They finally stopped in front of a door. Matthew stepped forward to open the door, but there was a squelching sound coming from his shoe. He then looked down to see his sole dipped in blood coming from under the door.
Daniel looked down at the red puddle and let out a soft shriek. "Oh my God," he muttered. "Whatever is going on inside there is really, really bad."
Matthew was about to open it, bracing himself for whatever horrors were going to appear before him, but Emma held a 'stop' gesture up with her hand. "Be careful, everyone. Prepare your guns," she said with caution, reminding them not to let their guard down.
Emma then nodded as a signal for Matthew to lung the door open. Taking in the horrifying sight in front of them, the trio gasped in shock and fear. There were four more bodies in the room—three of students and one of a teacher. It was no wonder why there was a flood of blood inside and outside the room.
Then a teacher, clearly looking infected, glared at them, its eyes burning crimson red. The remaining five students inside ran out of the room, crying. They were so traumatised that they didn't even run out of the room on their own when they had the opportunity to earlier.
Unfortunately, one of the students slipped on the puddle of blood, falling into a sea of red. Before the teacher could get to her, Matthew grabbed the girl and moved out of the classroom. As the teacher charged forward, roaring while holding a distorted metal triangular-prism ruler, Matthew ran back and slammed the door shut, locking both the front and back exit from the outside.
The five students continued to sob and wheeze, traumatised. The severity of their bawling differed, with some of them merely shaking in fear and leaking tears from their eyes while others wailed loudly.
"Are you okay?" Daniel patted the only girl in the group.
She started to sob even more. "No... it-it's hard to watch my f-f-friends... die..." she bawled.
Matthew shivered upon hearing that sentence, fearing that he would lose more of his own friends someday.
"Hey, I know how it feels. One of our friends went missing, and we've been trying to find her since yesterday without the NYPD's help." he comforted her. "I'm Daniel, by the way."
The girl finally stopped crying. "Y-you're from t-the NYPD?" she asked, making an inference.
"Oh, yes. We came here because... well... we were told to help with the rescue operation," Daniel explained.
"T-that's great. The rescue efforts by the Scranton police didn't go well in the end, and as you can see... everything is like this right now. B-but anyway, it's good to have someone to talk to for now," she said, still quivering.
"What do you mean?" Daniel asked.
She heaved out a sigh. "Those friends that Madame Garcia killed... they were my best friends. Ryan, Tyson and Emily..." she told him.
Matthew turned around and looked through the glass panel of the classroom door. He stared at the bodies of the three poor children, grimacing. Just as he turned back to face the students, Daniel widened his eyes, gesturing to him not to say anything.
"Who is Madame Garcia?" Daniel then asked the girl.
"Our E-English teacher. She complained about a throbbing headache two hours ago. Emily asked if she was fine, but she just shook it off and continued the lesson for another hour before she started choking on something. And she... she foamed. She lost consciousness for about half an hour, and we got Mrs Taylor to help her. That was when she... reawakened..." she answered.
"What do you mean by 'reawakened'?" Matthew cut in, curious to know what exactly had happened.
"About a minute before she got up, we noticed abnormal veins running up to her head. They were dark green. She started to groan, like an animal, before she got up in a strange way. That was when she picked up her metal ruler and attacked Mrs Taylor..." she responded before trailing off. This time, they all peered into the classroom through the glass window in the door.
And as expected, at the corner lay a dead Mrs Taylor.
"We should get going. There's a lot we have to do now to get out of here," Matthew told the girl and Daniel, knowing that there could still be other creatures lurking through the school compound.
"What about them?" the girl pointed to the rest of the boys.
"Your other friends are coming along too," Daniel replied, gesturing for them to come over.
The girl just shook her head. "Those aren't my friends. They are just classmates. I don't really talk to them," she corrected.
Matthew sighed. The girl seemed to be very particular about whom she called a friend. "Well, we'll all get going now," Matthew declared as he brought the children towards the detectives' car.
"So, where are we going now?" one of the boys asked.
"The police station, but we have something else to do before that. So meanwhile, you all can stay in the car," Matthew answered.
As the group stepped out of the school's main entrance, another boy stopped. "What do you guys have to do?" he questioned, wondering what the detectives were up to.
"It's... it's quite hard to explain right now. I'll elaborate more on it once we're done," Matthew added as he opened the door to let the students into the vehicle.
"Actually... can I accompany you? I'm Liam Owens, by the way," the boy spoke.
"Well... the reason why we didn't want to explain to you our task is because it was going to be dangerous. I don't think you'll want to come along. This was a rescue mission after all, not for you to come along with our little tasks," Daniel explained.
"Well, if it's so little, it won't hurt for us to tag along, will it?" the other boy, who hadn't spoken at all since he met the detectives, said. "By the way, my name is Benjamin Walter, but just call me Ben," he added.
Matthew pursed his lips. Daniel placed his hands on his hips. Both were sceptical about letting the children come along since they had technically just rescued them, but Emma intervened anyway.
"I think it'll be good for one or two of them to come along. We may need some assistance getting Palmer out of the tunnel," Emma whispered to the two detectives.
"I-I think I'll just stay in the car. I d-don't want to risk anything more at this point of t-time," the girl stammered.
"M-me too," the other boy spoke.
"Are you serious, Norman? You told us that you'll—I mean, just come along! Don't be a spoilsport," Ben and Liam lamented, rolling their eyes at the other boy and the girl.
"I'm sorry, guys. I... I just can't," Norman stuttered as he feared experiencing the trauma of encountering the creatures again.
The other two boys sighed. "For goodness sake, Norm, you're such an ass," Ben groaned.
"It's okay, Norman. You can stay in the car with... oh, I didn't ask for your name," Emma said before requesting for the girl's name.
"Oh, it's Jane," the girl replied quickly.
