Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Trapped In Purgatory ❯ Lesson 4: Forgotten ( Chapter 4 )

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Trapped In Purgatory

By: Melissa Norvell

Lesson 4: Forgotten

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“N-No…” Arata stood in place, paralyzed in fear. His body trembled and his stomach dropped, as if he had been pushed off of a high cliff. Anxiety flooded into his body and he felt the urge to vomit on the spot, but contained it.

“I don't want to die,” Shiko wanted to cry. She wanted to break down. It was like this was all a bad dream that she couldn't wait to wake up from.

“All we have to do is not break the rules. That should be easy, right?” Osmond laughed nervously. He didn't want anyone to know just how much the situation affected him. On the inside, he was panicking, falling apart as he was plunged into a sadistic competition with his classmates, the people he laughed with, grew attachments to, and spent most of his time with.

“I don't think there's anything simple about this situation. They aren't going to let us get away with protesting like this,” Monica knew what was up. This was a hostile situation and the rules were laid out before them. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that they wouldn't hesitate to kill them.

“They'll try to break us down. That's why they put those weapons out for us, they want us to try and kill each other. They're putting the temptation out there,” Leo wasn't going to fall for those tricks. He hoped that his classmates didn't either.

“How stupid do they find us to be?” Roxy crossed her arms and looked to the side. It might have worked with commoners, but she was anything but. Why should she have been treated like she had less intelligence due to the fact that she was trapped inside of some murder house disguised as a rich institution?

“They don't think too highly of our intelligence,” Raiga was offended that they would think he was that rash or stupid for that matter. Who did they think they were trying to kid? He was the leader of the biggest Yakuza faction in all of Japan. This was just insulting.

“The first rule is that you may only use weapons in this pile,” they all heard the man in the suit instruct as he gestured to the massive pile of weapons beside of him, “or weapons you find around the school. That means you can grab knives from the kitchen, pans, weights from the gym, or whatever you prefer. The choice is yours. You can also take weapons from bodies or make a weapon of your own. No guns or canons are allowed and those caught using illegal weapons will be prosecuted in a court of your peers. You can choose not to bear arms, but it's not suggested.”

“I wonder who will try to get weapons,” Shiko glanced around nervously at her classmates, trying to discern who would be rash enough to act on impulse and give in to the suited figures temptation.

“Maybe we should get weapons to defend ourselves with at least. I'd feel weird walking around like a normal student, knowing that they can go to that pile any time they want,” it unnerved Persephone. She didn't like the idea of that pile being there at all. In fact, if she could, he would make it illegal for anyone to get weapons from it.

“I wish there was some way to regulate what weapons we got. You know, make sure everyone got one weapon,” Akagi knew in hindsight that wasn't going to work, but it was better than not acting at all. After all, they made it perfectly clear that they could go plunder items from the kitchen, gym or anywhere else.

“That's not a bad idea,” Izayoi placed a finger to her cheek in thought, “it would cut down on the suspicion.” Even if they could get other weapons, everyone would have a piece of safety with them and it would reduce their paranoia.

“This is like being thrust into complete chaos,” Ryuunosuke didn't like it at all. He knew he could do nothing to remedy that fact, however.

“The second rule is that you cannot kill anyone past ten p.m. From ten to seven a.m. is your resting period. You don't have to be in your dorms, but we suggest it. We also suggest that you keep your rooms locked. You never know who might sneak in there and try to get the upper hand.” From beneath the execution mask, a faint smile was made out. He was enjoying instilling fear into the hearts of the juveniles.

“At least we have some safety,” Okasana was happy to know that their dorms locked. It might not protect them from everything, but it was a place they could go for safety.

“That doesn't mean shit,” Monica argued her point. “Just because we shouldn't die at that time doesn't mean that we won't.” Someone would undoubtedly break that rule. Even if none of them did, there were multiple factors to consider. They weren't the only ones that were locked in the school, after all.

“Well, we have our dorms, right?” As long as they had a safe place, then they would be alright. Liam was happy enough just to have that.

“Unless someone forces their way in,” Monica killed his feeling of sanctity in that moment.

“I don't want to think about that right now.” Was she trying to make him have more anxiety than he already did?

“You have to consider all options if you want to live,” she wasn't trying to scare him, but the sukeban wanted him to think rationally. If he let his guard down just because he was in his dorm room, then he was going to be one of the first people to die.

