Part 8: "Phone Home"

I am finally recovering! Time for a much needed update to the thread.


Chapter 6 - "Phone Home"

I slowly push the switch in.
The entire school building shudders as if it were a giant ship.
The entire elementary school building appears as if it has been swallowed by
Cheryl's heart as she stands alone in the darkness.

I understand that I must do something.
"To the courtyard."
The darkness softly whispers to me.



The clock tower looks to be about tall enough to reach the third floor of the
school. At its base there is a small door about big enough for an adult to
enter while bent down.

The door solemnly opened.
After opening, the door seems to beckon the one standing in front of it to
enter with an irresistible mental energy.

I cannot resist that power.
As I enter the door closes with a hopeless thunder...

Inside the clock tower a physiologically loathsome stench hung in the air.
However, the smile of my beloved daughter in my heart lessens my uneasiness
and lets me forget my fear, if even for only a moment.

Reassured, I place my foot on the ladder leading underground, with my
greatest motive, called love.

The inside finally became a small passage about large enough for an adult.
I run.
Trusting that I will see her smile ahead, I run forward stomping on concrete
stained with the smell of death.

Once I climb the ladder at the end of the tunnel, there will be no going back.

I mutter Cheryl's name one more time.



The depressing sound of the door closing echoes throughout the courtyard.

"...Where am I?"

A raw, warm breeze brushes past my cheeks.
The view lets me know that this is like a completely different world from the
school I was just in.
Once I again I think, where am I?



I descend the small stairs leading away from the clock tower and become even
more convinced.
An extremely religious-looking design has been drawn in the center of the
courtyard.
Within a large double circle a triangle has been placed, and within that a
strange pattern that looks like hieroglyphics is drawn.

"Hmm, I don't remember this being here before."
I mutter.
This is definitely the school I was just in.
The placement of the trees, and the construction of the building...

However, an overpowering feeling of nausea rises up throughout my body.
A revolting horrible smell, like that of the stench of cutting into rotten
meat, thickly wafts throughout the air, and is nearly visible to the eye.

I begin to run. I can no longer bear to stay in this spot.
By the time I place my hand on the door that leads inside the school building
I no longer have the strength left to tell how long I was running.
Maybe it was only for an instant?



///Music Starts///

The school building has dramatically changed.
Metal grated floors...
Blood covered walls...
Corpse-like puppets hanging everywhere...
It's like a nightmarish scene in which everything is isolated from the real
world.

In spite of that, I run.
I am searching for Cheryl.
The unpleasant metallic sounds of my footsteps resonate throughout the
inside of the school.



And then I open the door to the Teacher's Room.
Perhaps the door is not installed correctly, as it took me several forceful
tries to force it open.
Once I enter the room I am shocked.
This is...
Desks are strewn about, and a raw, rotten stench rules the room...

The room was no less unsettling.
Strewed across the unsightly metal table laid many blue phones.
As if instinct took over, I grabbed the receiver and began to dial...

Without knowing why, I dialed my home number, where no one should be.
Maybe there is a chance that Cheryl has already returned home...
With slight hope I...

(Bururururu...Bururururu...)
The phone is ringing...
The mechanical electrical sound repeats over and over.
Then all of a sudden it stopped.

(......Hello)
The voice of a man I do not know escapes from the receiver.
"Hello...who is this..."


From the receiver I hear a gasp.

(Ah...)

Click...

The phone went dead.
I stood bewildered for a bit with the receiver pressed against my ear.

There is a man in my house, where no one should be...
A man I don't know.

I gently hang up the receiver and for a bit I am captivated by that
blue telephone.

I begin to leave the room.


Jiriririri...Jiriririri...

My heart rapidly contracts.
The mechanical bell sound echoes throughout the room.
I nervously approach the telephone, and once again pick up the receiver.



"...Daddy...Help me..."

It's Cheryl...!
There is no mistaking it.
I firmly press the receiver against my ear.

"...Daddy...Where are you..."

"Cheryl! Is this Cheryl?!"

At that moment Cheryl's voice is replaced with a busy signal.
I knew it, I think.
Cheryl is here.

Being located in the residential area, many children probably
come to this school.
The interior of the elementary school is larger than I imagined.
Including classrooms, there are a lot of rooms, so locating Cheryl will be
extremely difficult.

If Cheryl wasn't brought here by someone and instead came here of her own
free will then perhaps she might be in "that one room".

I spin around, run to the stairs at the end of the hall, and then sprint
up them.

I have come to the Library and my eyes are drawn to the open book here.



It was...

A ) a children's book.

B ) a pharmaceutical book.

C ) a dictionary of religious science.