Ashes and Agony

THE WARNING

It was already really late at night when the teenagers finished burning their excessive energy and decided to end the frenzy party.

"What a long night! I'll hit the sack as soon as we're back into the room." Kikumaru said to his roommate, Echizen while they entered the lift.

The boys returned to their rooms, stretching and yawning, ready to rest after a tiring but happy day.

"If anything happens tonight, just come and find me. My room is just opposite yours." Fuji whispered to Tezuka before entering his room.

"Okay. You stay safe too." Tezuka reminded.

"What were you guys saying? Something going on?" Atobe asked when Tezuka entered the room after him.

"Nothing." Tezuka said.

"You sure? Tell me if there are any problems in this place." Atobe could tell by his insight that Tezuka was worried about something.

"The place is fine." Tezuka told him: "I'm just tired."

"Okay then. Good to know." Atobe said and crawled into bed.

Tezuka switched off the lights and slipped under the covers, closing his eyes while telling himself to stop thinking and sleep.

"Goodnight." Atobe said.

"Goodnight." Tezuka replied.

Atobe was fast asleep within a few minutes, his breathing evident in the silent room. Tezuka looked out the window and couldn't stop picturing someone appearing there, watching them sleep. He took a deep breath and pulled the curtains shut, once again convincing himself to stop worrying. He finally slipped away after moments.

Meanwhile in Marui and Fuji's room, Marui was still wide awake, staring at the ceiling fan spinning above him.

He could still smell smoke drifting in the air, and in the midst of total silence, he could make out the faint sounds of someone shouting and groaning in agony. He wasn't sure if he was hearing things, and resisted the urge to go out and check. Somehow he felt that it would be too dangerous to go out alone at this time of night.

He folded the pillow over his ears, telling himself to fall asleep, but to no avail. After a few minutes of chanting himself to sleep, he heard the door of their room creak open. He looked over to see a figure slip out of the room, leaving the door ajar. The obsolete smell of smoke had unexplainably intensified all of a sudden.

Fuji must have left the room to use the toilet or what. He thought to himself and continued trying to sleep. After a few seconds, his eyes snapped open again. He could hear Fuji breathe behind him, steady cycles of breathing obvious in the room. He inhaled sharply and turned around slowly, totally gripped with fear.

To his dread, Fuji was still sound asleep in bed, staying the way he was. He hadn't moved. Who was it that left the room? That was when he realized that the toilets are in the room. Fuji wouldn't have any better reason to leave the room.

The smoky smell was still in the air, strong as ever. He trembled uncontrollably, pondering whether to wake Fuji up or just stay mum. Something was definitely not right with this place. He knew it from the start. He should have trusted his instincts and warned everyone just now so that they wouldn't have to spend the night here.

There's something else here. And it's not friendly at all. He turned to look at the door, which was left ajar by the figure he saw just now, and couldn't muster the courage to go shut it. After staring at it for a few seconds, a shadow appeared at the gap of the door, seeping into the room.

The figure was tall and skinny, but Marui couldn't tell whether it was male or female. He tremored violently as the long and black figure stood there motionless. Although he couldn't see its eyes, he could feel it staring at them rancorously. Marui wanted so bad to wake Fuji up but he didn't dare to move an inch. He couldn't do anything but just bury his head into the covers and wishing it would leave soon.