“Adaptation will be your prime objective. If you can't adapt, you die,” Kasuga pointed out the harsh truth of the situation. This wasn't going to be any walk in the park; this was going to be a cut throat battle game.

“If a crime is committed during the night, then a trial will be held. There will be a warm up trial for the first case, and then we just start killing you all,” the suited man was all too happy about the promising carnage that stood in his wake.

“Warm up trial?” Persephone was afraid to ask, but knowing was better than being left in the dark.

“What the hell is a warm up trial?” Kazoo wasn't sure he wanted to know, either. However, it was better that he did at this rate.

“Does that mean whoever is convicted doesn't die?” Liam could only hope that's what it meant.

“We could only be so lucky,” Roxy retorted sardonically.

“That would mean one of us would get away with murder.” The thought of something so chilling sent waves of dread through Liam's body. If a killer got to roam free, it would make everyone think twice about them. Betrayal would be evident from that point on. Was this their way of breaking their trust for each other?

“I don't believe that. The point is killing everyone. Maybe, instead of executing the person, they just give them something that doesn't kill them on the spot but eventually does,” Akagi didn't think it was as simple as that. This was a pain game, and there would be no survivors. They said last man standing would win and that is the very thing that will happen.

“Like, they poison `em or something?” Raiga thought of alternatives, but in some regard they made no sense. If they did something like poison people that would be more suffering than actually dying.

“Let's not find out,” Ryuunosuke didn't want to think about that. He had enough to absorb right now.

“I agree,” Persephone spoke up, “I'd rather not be involved in any trials if I can help it.”

“In order for that to happen, you'd have to stay away from all crimes committed,” Leo had a feeling that was going to be impossible. The chances of going through graduation and not so much as seeing a body would be slim to none after this point.

“If we follow the rules, then we should be fine,” Izayoi knew that if this was a game of rules, and it was legit then she'd have to avoid everything that made her want to break them. It seemed simple enough. Good students got rewarded with living for another day if they followed the rules.

“Not entirely,” Leo folded his arms over his chest and arched a pierced eyebrow, “if we play by the rules, there's a probability that we'll die. We're not safe anywhere, really. Yeah, you can stay in your dorm at night, but someone could try and come through your door and kill you, or pick your lock. If they want to kill you, they'll find a way to do it.” Did they really think that the school was going to be kind to them in the slightest? They weren't going to be cut any slack and he refused to believe that anything they did would be beneficial to them in any way.

“People can't be that dumb to do that, can they? This is a school of smart people,” Akagi tried to use logic to discern his situation. No one in Shinjinku was an idiot. In order to get into the school, they had to go through a series of aptitude tests. There was no way that he would believe that everyone was so simple-minded.

“Not everyone got in here on those grounds,” Izayoi reminded him of the exceptions. Sure, they were mostly intelligent, but that didn't mean that they all had common sense. Some of the students were accepted sheerly on talent alone.

“Fear warps your mind,” Roxy brought up another factor that they all might have been forgetting about. They felt trapped, and at this point paranoia could be setting in. When people were trapped, they felt obligated to escape and desperate to get out of their situation.

“The feeling of being trapped with settle in and trigger the flight or fight mechanism. Confinement in general causes people to be driven to the depths of insanity. It's no different in this case,” Okasana knew this by heart. She was, after all, a psychologist in her own right. It was the very talent she got into Shinjinku for.

“I wonder who all will get executed,” Shiko knew there had to be someone who was going to screw up. In fact, multiple people would crack eventually.

“I fear people m-may die wrongly. As Osmond stated earlier, n-not all of us have participated in d-debate or mock trials,” Arata nervously adjusted his glasses. It was bad enough that being around large groups on its own intimidated him, much less this situation in its entirety.

“Wouldn't that be shitty? Let the murderer get away while an innocent person is killed by your bad life choices?” Kaizer smirked in amusement as he thought of that possibility. Things were about to get interesting, that was for sure.

“Man, I don't know if I could convict someone,” the thought of sending someone to their death wasn't funny at all. Liam was horrified in playing such a big hand in the grand scheme of things. “I'd be sentencing someone to death.” That wasn't in his character. He couldn't do it. He wouldn't do it. Liam didn't want to be forced to vote for it, either.

