After School

2.39 Yuta

September 17, 1946: After School

"We will never be free until we learn the truth."

That was what Yuta told Mr. Stevenson after he revealed that he was a witch. Yuta didn't believe any words that came out of his mouth, and he was waiting for a single inconsistency in his story to prove that he was lying. By the end, he never caught an inconsistency and soon after, he believed his teacher's story. Yuta concluded this when he got to the part of the story where the Witch passed her powers to him, on the beach.

He knew it was the truth because he remembered it happening, this whole time. He knew he was a witch.

"Do you folks understand now? Did my story answer all your questions?" Mr. Stevenson curtly asked the students that stood in front of him. "Do you understand, Yuta?"

Beside him, Carter stiffened and finally closed his mouth that was agape during the entire conversation. On the other side of Yuta, Jessica placed her palms on her nauseous stomach, the heavyweight of the information sickening her. Next to her, stood Olivia and Josh, who both had been weeping and sniffling against each other's shoulders. Barbara had also been weeping, except her cries were so loud that at one point Jessica had to place her hands over her mouth. On the far right, Ronald stood still with a forlorn expression, his strong arms never letting go of Jimmy's deceased body.

Yuta stood in the middle, staring at Mr. Stevenson with vengeance in his eyes throughout.

The darkness of Willesden's history crept its way into the classroom and refused to leave as it ate everything in its path. It did not spare anyone mercy as it destroyed them with its truth. Yuta had thought the truth would set them free when in actuality, it imprisoned them.

Room 110 wasn't heartwarming and comfy anymore because Willesden was different, after school. There was no light within the classroom and not even the full moon outside could spare some of its silvery light. The desks were untouched since the final bell had rung, and only a few had been overturned during the chaotic moments leading up to Jimmy's death. At times, Yuta found himself staring out the cracked classroom window, waiting for dawn to break and the sun to rise. It never happened.

The darkness in the room deceived him at first as it told him that this was simply a nightmare and he would wake up in the safety of his bedroom soon. He knew better once his eyes adjusted to the lack of light.

They were locked in, after school. With no way of escaping.

"Yuta," Mr. Stevenson snapped, his venomous voice cutting his strangling thoughts. "Do you understand?" he repeated, harsher than when he had been telling them the story.

Yuta met Mr. Stevenson's narrowed eyes, his own sullen and lost in its sea of blackness. His limbs lost their substance more than half an hour ago, and he could barely feel his sore hands since they had been clenched throughout. During this moment of hesitation, Yuta scanned his surroundings and was reminded of his betrayal.

"No," he croaked in response. Yuta rubbed his neck, his parched throat not having spoken for an hour.

Mr. Stevenson stepped forward and all seven of them instinctively jumped like scared rabbits, as their teacher had not moved throughout either. Although, every pause during his speech terrified the students because there was no way of telling when he would step forward and obliterate them with his powers.

"I am not in the mood to repeat the entire story, Yuta," Mr. Stevenson remarked in a jarring tone, which heightened the tension in the room. His narrowed eyes turned into green slits and he looked like a snarling snake against the pitch blackness. "You said it yourself, you won't be free until you learn the truth. Now that you've learned the truth, what do you say?"