Chapter 1: The Third Bell Rumor

Chapter 8: The Aftermath 

               "Nice work, girls. Didn't think you had it in you," Aunt Sato chimed in, clapping slowly. 

               "Aunt Sato?" Maaya questioned, a puzzled expression on her face. 

               "Oh, you're still kicking, ponytail. Good for you. Now, you two, get up. We need to move. They'll be here soon," The old lady ordered impatiently. 

               "Who's 'they'?" Hana inquired, scanning her surroundings. Apart from a handful of terrified students, everything seemed oddly normal. 

               "Nothing that you need know of, hop to it, and move your behinds, or else we're all going to be six feet under," Aunt Sato cautioned as she helped the girls to their feet. Following her rigid steps, the trio moved away from Class 3C at a measured pace, reaching the grassy outdoors. It was only then, the old woman came to a halt and glanced back toward where they had left, with clear anticipation evident on her face. 

               Just a few minutes later, the two-story building that once hosted the group began to tremble uncontrollably. The sounds of cracking concrete and shattering glass could be heard, immediately killing the sound of the ringing bell. The next thing that pierced the air were the students' cries as they scattered, leaping from the balcony and landing admits the nearby bushes. The building itself seemed to be slowly devoured by the mother earth, sinking until its own foundation crumbled in the wake of the landslide. The old woman and the girls watched, entranced; it was surreal, but none of them could look away. When the rumbling ceased and the dust were settled, all that remained instead was a vast chasm. Without a moment of fear or hesitation, Aunt Sato walked towards the edge of the pit, peering down. 

               Maaya, Miyo, and Hana also followed suite, driven by none other than their pure curiosity, peering from behind Aunt Sato's broad shoulder to see what lay below. 

               Despite what they had been through, the view in front of the girls still managed to send shivers down their spines. As their gaze persisted, a feeling of DeJa'Vu seethed into the girls' minds, and with each passing moment, their grasps on reality began to shift. 

               Right in front of their very eyes, everything that they had encountered in that dream was blending seamlessly into their reality. Like droplets of paints dripping slowly into the blank canvas. Their old classroom, now a crumpled mess, resembled the clawed walls they had witnessed in the dream. The dishevelled chairs and desks were just as they remembered, and there were even random tufts of hair scattered on the sunken floor. In the middle of this bizarre scene lay a massive figure of a man, half of his lifeless body pinned beneath a concrete pillar that had once been part of the second floor. Flesh and entrails were strewn across the scene, creating a gruesome sight more fitting for a horror flick. The overwhelming smell and disturbing sight began to affect the girls' senses, leading all of them to retch and vomit. 

               “All of you, listen,” the elderly woman issued a stern directive, her unwavering gaze fixed on the gruesome scene, “What happened today was an accident, a collapse of a six-decade-old, poorly maintained building caused by the landslide. You've witnessed nothing, know nothing, and will say nothing. Do I make myself clear?" 

               “Ye....yes!!” Hana and Miyo exchanged nervous glances and replied hesitantly. Aunt Sato seemed to have clear influence on them. As for Maaya, while she remained uncertain about how or why the old janitor had ended up with them, she had a gut feeling that the elderly woman knew something that they don't.  

               “Accident? What do you mean an accident? This is no accident, that very scene was etched in that dream, and we have all witnessed it. You can’t expect us to just hush up and forget something like that,” Maaya argued back. 

               Aunt Sato grumbled as she turned around and stare dead into Maaya’s eyes. Her words soon followed with equal intensity, “But you will. For the sake of you and these two dwindle heads, you will speak nothing and to no one about what happened in that dream, or I assure you that would be the last thing you spoke,” 

               The cacophonous wail of sirens abruptly silenced the argument. These blaring sirens heralded the arrival of fire trucks racing toward the landslide. They were soon joined by the echoing chorus of ambulance and police sirens, rapidly converging on the scene. In a matter of moments, the entire school was engulfed in a throng of first responders and onlookers.  

               In the mist of all this Aunt Sato swiftly grabbed the yellow scarf and the raincoat back from the girls. She then gazed intently at the trio uttering, “Mark my words or else you'll live to regret them,” and marked her exit. 