“We'll all be forced to do it, I'm sure,” Leo could see it coming from a mile away. All he could do was hope that it wouldn't be someone he knew.

“Is the person convicted truly innocent?” Kasuga's question caused everyone to direct their sights to her. The looks on their faces told her that she should explain what she was talking about, or they were going to suspect her of making an utterly heartless statement. “If we all kill, we are no better than murderers. The only difference between u and those deemed wrongful is that we were smart enough to get away with it, and they were not. The basic crime is the same. A corrupt jury is as bad as the criminal they are putting on trial.”

Her explanation held good ground, and her argument was plausible considering her criminology background. Kasuga wasn't completely wrong. In fact, she made some points that the others didn't think about prior.

“Where's your justice now?” Kaizer asked the question in an ominous kind of way. It sent a feeling of hopelessness reeling across the room.

“There are no kill areas in the school. The bathrooms, cafeteria, and bathing areas are community areas and no killing will take place there. There will also be special events that crop up,” the suited man held up a finger in delight as his cloaked eyes scanned over the students fright-filled faces. “One lucky student will be chosen to compete and give their life for the advancement of this school. Now, let the games begin! Time to get trigger happy!”

The figure held out his arms with great delight as the student body stood their ground. They talked among each other and glanced to the pile of weapons occasionally. There was a mixture of emotions as the suited man frowned in disdain. Honestly, he thought everyone would just be flocking to his beautiful pile of murder tools. They had no sense of sportsmanship whatsoever. Those brats would rather sit there and cry or shake with fear than get the guts to get the game rolling. They were just like the last bunch.

“W-What do we do?” Arata glanced to the other students in his class. What could possibly be going through their heads at this moment in time?

“We won't do it!” Kazoo clenched his fist and glared down the stage. “We aren't going to kill anyone!”

“Yeah, you're crazy!” Another student protested, holding out his fist.

“We won't touch your weapons!” A girl shouted from a few rows back.

Taiga glanced behind him to see that several more students were speaking out against their evil plans. `At least no one's taking the offer yet. I've got to find a place to take up residence in. If I don't, then I'm screwed. The only place I can think of to go is Raiga's room, but damn it, I'll get found out. Not sure it matters past this point. I'm sure getting killed is coming first.' He crossed his arms, looking conflicted as he closed his eyes and ground his teeth in frustration. `He probably thinks I'm doing just fine, running his bitch errands for him and shit. I actually wish I was. Why the hell didn't I listen to him? I could always go to Leonardo's room, but he'd probably still tell Raiga.'

The blonde yakuza sighed to himself, “I'm screwed. Completely and utterly screwed.”

Just then, a couple of students broke him out of his thoughts. There were two males who stood beside him and talked amongst themselves. One of them said that he was going to go and get a weapon. The other agreed, and they both smiled at each other before they rushed over towards the giant stack of weapons.

Leo shouted for them to stop, but they made their way over there. That caused a domino effect. The students who saw them make a move first, followed suit and they all ran over to grab any weapons they could. A few of them fought over some of the weapons, killing each other on the spot just to get something. Taiga ran in the large group, grabbing a pick axe out of the pile before darting away to avoid the carnage taking place.

Leonardo was horrified. What were they doing? Why would they all take action this soon? Did seeing someone rush up give them confidence, or did it instill the fear in them to make them want to grab something before they became the next victim?

Izayoi frowned at their behavior, upset by the fact that they didn't stand a more firm ground. It seemed like a few of them were willing to start killing, and that alone unnerved her. “I guess we can't stop everyone from getting weapons and killing each other.”

“We should get what's left. We'll need something to protect ourselves at least. However, we don't want to run out and get killed,” Okasana glanced to the commotion at the pile of weapons. The students continued to grab them, placing as many on their bodies as they could fit as they battled to the death with them. One student picked up a sword and stabbed her classmate through the stomach as she reached down to grab a knife from the pile. Students were running out with arm fulls of weapons.

Someone ran by Raiga and he heard something clank on the wooden floor. Bending down, he picked up the fallen item. It was a pipe with a u-shaped knuckle on the end and a small valve on the side. After examining it for a while, he told himself that would do as a suitable weapon for now. It wasn't the first time he'd have to beat someone with a pipe.

