identical to human beings as well. Maybe Harbinger does share some traits with humans, quite an enthralling fact. Sadly, we will have to replace the dead one with the new one."

The note continued with the second paragraph, it was messier. "In the previous notes and experiments, we found out that this animal is considered asocial and nocturnal. It keeps scratching that glass cage at night, making a loud screeching sound. I already complained to Ken but he doesn't seem bothered by my words or even acknowledge it, pathetic."

"I can only count on Hima, she has been helping me to test this animal's DNA and collect data. After lunch break, we scrutinize the animals using the latest X-ray scanner. We chained them up before they could gnaw us. As we finally got some results, they surprisingly have very stretchy limbs and bones, it is perceivable as it looks, but it was fascinating to know its flexibility behind those agility."

The entry ends with a signature "James Finnegan" at the bottom of the paper. It was the Eclipsed, the one that Miss Himiko said. Some people did observations on these creatures. And Ken is one of them?

"What's that?" Camille's voice popped up as she examined the paper that was still in my hand. "An entry, I think the monster's name is Eclipsed.." I replied. Camille rubbed her chin for a moment before she spoke. "Yeah, maybe,". I handed the paper on the table as I went back through the stack of papers until Camille interrupted.

"Eileen!" Her sudden shout made me snap back to reality. "There's a door," Camille pointed towards a wooden door, behind the bookshelf.