               The three girls stood still; uncertainty etched across their faces. It was Miyo who eventually broke the silence, her voice soft but resolute. "I think she's right; we should just put this all behind us. It's for the best." 

               Hana responded with a wearied expression; her agreement evident in her eyes. 

               Maaya, however, shook her head, her eyes locked onto the lifeless body at the centre of this unsettling stage. "No," she declared, her voice growing in conviction as she pointed toward the distorted figure. "That twisted form right there was Ryo Kiyosaki, the boy who vanished, lost in that very myth. He was trapped in that dream, just as I was, alone and terrified. But unlike me, no one came for him or learned about the truth, until he, himself became a myth. When I finally saw him in that dream, the boy was no more, only a beast, a twisted horror consumed by hunger and despair. And yet somehow, despite everything, when our school bell rang and its echoes found their ways across, he still remembered and answered.” 

               "Oh, so the third bell was," Hana began to piece it together, while Miyo remained in stunned silence. 

                With a solemn nod, Maaya continued, “A message, from him. I may not understand the significance, how he became trapped in that place, or why. But I am sure of one thing: I must pass it on. If I keep my mouth shut, the truth Ryo Kiyosaki revealed to me in that dream will perish alongside him, and his family will forever remain in the dark about their son. They don’t deserve that, no one deserve that. I don’t know what we’re risking here if we share something this crazy with others, but I do believe that the truth will find its way. We just need to be brave and let it." 

               The girls' discussion was soon drowned by pairs of hasty footsteps, followed up with a shout. It was from a fireman, his voice demanding, "Hey, you girls, get down from there, it's not safe." He then quickly and fearlessly ushered them away from the chasm, even though he seemed quite irritated. After making sure the girls’ safety, he started inspecting the area and surveying the damage below. It didn’t take that long for his eyes to be widen with shock as the full realization of the scene finally dawned on him.  

               The once brave man then retraced his steps back to the girls, a profound sense of wonder and fear now etched across his features, as he asked, "What on earth happened here?" 

               Miyo and Hana exchanged uncertain glances, unsure of whether they should speak up. Maaya, however, stepped forward to share her truth, even though her voice still quivered with lingering doubts. 

               "This … this might sound completely insane but …," she began, her anxious gaze turning to her friends with a glimmer of hope. Miyo and Hana hesitated, but soon came to a mutual agreement as they kindly assured her with their supportive nods. A grateful smile passed between them, and Maaya pushed forward, her voice now firm and unwavering, "We know what happened. It all begins with a lost boy named Ryo. He was trapped you see, in this weird place ... " 

               A thunderous thud, like the beat of a colossal drum, startled Maaya. Next thing she knew her head was spinning and everything blacked out. Ouch.

               As she regained her balance, her eyes soon slowly adjusted to the darkness and her ears recovered from the deafening noise. In front of her stretched an endless abyss, void of light and boundaries. Behind her stood a blinding light where familiar sounds drawn her attention. Yet, for feelings unknown, her heart was drawn to the front, where a dim heartbeat could be heard, and a faint warm glow could be felt. With every step she took, the suffocating emptiness tightened its noose and soon the black expanse enveloped her existence. The glow was no more, only a sense of discomfort, crawled beneath her skin, unsettling her steadily with every waking breath.

               "Hello? Is anyone there?" she called out into the void.

               "..." The void remained silenced. 

               "Hello? I know you're there, please come out. I don't bite," Maaya pleaded.

               The growling voice responded, sending shivers down her spine.

               Soon in a close distance, she heard strange thumping sounds, reminiscent of a familiar heartbeat, weak but warm. Despite her unease, Maaya pressed forward, guided towards a faint glow. A familiar yellow hue greeted her eyes, unearthing something she thought she had forgotten.

               "Yui?" Maaya whispered with a smile.

               "F̸̘̳̙̲̞̣͊͂̀̔̕ͅr̸̛͇̰̭̿̊i̷̧̝̯̪͙̞̓͂̓̀e̵̦͍̜̝̓̕n̵͚̟̳͔̙̊̀̔d̸̲̈?̶͎̮͔͚̩̼̳̈́̂̇̌̚͘" came the distorted reply.

Part 8: End 

End of Chapter 1