After settling with himself, Leo darted over to the pile and ducked down, rolling between two students and grabbed a scythe attached to a long chain, then took off running down the aisle and headed out of the doors, telling everyone that he was going to meet them all in the cafeteria. Raiga took off after him following in suit.

“I'm going to head off, too. I want to get to that kitchen,” Kazoo knew that if he didn't, then the other students were going to try and murder him along the way.

“Why?” Izayoi asked, pivoting on one foot.

“I want all of the knives,” his voice darkened. There was no sense in fighting for the tools in that pile, not when I could get other things much easier.

“Good idea,” the blue-haired girl's face hardened, “I'll go and find a weapon, too.” Right now, it was imperative that they all got something to defend themselves with.

A student ran towards Monica, holding a weapon that hand a handle with two blades coming out of either end. The weapon was huge, longer than the male's body, and she took liberty to turn around and deliver a fierce punch to his face. The male student fell backwards and black out, dropping his weapon. The sukeban bent over and picked it up.

“M-Monica!” Liam tried to scold her, only to get a harsh glare in return.

“Shut the hell up and grab something,” Monica pointed her weapon at him, sending chills up his spine at her harsh words.

Persephone found two short swords and picked them up. They were something someone discarded for a better weapon, and she was going to make good use of them. If someone tried to attack her, she was just going to stab them or throw her weapons at them. Liam took short sickles from the pile of weapons, and ran past everyone, fighting off the occasional students who tried to attack him. He shouted at the others for them to come on.

Izayoi ran down one of the halls, shooting past an axe, encased in glass on the wall before it caught her attention. She back up and grabbed one of the vases off of a nearby pedestal and hurled it at the glass with all of her might. It only put a crack in the glass that spider webbed out. Frowning in displeasure, she then grabbed an expensive-looking statue and chunked it. The glass shattered and rained onto the ground in shards. Reaching through the hole and trying to avoid the jagged pieces, she grabbed the axe that was only supposed to be used in a fire emergency and took off.

They all met inside of a small shop beside of the cafeteria. It was a quaint little place where the staff wore white cat ears and tails. They served cakes and tea to the students. The student council and many of the elite students spent time there.

Now the area was vacant and void of the normal happy chatter and laughter, coupled with ambient music. The only sliver of happiness was the cheery décor and light yellow walls. Around the large, long table in the middle that usually housed parties were the students who had weapons. Raiga held his pipe over his shoulder. Kazoo had all of the kitchen knives in a bag and a large wind of rope in his other hand. Leo held the scythe he grabbed. Persephone held her short swords close. Monica stood on the outskirts of the ground with her double-bladed weapon. Kasuga stood silently with her umbrella. She had no weapon at all it seemed. Ryuunosuke was armed with shurikens and other throwing weapons that he took from the gym. Okasana held a crowbar, Osmond has a sharp sword; Akagi ran and retrieved his bat, Shiko had a long rod with a spiked ball on the end, and Arata had what looked like a long, wooden poke with an oversized pizza cutter blade on the end.

“Man,” Raiga sighed, “that was really crazy.”

“I didn't think they'd grab all of the weapons so fast,” Leo was shocked at the animalistic display of his classmates. One moment, they were freedom fighters and the next, sadistic butchers. He figured they more than likely got scared and just started killing because others had immediately given up hope or fell to the whiles of their anxiety.

“Gluttonous bastards,” Monica sneered and jerked her head to the side. Such displays made her sick. Didn't they have more of a backbone than that? What the hell was wrong with all of them?

“I just grabbed an axe out of the emergency glass in the hallway,” Izayoi wanted to make sure she had something heavy duty. If she had to kill someone, then she wanted to be effective.

“I'm making myself a weapon,” Kazoo noted, “there's no way I was going to get in there to fight all those guys.” Doing something like that was for people who were either ballsy or suicidal and he didn't feel like dying right off the bat.

“Man, this is working on my mental state,” Akagi sighed and tried to hide the fact that he was visibly shaking. It was all he could do to keep together. The baseball star knew that if he lost his mind he was going to end up dead. “I've never felt so alone before.”

“Yeah, you can't trust anyone,” Ryuunosuke was unsure if he could even trust the people he was around. This small group was the most composed of everyone, however, he also knew that mean if they killed someone they either meant to do it or they lost their minds and caved in.

Persephone was on the verge of tears. She had to blink to hold the stinging substance at bay, and her voice shook with the fear she felt. “It's like a powerful, foreign, crippling depression.”

