Overcast

4.8

Back on the streets, Lester and Misty traipse through the snow. They pass through the town, eventually reaching a familiar building. "Look, Lester. Remember this place?"

"...Ah. Ryndale Elementary. How could I forget?" he asks.

"Seems like only yesterday that you attended this place...," she says, feeling nostalgic. The siblings approach the building, looking over the place.

"Looks more or less intact. Whatever's happening, looks like this school's avoided the worst of it," Lester says.

Just as he speaks, a silhouette appears off in the distance. It stands beyond the glass, peeking out from the shadows. A child looks on from afar, wearing brown pigtails and a white sleeveless sundress. As Lester and Misty notice her, she quickly disappears down the hall.

"What the...?" Misty says in shock.

"Was that a...girl?" Lester asks.

"Could be a survivor. We should help her out." Misty approaches the doors, finding them both tightly locked. She cups her hands to the glass, spotting no signs of life inside.

"I have a bad feeling about this. Let's just get out of here, sis," Lester says.

"Are you kidding me? And leave that child to fend for herself? You saw how young she was. There's no way she can survive on her own," Misty says. The girl produces a hairpin, proceeding to pick the locked entryway. In less than a minute it clicks. Misty opens it, she and Lester heading inside.

"Where'd you learn that?" Lester asks.

"The internet. We're lucky. Most locks aren't so easy," she says.

The two arrive in the building, finding it just as they'd remembered it. Both had attended this school as children, roamed these same halls and played in the schoolyard. They wander the linoleum floors, the walls half wooden, half drywall white. It's warmer inside, yet still chilly and dark. The siblings look around, spotting not a soul in sight.

"Oh, man... I feel nostalgic, but this place somehow gives me the chills," Lester says.

"I know. I'm amazed to find this place so...untouched," Misty replies.

The two wander the halls, passing by the reception area. Just then, they spot a half open door. They head inside, finding a poorly lit room. Rows of little desks fill the class, the eastern windows facing the school's courtyard. It looks like a winter wonderland out there, complete with a gentle snow coating the land. Finding no signs of the girl, the duo move on.

The next door they come to is similarly ajar. They head inside, finding another empty class. The room is filled with desks, looking slightly less kempt than the last room. Some desks are askew, one at the back lying on its side. Children's drawings adorn the walls. Drawings of skies, dogs, cats, and other frivolous things. Typical children's drawings of distinctly childlike quality.

Misty and Lester move on. The third room they arrive at is rather different. It has desks, alright. Desks stacked clear up to the ceiling. There are two sets of stacks, one at the side of the room and one at the end. The stacks are both lopsided, looking as though they're about to fall.

"What in the? Who could've done this?" Lester asks.

"It couldn't have been that girl. She's too small," Misty replies. "The better question is: Why would someone do this?"

The duo look at the room, finding it decorated the same as the last two. Drawings adorn the whiteboard and the walls, looking not unlike the previous rooms. They're normal children's drawings, save for one at the end of the board. The two eye the drawing, immediately finding it in poor taste. It's a picture of a girl in pigtails, hanging from a large tree by a noose. Her head is tilted sideways, body hanging limp and dead. A group of boys look on, all pointing and laughing at her. She has brown hair and a white sleeveless dress. Misty and Lester pause, sharing the same thought.

She looks like the girl from the entrance.

The drawing is thoroughly morbid, leaving a bad taste in their mouth. More troubling, perhaps, is the fact that it's of a higher quality than the rest. It looks less like a child's drawing and more like the work of some deeply disturbed artist. As the two stand motionless, a shuffling sound comes from the next room. The duo share a look of unease, quickly heading outside.

Upon entering the adjoining class, the pair stop dead in their tracks. Gone are the normal elementary school classes: this one looks straight out of a nightmare. The floors are covered in ashes and filth, blood and rust painting the coppery walls. The room is unusually dark, the windows boarded up, offering no view of the yard. A chunk of the floor is missing, revealing a pit of perpetual darkness. The siblings enter the room, finding it totally free of desks. It also lacks a whiteboard, but does have a blackboard, looking worse for wear. On it, a message is scrawled in red letters.

I hoPe u Die

That's it. That's all it says. The two get chills just looking at it. Who wrote it? And when? Was it meant for them? Misty approaches the blackboard, lightly touching the ink.

"...Hmm. Still fresh," she says, licking her red fingertips.

"Sis!"

"Tastes like copper. I'll bet it's blood," Misty says.

"Who wrote it? That girl?"

"No way. She's far too short to reach the board, and there's no desks around here she could've stood on," Misty says. "...But then again, who knows? I'd say we're past trying to make sense of all this. All we can do now is soldier on. You know what they say: When you're going through hell, keep going."

Lester gives his sister a long stare. She's strong, but he senses exasperation in her voice, which frightens him. The two leave the room, heading back into the halls. They soon reach a door, seeing the courtyard beyond the glass. They head outside, stepping out into the snow.

They arrive on the scene, suddenly shocked by what they see. They make a gruesome find, the likes of which they've never seen. Bodies: tattered and bloodied, all lying in the snow. The dead are all boys, the snow around them going from white to red. At the center of the yard stands a live oak. From it, an empty noose swings in the wind. As Lester and Misty watch, a pair of footsteps approach from afar. They quickly turn around, spotting a familiar figure approach. It's the girl from before. She giggles, holding a carving knife.