"Okay, so Norman, you can stay with Jane in the car. It'll be much safer than going with us. Trust me," Emma said.
"Well, actually... I've changed my mind. Since Norman isn't coming, I'd like to come along instead," Jane offered.
"You? Ugh," Ben and Liam both sighed at the same time, strangely upset at the fact that Jane would be around.
"Well, I'm staying here," Norman said as he slipped himself into the car, getting comfortable on the seats.
"If you're okay, Norman, then we'll get going. We'll be back, so don't worry. Stay in the car, okay?" Emma said. Norman nodded before closing the car door shut and locking it.
As the detectives and students were walking back into the school, Liam and Ben glanced back at Norman, glaring back at him for a reason unknown to the detectives. Daniel noticed but decided not to say anything about it.
"Anyway, you guys know where the back exit is, right?" Matthew asked, turning to look at the three students.
"Yes, we'll show you," Liam said as he directed the detectives towards their destination.
The detectives walked through the hallways, more alert and observant this time. They inspected the walls of the school and the banners that hung above them. Matthew recalled his own school in the past and his life in middle school.
The condition of Scranton-Palmer was obviously better than what he had in his school, but he didn't complain about anything. His life in middle school was so much more peaceful than it was going to be in high school. Much more peaceful.
"Anyway, the back gate is right here—wait, what?" Liam announced before getting confused himself.
"I think the police must have placed these earlier on," Jane suggested as she stared at the furniture that stacked up and blocked the exit door and the police tape that secured the blockage in place.
"Why would they do that, though?" Emma questioned.
"I'm not sure. I was trapped in the classroom the whole time, so I didn't really know what was going on outside," Jane explained.
"Either way, we need to get through. There's... there's someone inside..." Daniel trailed off.
"What do you mean by someone?" Ben inquired.
"Well... you guys know who Mr. Palmer is, right?" Daniel asked the students.
"Oh my goodness, don't even bring him up. He gives awfully long speeches that no one listens to, and he comes every week. He's practically worse than the headmaster. I don't care that he kind of owns the school, though," Liam ranted.
"Well, he's trapped inside there. And we promised to get him out," Matthew sighed.
"Palmer is... trapped in there?" Ben asked, looking shocked for a moment before he burst into sudden laughter. "Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! He's trapped? Oh, I've been longing for that day!"
Matthew, Daniel and Emma stood shocked. "W-wait. W-why are you laughing?" Emma said, appalled. "This isn't funny!" she fumed, causing the boy to stop.
"We... we risked our lives to come here and help you guys out! And... Mr. Palmer too! But... you're mocking our rescue efforts?" Emma flared. "We could have gone back to the NYPD and begged them to put us back in Witness Protection Programme, but we didn't. Because we knew it was only right that we step out and do something. To save our friend. To take down Yael. To rescue students like you. But now you're like this? Laughing at the fact that someone is trapped?"
The three students stood silent, sealing their lips shut. They didn't dare to say anything anymore.
"It's okay, Emma. Calm down," Daniel said as he patted her, who was huffing and puffing.
Meanwhile, Matthew stared at the kids, not knowing what to say. They stared back at him, not knowing when they should say anything. The situation was rather awkward, but the lousy atmosphere changed within seconds.
As Matthew glanced over the kids, he saw two red eyes popping out from a corner at the other end of the hallway, hinting that danger was imminent and the thing was after them again. And he knew that they had to run immediately.
The detectives brought the students with them as they sprinted away from the back exit, each holding a student's hand. They didn't stop running. After all, they couldn't.
"W-why are we running?" Liam asked, panting tiredly as he continued to sprint with the others.
"That creature was after us. It was just at the other end of the hallway," Matthew explained briefly, attempting to conserve his energy.
"What creature?" Ben asked, puzzled.
"I think he means... the animal that Madam Garcia became...." Jane theorised, shaking at the thought of it.
"Yes, that thing. It's trying to kill us," Emma added.
"You mean... there's more than one of them? Other than... Madam Garcia?" Liam shivered.
"A lot more than you think. Mr. Palmer reported that there were three in the school. And we don't know if the count is even accurate. There may be more," Matthew answered.
"The school has a second floor, right?" Daniel asked.
"Yes, there is. Maybe we can... hide up there? Away from them?" Jane suggested.
"Exactly what I was thinking," Daniel nodded. "The creature probably won't know we're upstairs, so we should try it."
The detectives and students all agreed, and so they headed up the stairway to the second floor. Matthew urged them to make their footsteps as gentle as possible, as the marble steps were very sensitive to the soles of their shoes and made rather loud noises when stepped on, which could give away their location easily.
The group made their way towards one of the classrooms, retaining their quiet footsteps so as not to draw any unnecessary attention. They could hear loud thumping coming from the creature downstairs, and it got louder. It seemed to be nearing them, but they were fortunate they were on the second floor.
"We'll need to hide in one of these classrooms for now," Matthew said, playing safe. He knew the creature was unlikely to know where they were, but he still didn't want to risk it. "Get in quickly."
The students went in first, followed by the detectives. Matthew slowly closed the door shut; it was slightly creaky, so he made sure to move it as slowly as possible. He walked over to the front door and ensured it was shut too. It wasn't as creaky as the first one, but it jammed just as it was about to close fully.
"Oh, the door is like that. It's really—," Ben muttered before Matthew held a finger to his lip, signalling to Ben to stop talking for a moment.
Without his talking, the group managed to hear the thumping sounds of the creature. Creatures. Two distinct sets of heavy footsteps highlighted that the animals weren't moving alone. Soon, the detectives' eyes confirmed it for all of them.
The two creatures walked past the classroom slowly. The detectives and students stayed absolutely still, not moving an inch or making a decibel of sound. If they did, they would definitely be dead.