Tears rolled down Shiko's cheeks as she silently wept. “I never wanted this. I just want my old life back. Stuff like this doesn't just happen to me. I'm only a high school kid. I haven't even gotten my driver's license. It's not fair. I want to go home and see my parents again. I feel so far away in this school. I just want to hug my mother and forget what I've seen.”

The environmentalist wanted to see her family, if only one more time. She wanted to spend time with them, and tell them how much she loved them. The white-haired girl never thought she would miss them so much, or regret taking advantage of them as much as she did. There were so many things in life that she was looking forward to, so many things that she wanted to do, and now she might now get the chance to do any of them.

Izayoi looked to the side with a sad expression. “I just watched so many of my classmates get horrifically killed.”

“The dread you feel is immense, but we have to retain some sense of logic,” Roxy's voice was intense, but held reason to it. The heiress could see that everyone around her was falling apart and she didn't want another event like the one that just happened to take place.

“They aren't through with us. They'll taunt us into killing each other,” Akagi knew that they were going to be persistent about getting them to bend to their will. All they could do was stand strong against the threat.

“No m-matter what, w-we can't let it win,” Arata was afraid, but he was going to try and last as long as he could against them.

“We have to make a plan,” Okasana knew that they wouldn't get very far just winging it. They needed a sense of order and direction.

“Everyone else is going batshit,” Osmond glanced through the window of the shop to see the other students that remained in the cafeteria. He could only imagine what's going on in the kill zones.

“I tried to tell you that they wouldn't listen,” Kasuga turned her head away and twirled a piece of shaggy, white hair around her finger.

“Some of them did,” Kazoo argued her point. “They just panicked and ran aimlessly away in some sort of desperate attempt to get far away from the situation.” Those other students must have been scared out of their minds. They probably went to a safe zone, like the one he was currently in, or they ran to their dorm rooms.

“They probably went to hide or make it to the no kill areas,” Liam figured as much.

“They probably went to their dorms,” Shiko suggested the alternative.

“They're probably on the verge of hysterics. This type of terror is all too real,” Ryuunosuke knew that a lot of them didn't know how to handle downfalls outside of their usual, rich lives. He could only try to comprehend how they were trying to handle this.

“Besides not killin' each other, what's the plan?” Raiga knew they didn't have too much time to waste. If they were going to talk, then it needed to be about business.

“This will be our meeting place. We should report here every day to make sure we all still have our sanity,” Leo was going to make the first rule. Everyone came to the shop. It's where they first met and everyone knew where it was. That was a perfect location for their meetings to take place.

“What if one of us goes missing?” That was all well and good, but Kaizer wanted to know what their plans were if something went awry.

“Then we'll go looking for your ass,” Leo wanted to make sure that everyone was accounted for. Even if they just found a body it was better than nothing. “Even if we find ya dead, we'll still know where ya are.”

“We should all stick together. We'll be our own little group,” Raiga smiled at his new found team mates. After all, there was safety in numbers.

“What about the other students?” Still, this posed a question to Shiko.

“Don't trust them,” Monica closed her eyes and frowned. Trusting the others would only lead them to another pointless death. She didn't trust anyone.

“Even if they're just like us?” Shiko was pretty sure that there were others out there who were handling the situation in a similar way. Not everyone was mindless.

“Everyone for themselves,” Monica's voice was stern. “We can't have someone pretend to be on our side and take us out.” She didn't put that past anyone and she damned sure wasn't going to give them leeway for it, either.

“That seems bias and impartial,” Okasana put a long fingernail to her red lips, “there's strength in numbers.”

“We'd risk getting killed,” Osmond was with Monica on that notion. They didn't know who was who or what out there.

“We'd have to have a way of knowing,” Liam pondered out loud as he stroked his chin in thought.

“We'll come across that bridge when we get to it. Every situation will be different,” Roxy's look hardened and her voice darkened, “remember that.”

“Do any of you dorm alone? If you do, you might want to pair up with someone,” Leonardo thought it would be integral for everyone to have someone to watch their backs. They couldn't risk isolating themselves and leaving themselves up to get slaughtered.

“I'd rather dorm alone. I don't trust any of you,” Kaizer crossed his arms, cold, lime-green eyes scanned over his classmates as he frowned disapprovingly.

