After School

2.40 Yuta

September 17, 1946: Lunch

One second, Yuta was running away from the paranormal activity he couldn't see, alongside Carter. The next second, he woke up in the middle of a classroom, alone and in a state of confusion.

His head spun and ached as he studied his surroundings. The dim afternoon sunlight shone through the windows, blinding him. Yuta groggily stood up, stumbling during the process. His legs were aching from the running, which caused him to limp every so often.

"Carter?" Yuta questioned out loud, as he peered around the classroom. He squinted with puzzlement as his vision fogged. I was with Carter a second ago, in the pool room. Why am I here?

Without Carter by his side, he suddenly felt incredibly lost. The kiss that lingered on his lips would suffice for perhaps another hour, but he knew he couldn't live past that. Yuta blushed as he recalled the kiss, which only made him miss Carter more.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his shoulder from behind. Yuta jumped up with surprise and turned around to face his homeroom teacher. "Mr. Stevenson?" Yuta asked, blinking as his vision continued to blur. The outlines of his face were hazy, except for his blazing green eyes.

As much as Yuta wanted to ask Mr. Stevenson why he was here, he couldn't, because that would mean bringing up the paranormal activity his friends promised to be discreet about. Instead, he continued to look up at Mr. Stevenson, oblivious about his sudden and coincidental appearance.

"Hello, Yuta," Mr. Stevenson said, his hands tightly gripped around his shoulder. "I'm so glad I found you here. I need to ask you to do me a favour if that's alright," he said, in a voice that was too friendly for its own good.

"O-Of course!" Yuta said, rubbing his eyes that still wouldn't clear. "What is it?" he questioned, swallowing nervously. He was fine with helping his teacher, but finding Carter was more of a priority for him at that moment.

"I need your help with carrying this heavy paperwork," he said, lifting a stack of papers.

Yuta nodded and outstretched his arms to grab it, but then Mr. Stevenson dropped the papers to the floor. "My bad!" Mr. Stevenson exclaimed, his eyebrows arched in a slightly uncanny manner.

Yuta's hands were still midair as his slow brain registered what happened. Mr. Stevenson took advantage of this moment of hesitation to suddenly grab his right wrist. When the papers dropped to the floor, the item within Mr. Stevenson's grasp changed, much to Yuta's bewilderment. He could barely see the outlines of an object that resembled a knife, but that only made him wonder how it suddenly appeared in his hand.

"H-Huh?" Yuta breathed, confused as he still couldn't comprehend what happened. He could barely see a thing, but he could feel the strong hands that were curled around his wrist.

Without warning, his vision went entirely blank and all he could see was an endless white. The walls were closing in on him as he forced myself to shake off Mr. Stevenson's hands, to no avail. He took another frantic step, his breath quickening. What if I run out of oxygen? he frenziedly thought as his heart rate began to speed up.

The endless abyss of white enveloped him and he cringed away from its icy touch. Though, that only caused it to draw him in tighter with every movement. Everything and nothing folded into him, constricted his lungs until he was gasping with dizziness. His head swung aimlessly in the air since the only support he had were the hands curled around his wrist.

He wanted to ask Mr. Stevenson about what was happening, but he couldn't. His movements were restricted and his entire body went limp. His sense of his surroundings was nothing but a hazy line, and somewhere in the back of his puzzled subconscious, he was terrified.