Going through the remaining classes still felt tedious, but at least I wasn't as anxious considering the recent developments.
That said, I still felt weird about inviting people I didn't really know to my house. But I'm trying not to die, so, "hehehehehe", I guess it's fine. At least, that's what I told myself while silently regretting my life choices.
Still, though, would Simon really try to assault a girl? I didn't know him, but he honestly didn't seem like the type. If anything, he looked like the kind of guy who could be terrified of his own shadow. Then again, I guess the same thing could be said about any of us considering what we've all been through.
Nonetheless, I decided I'd bring it up when we met later. If we were all going to work together, we needed to know who we were working with and what we were getting into. Honestly, for the sake of group development, I was hoping Simon really was just a chill guy.
Meanwhile, Emily met up with Lia during a free period they both had.
"I'm so happy you're here. Well, not happy you're trapped here with us, obviously, But like… happy you're a girl. And you're nice," Lia said with a grin.
Emily smiled back. "I'm happy too. It feels better knowing I'm not just alone, but I won't be the only girl. Not to mention, we're similar in age."
"Yup," Lia replied. "We're both 17. And it's great. Soo… how do you feel about the people we're stuck with?"
Emily sighed. "I've only been at this school for like three weeks. Everyone ignores me, so I'm pretty much friendless. And honestly, I don't really know them." So I should pretty much be asking you that question instead .
"First off, why would people ignore you?" Lia asked, frowning.
Emily hesitated, then pointed to the burn scars on her face.
"Oh. I'm sorry," Lia said quickly. "I didn't mean to pry."
"It's fine," Emily replied softly. "I lost my parents in a fire before I came here. I was the only one who survived. With all this on my face… and no siblings… I've been staying with my grandma. She's great, but yeah, my confidence and people skills aren't exactly top-tier. Which is why I'm surprised you're talking to me."
Lia's eyes welled with tears. She reached over, squeezing Emily's hand.
"You won't have to worry about that with me. We're already friends, okay?
Emily smiled, blinking back tears.
Lia continued, "As for the others Leo's a famous athlete here. Track and field. Nathan, I don't know much about him, but he seems composed. Nice enough."
"I agree," Emily said. "But what about Simon?"
Lia hesitated. "To be honest, I've heard rumors."
"What kind of rumors?"
"Well, apparently, he tried to assault a girl. And some people say he's not right in the head."
"Wow," Emily whispered. "He really doesn't seem like the type."
"Yeah, I'm with you on that," Lia admitted. "This is my first time actually seeing him today, so I can't say for sure. But, I do hope we'll all be okay."
At the end of the day, I went back to my house and waited.
Eventually, the group showed up.
"Hi everyone, glad you could make it," I said trying to be cheerful.
"Glad to be here," Leo muttered sarcastically.
I ignored it thinking, am I really gonna survive with this guy around.
"Alright. Now that we're all here, I feel like we need to really know who we're working with. Who we can trust. With that in mind uh Simon, there've been rumors. About you. That you tried to assault a girl. Is that true?"
Simon sighed. "No. It's not."
He hesitated, then asked, "Who here knows Logan?"
The name hit us all at once. Of course we knew him. Logan was one of the popular guys in school.
"Logan used to date my twin sister," Simon explained. "And he bullied her. Made her feel awful about how she dressed, gaslit her constantly. I kept telling her to leave him, but she insisted she loved him. Until one day… she couldn't take it anymore. She killed herself because she felt unloved."
The room went silent. None of us could speak.
"I was the only one who knew what he did to her," Simon continued, his voice shaking. "But before I could tell anyone, he had his friend Sarah spread a lie. That I tried to assault her. That he 'saved' her. And since my sister had just died, everyone assumed I wasn't in my right mind. No one wanted to hear my side. And just like that "sigh" I became despised."
His fists clenched. "I hate Logan. I hate him with everything I am. So, no. I didn't try to assault anyone."
Somehow… we all knew he was telling the truth. Maybe it was because we were connected through the dreams. But we knew.
The group apologized. Even Leo, surprisingly. He didn't seem like the type, but maybe I'd misjudged him.
Emily cleared her throat. "So, uh, I felt really weird in that classroom earlier. Did anyone else?"
"No surprise," Leo muttered.
"Why?" Emily asked.
"Because of the incident," Leo said flatly.
"What incident?" Emily pressed.
Lia sighed. "Basically… years ago, some guy showed up to school and started killing students. The police eventually shot him. But the classroom we were in earlier? That's where he died."
Emily's face went pale. "Am I the only one who finds it terrifying that we all got pulled into the exact place where a serial killer was killed?"
"No," I said quietly. "You're not the only one. But it's just one of the many things we'll have to talk about."
"So," I asked, "anyone have an idea what that white room was?"
"Oh yeah," Simon said. "How could we forget that? It literally saved our lives."
"Exactly," I agreed. "Soo any thoughts?"
"Nothing," Leo said. "Apart from the fact it felt safe."
We all nodded. He was right. It had felt safe.
As we discussed, Leo stood.
"You're leaving?" I asked.
"I have practice," he replied.
"Practice? Really? We have bigger things to worry about."
"I have to pretend everything is normal to stay sane Nathan and", "This is my normal."
And with that, he left.
The rest of the group packed up too. Lia, trying to lighten the mood, smiled and said, "Hope to see you all in my dreams."
The silence that followed killed the joke.
Leo then met up with his best friend, Ryan, at the track.
"You good, man?" Ryan asked. "You haven't seemed like yourself lately. I'm worried, bro."
Leo hesitated, then looked him dead in the eyes. "Ryan, I'm about to tell you something. Don't call me crazy. Just… listen."
So he told him everything. The dreams. The nightmares. The white room. All of it.
"Wow," Ryan said finally. "If you're really going through this then you're going through a lot. I'm sorry, bro. But I'm here for you. Always."
"Thanks, Ryan," Leo said quietly.
Night came.
And so did the dream.
This time, to our surprise, we all appeared together at once. It felt good, being with each other. Even if we were still in the maze.
We wandered for a while. It felt calmer than usual.
"Guess the nightmares are scared of our numbers," Leo joked.
I gave him a look. "If it were that easy, we wouldn't be in this mess."
And as if the dream itself wanted to prove me right, five nightmares appeared.
One for each of us.
No one needed to yell "run." We just did. Instinctively.
But something was different. Something only, I noticed at first. The nightmares looked more defined. Less glitchy. More solid.
That wasn't good.
Eventually, the white door appeared, and we bolted toward it. We jumped through one by one, Leo being the last.
But just as he was stepping inside, one of the nightmares spoke.
"Thank you, Leo," it whispered.
And then, in a voice so happy to speak, it added, "Ryan says hi."
Leo froze, his face draining of color. But it was too late, he was already inside the white room with us.
"Leo," Leo!!! "Who's Ryan? Answer me!"
He composed himself, trembling. "He's my best friend."
I stared at him, confused cause how did the nightmare know his best friends name . "Alright Leo the moment we wake up, we'll find him. Make sure he's okay."
But life doesn't go as planned.
The next morning, we went to school like usual Leo tried to find Ryan but couldn't which made him worry more cause apparently Ryan always came to school on time to practice before classes and that's when we got the news it was everywhere online and so many people started talking about it.
Ryan had killed his parents and siblings.
And before taking his life, he used his own blood to write two words on the wall.
Thank you.
Leo broke.
And we could only watch as he whispered the same words, over and over, tears streaming down his face.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."