“We should only dorm with someone if we trust them,” Kazoo decided to make that point clear. He didn't want anyone to feel even more uncomfortable than they already were.

“I wouldn't want to get caught alone,” Leo wanted someone to watch his back. The rock star wanted the help if he happened to need it or got into a tight spot.

Izayoi glanced to the architect and looked conflicted for a moment. Her blue eyes glanced to the ground, and then looked back up to him. “Hey Kazoo, do you mind if we dorm together?” She didn't want to impose, but she didn't feel right going back to her dorm. Who even knew if her dorm mate was alive or if she'd try to kill her in the night? It scared her.

“Sure, you're welcome to dorm with me,” Kazoo held up a thumbs up and flashed a bright smile at the break dancer and pop star.

“If you d-don't feel safe alone, y-you should dorm with someone,” Arata thought it was a good idea.

“We'll leave that for everyone to decide,” Akagi wasn't going to press the subject more than it already was.

“We have to find out the school riddle,” a look of determination crossed Liam's freckled face. Everyone was going to be lost in surviving and killing, so much so that they'd ignore the fact that there was a riddle at hand that they needed to figure out. If they concentrated on that, rather than killing they could escape easier.

“But what even is it?” That part always confused Akagi. There was supposed to be some big riddle, but very little was told to them about what it even was.

“We have to find out who trapped us in here and why they're trying to make us kill each other, then we'll figure out why this is happening and what reasons they have for doing it,” Kazoo knew that sounded easier than it actually was, but it was the most effective way to find the answers to the questions they sought.

“I believe we may b-be hostages to some s-serial killer. A while ago, t-there have been reports of people ending up d-dead all over Japan in large numbers. They b-believed them to be homicides but could never find out who had murdered them,” Arata remembered hearing that story, and there was a possibility that the school murders might have been connected somehow. He didn't want to think about anything like that, but he couldn't help it.

“A serial killer would have to do a lot to take over a school,” Osmond found that a little hard to believe. Shinjinku had top notch security that was hard to crack.

“Maybe it's a group of killers,” Raiga didn't think it was entirely impossible.

“Could it be y-yakuza?” The scientist glanced to Raiga. “N-Not your faction, but another?” Someone like the yakuza had that kind of power, and that kind of numbers at their dispense. It wasn't impossible for someone like them.

“Why would the yakuza want Shinjinku? It's not really their style,” Raiga looked a little thoughtful, but in all seriousness, he couldn't see it happening. They had bigger fish to fry.

“Maybe one of the teachers went postal,” Akagi brought up another possibility. It was also unlikely, but not unfathomable.

“How do you explain that dome?” Roxy wanted to know that in particular. So what if a teacher went bonkers? People could still have escaped, and none of them had the science to construct something like that.

“Uh…” the baseball player looked as if he was at a loss of words, “I don't know.” He shrugged.

“You tried,” Liam would give him an e for effort. He reached over and patted his friend on the back. He knew how rash Akagi could be at times.

“This is hard,” Okasana sighed, “we should investigate. We need to find a way out. The faster we can, the better we'll be able to get people out.” The psychologist knew that hysteria and paranoia were spreading like wildfire. They had to solve the mystery as soon as possible, or bypass the dome all together, whichever came first.

Thinking for a moment, Shiko looked as if something hit her. The girl reached into her shirt and pulled out her cell phone. She dialed the number of the police station, but the line was dead. There was nothing on the other end, not even a tone. Glancing at the screen, she noticed that the reception was at zero. “My cell is gone,” she sighed, “no tone.”

“They probably disabled our phones. We can't send texts or anything,” Leo didn't think they were going to remedy the problem by making a simple phone call. That would be too easy.

Raiga held out his phone and typed something then his message ring tone went off. “Yeah, I just tried to send a text to Leo, but it came back.” They couldn't even communicate with each other at that rate.

“We can't even call the police or our parents, or anything,” Shiko sobbed, “we've been completely cut off from the outside world.” That just crushed her even more. It made her feel even more isolated.

“All we have are each other or ourselves if you want to do that,” Osmond offered the only two forms of company there would be. This meant one of two things - they would become paranoid and alone or rely on friends to cope with the situations.

“What about the internet?” Shiko tried desperately to think of another method to utilize for escaping.

