After School II

Ch 11: Magnification

    "Where are we going now?" Priya asked, slightly jogging to keep up with Prabhu and Shirley's fast pace. 

    "I don't really know... But we need to find the others before anything happens. " Prabhu answered.

    "How about we split up, and each of us can search a place? We can cover thrice as much ground." Priya suggested.

    "Really bad idea. If anything happens, We'll have to face it alone, which is not a good thing." Shirley replied. 

    They walked silently after that, except for occasionally calling out their friends names. 

    <CLINK>

    "What was that?" Prabhu asked, whipping his head around. "It sounded like metal." Priya answered. The sound wasn't heard again, so they resumed their search. Prabhu suddenly stopped in front of the Biology Lab, frowning. 

    "What's wrong?" Shirley asked him. 

    " Tell me, do you remember exactly how the boys were killed? The first victims, I mean." Prabhu asked her instead of answering her question. 

    "Well... two of them were slashed multiple times and had their eyes gouged out, and another of them was...chopped to bits. " Shirley said, nauseated at the idea. 

    "The other one? There were four, right?" Prabhu asked her. 

    "No one knows. His body wasn't found, so he was assumed to have been kidnapped by the murderer. " Priya piped up. 

    "But the watchman said he didn't see anyone leave, so either they escaped by a different way, or..were still in the school..." Shirley explained. 

"I've got a bad feeling... " Prabhu said, turning his head to look at the closed windows of the Biology Lab. 

_____ _ _____

    Rahul and Anish supported Bharath's arms from either side as they made their way to the Infirmary, led by the other guy, named Aravind. 

    Ajay, Chris and Anoop followed right behind them. 

    Once they reached, Aravind knocked on the door, which was opened by a middle-aged woman in a nurse uniform. Her name tag read 'Ms Eve'. "Good evening! What's wrong, boys?" She asked, smiling brightly. 

    "Um, Bharath has a high fever, Ma'am. We were hoping he could rest here for a while." Rahul explained. 

    "Oh, of course! Get him to lie down in one of the beds. I'll check what's wrong with him in a short while. " Ms Eve said. 

    The boys laid Bharath on a bed, and they sat on the next one. 

    Ajay felt someone coming from behind them. He turned around to see a tall man in a business suit walking towards them. Ajay glanced at Ms Eve, and was surprised to see a look of utter contempt and loathing aimed at the man, but she quickly masked her expression. 

    Ajay turned back to the man, and was sure he'd seen him somewhere before... quite recently too. Anoop gasped. "Dude, that's the guy who was trying to kill us! That zombie dude with grey skin and red eyes!"

    "Oh damn...I kept thinking he looked familiar.. Is he the murderer? He's gonna kill Rahul, and maybe the others as well?!" Ajay shouted. 

    They watched as the man walked to Ms Eve. "I need to talk" He said in a deep voice. 

    "Then talk." Ms Eve said, with none of the cheerful nature she had just seconds ago. 

    The man glanced at the boys inside the infirmary. "You sure?" he asked her. 

    She sighed. "Boys? I need you to leave now.. Leave Bharath here. I'll give him the medication he needs. he can't rest with you near him. Come back in..." She glanced at the man. 

   "Half an hour" He mouthed. 

    "...in half an hour." She told the boys.

    On hearing her, Rahul, Anish, and Aravind said Thank you, and left the infirmary, crossing Ajay. 

    "Hey, Hey, we need to follow them!" Chris cried out.  

    "But, We need to see what happens here! The man!" Ajay exclaimed. 

    "Then, you two stay here. I'll follow them." Anoop said, and dashed after them. 

    "Thanks, Anoop!" Ajay said and turned to look at the man seating himself on a chair opposite the nurse. 

    Ms Eve also seated herself, and asked "Why are you here?"

    "Well, Like I said, I'm here to talk. "

_____ _ _____

A/N: Whew. Finally! An update. As always, tell me what you readers think! A simple vote would be enough, or a comment!