After School

2.50 Yuta

September 17, 1946: After School

"It's time."

The words Yuta spoke were forced up his throat, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth as soon as it escaped. His chest was tense and his breath came out in tight spurts, rendering it difficult for him to breathe.

The gloom of the chilly room crept into him and seeped into his pores, shooting up his frigid veins. He grudgingly trodded towards the middle of the pool room, his legs shaking with every step as he approached the impending doom. He clenched his fists at his sides and stared at the white tiles below, hiding his tears from his friends. He felt as if he was running from something beautiful yet tainted, godly but ungodly, as it slowly whisked away all life on earth leaving nothing but emptiness.

When Yuta reached the middle of the pool room, he slowly lifted his head. Yuta gazed at his friends with his sombre violet eyes, who gave a terrified look in return. Their faces were scrunched with despair and their eyes were wide with fear as their brains slowly registered the fact that perhaps Yuta truly was going to go through with this. His heart thumped sorrowfully for them, and the depressing question of what they would do afterwards suddenly struck Yuta.

There were a few minutes of nothingness that allowed Yuta to soak in the last moments of his life. He stood completely still and gazed morosely in the distance, his eyes locked onto the closed green doors of the pool room. It was in these moments the despair was a heady blackness. The ways forward he had thought possible vanished to black as if they were never there at all. The notion of hope became meaningless because if his mind lingered on such ideas they began to feel like cruel tricks. The bonds he had, the ones that kept his heart beating, felt so thin and even they were a heavyweight to hold. There was no point in him drawing any more breath, not only because it was the plausible way out of the curse, but also because it simply felt right.

In the darkness of his tormented and traumatized mind, he couldn't get a sense that anything was important at all. Not even Life, Death, or the Devil felt threatening. He desperately wanted to see the dawn kiss the land and remind his fickle heart that he was not the only one here, that there were sentient beings on this planet that loved him. But he knew it was wrong for him to have that because all he deserved was a starless sky without a moon that could shine.

Yuta continued to gaze at the green double doors, that were stained and dark-toned. The doors reminded Yuta of Wilson's dim orbs during the moment in time when he nearly slammed the life out of him. It gave him great pleasure to see that frozen expression on his face, but that feeling of satisfaction lasted for mere seconds. Yuta had gotten his revenge against Wilson and he was about to end the curse, yet he felt numb. He didn't feel heroic because he was making a sacrifice, he felt nothing. It was as if he was standing on an isolated island, with nothing but the terrifying ocean to stare at.

His eyes never averted from the doors as the sudden shuffle of movement could be heard around him. The moment of stillness was over and now it was time for everyone to play their part, no matter how impossible it felt to do. Ronald carried Jimmy's corpse and laid him on the ground beside Yuta, straightening his frail body. When he finished, he stepped backwards and joined the others in the formation of a triangle.

They surrounded Yuta, who continued to stand, and Jimmy, who laid peacefully on the ground. Carter grabbed Jessica's hand first, who grabbed Barbara's, who grabbed Josh's, who grabbed Olivia's, who grabbed Ronald's, who grabbed Carter's. The tight triangle they made somehow managed to leave enough room for Yuta in the middle. His friends tightened their grips around each other's hands and watched the dark-haired boy, waiting nervously for the next dreaded moments.

Yuta's legs slowly sank downwards and he was on his knees. He focused his gaze over Carter's shoulder and straight on the green doors. He prolonged his next actions, partly because his consciousness was lost in the dark sea that was his mind. Although, there was half of him that wondered. Half of him wondered, wished, hoped, that someone would burst through those green doors and save him.