“If we have no cell service, then we have no internet, either. It would be really stupid of them to leave one on and not the other,” Osmond wasn't even going to be hopeful about that. If they went through all of that trouble just to trap them in the school, they were going to make sure that their secrets stayed hidden.

“They're going to make sure we're trapped in here. That's what he meant by sacrificing all life beyond the dome,” Leo knew his words held meaning. It wasn't going to be easy getting out of there.

“Going out in a body bag means we're going to be killed by each other,” Liam didn't like thinking like that, but he didn't have a choice. He couldn't turn a blind eye to those words.

“Man, I hate this,” Akagi was looking visually stressed. No matter what they did, or how they thought, the results were all the same. There was no glimmer of hope that could be reached anywhere.

“Maybe our missing memories have something to do with all of this,” Roxy brought up something that no one had thought about before. She always wondered why their memories had been gone or altered to have no recollection of the classes prior to them. It more than likely had something to do with those who worked in the school.

“Missing memories?” Persephone looked a little confused at that statement. What did the heiress mean by that?

“I was asked by my roommate if I remembered the graduating class last year, because she didn't. She thought that they had amnesia or something but man, I don't remember it either,” Akagi looked frustrated as he ran his fingers through his faux Mohawk. “The more I tried to think about it, the more I don't remember much and what I do remember, I question. I mean, is this for real? It's like my memories are gone.”

It wouldn't have been quite so strange if he wasn't the only one who had that condition. Akagi wasn't the only one who couldn't recall the classes before his, or most of his life before that point in time. There were specific things that he couldn't recall and bonds that seemed to be missing entirely or missing pieces.

“To my horror, I don't remember either…” Osmond looked shocked at that revelation. His voice nearly trailed off into nothing as he tried to recall anyone who graduated before him. It shouldn't have been hard to remember past classes, especially since they shared a school with them and classes, but he couldn't remember anything.

Raiga looked thoughtful, “I just know certain things. My parents, bein' a yakuza, some things between Taiga and me. I don't remember last year, not the time I spent in school.” It was odd that he wasn't the only one. The yakuza leader stayed quiet about his memory loss, thinking it must have resulted from some shady business or a past injury, but now that he wasn't the only one, it was stranger than fiction.

“I don't remember simple things,” Akagi pointed out. “I've been thinking about it. I don't remember what I did for any of my birthdays, or my first kiss, or my first baseball game. I don't remember how many games I've lost or where I played unless it's in an article or something I kept. It freaks me out.” The baseball player felt like someone was messing with his mind.

“I don't remember much, either,” Monica thought about those little things, and few of them came to her. “Now that I think about it, I can't remember those things.” Whatever was gone from Akagi's mind was also gone from hers.

“What does it mean?” Izayoi was scared, and she didn't know why they would erase seemingly pointless memories like those. If they just wanted them to have no memory of their prior classmates, then wasn't that all they needed to erase? Why erase things from their past? “I mean, how does someone get their memories completely erased like that?”

“I don't know,” Akagi was lost for an explanation, “that's what I want to know.”

“Is it possible t-that we had known about what was g-going on before whoever was b-behind this deleted our memories?” Arata wondered aloud.

“Man, that's freaky,” Akagi looked petrified at that possibility.

“If it's any reassurance, in all of your panic, you're not alone,” Roxy suffered from the same thing they all did.

“Our dismay, your reassurance, and all that jazz,” Osmond sighed. Things were getting complicated.

“How can we figure anything out if we don't remember what happened last year?” Akagi was so confused. They had this important riddle that would most likely be answered if they even remembered what the prior year was like. Those hooded guys and their mastermind did that on purpose just to make sure they'd be trapped forever.

“We can't do anything about memories that we don't have. For now, we'll go and look around to try to find a way out. We can think on other things later,” Leo knew that they had to act now. Sure, it was strange that they had no memories of their past at the school but it was imperative that they try to find a way out of that purgatory.

“Leo's right,” Raiga agreed, “time's a-wastin'. We gotta get our asses in gear. While we're standing here, people are dying.” Every moment wasted was a life taken away.

“Yeah man, you're right,” Akagi nodded.

“Let's go!” Shiko called out as the group split up and ran out into the cafeteria. From that point on, they would plunge themselves into battle, bloodshed and murder. Today was the marking day, the day that the world around them turned black and they were plunged into despair.

…To Be Continued