บท 96: The Phantom School
The snapped chain let go of Idil's right arm, as it swung down. She was still hanging above the pit, but in a much riskier position. If she fell into that pit... I couldn't guess what would happen. She could survive, but the chances were not good enough.
"You have what you need, bring her to safety!" I shouted. I got no reply. They were no longer talking to me.
"They are gone." said Cansu. "It's not like they are away... They really are gone."
"What do you mean? What is the difference?" I asked her.
"Their... 'presence' is no more. I can't feel them anymore." she said. "They just... disappeared."
"What do we do then?" I asked this time. Just then, a rope got loose and flew down into the pit. We were almost out of time to get her down safely.
"Can you try to climb up there?" Cansu asked me.
"No way, I can't jump that high." I said. "But perhaps you can take control of her, like you sometimes do to me."
"Unfortunately, it only properly works with you, teacher." she said. "I'm sorry, my intervention would be much riskier."
"Idil!" I cried, hoping that she would hear me, but nothing happened.
A loud cracking sound came from above, and the whole room was shaken once more. I was disoriented; at the first opportunity, I ran away from the pit in order not to accidentally fall down in there. Idil's body was softly swinging around.
"We can try to search for something to push her to safety." Cansu suggested. "I see no other option."
"Good idea, but leaving her on her own doesn't sound good." I said.
"Come on, we are not helping her this way!" she argued.
Suddenly, one more of the chains snapped and fell down. The remaining attachments could no longer carry Idil's body, and they began breaking apart one after another.
"No!" I shouted and ran towards the pit. At that exact moment, the last piece of rope that was holding her above the pit was released. I only had a tiny fraction of a second to think. I was approaching the pit, but instead of bleeding off my momentum, I began running faster. As her body was released and she had started gaining speed downwards, I made a daring jump across the pit. My eyes were locked on her. I raised my arms forward, just prior to our collision mid-air.
I pushed her to the side of the pit with my arms. Now, she was well within the safe zone, but I couldn't say the same about myself. I have lost my speed by pushing her, and I could not make it to the other side; I was about to get face-planted into the side of the pit.
I tried rotating myself before I hit the side of the pit, to orient myself into a legs-first position. This smoothened my collision, but also sent me directly down into the pit. Fortunately, the part of the pit I was falling towards was 'cushioned' by human limbs and flesh. As soon as I fell down, I got up again. I wasn't hurt too badly.
"Damn it!" I yelled. As I said that, the entire room vibrated.
"Nice save, now climb up!" Cansu said.
"Climb up what, this straight wall?" I replied.
"Okay, I have an idea." she said. "Some of the ropes and chains fell down into the pit, why don't you try to use them?"
"Okay, nice idea." I said. Although disgusted, I started searching for ropes, walking on and pushing around corpses. Eventually, I found a few pieces of chain and rope. I hastily tied them up together and made a longer rope with a heavier chained part at the end of it. I threw the chain-end of the rope up the pit and managed to get it through one of the attachment rings on the ceiling. The chain-end went through that ring and came down back to me. I now had a rope that I could use to climb up.
"Do you think this single rope can handle my weight?" I asked Cansu.
"No idea." she said. "But it should be worth trying."
I got the lower end of the rope closer to the side and pulled myself up. I supported myself by putting my legs against the side of the pit. I slowly climbed up the pit, and eventually made it out. I was covered in bodily fluids of those corpses down in the pit.
"Disgusting." I said under my breath.
"Shut your mouth, it probably wasn't their idea to die in such horrible ways." Cansu angirly said to me. "I will say the same thing after you die, and see if you like it or not." I didn't answer her.
I held Idil, lifted her up and placed her over my shoulder.
"What now?" Cansu asked.
"We are getting out." I said.
"What about... The Community?" she asked. "Is it over?"
"How can I know?" I said. "But first of all, I'm getting her out of here." I started walking back the way I came from. On the way, the building started shaking frequently and violently. Ocassionally, pieces of the walls and the ceiling would get loose and fall off.
"Dear random hallways, please have mercy on me!" I said. I walked further, and eventually saw the music room again.
"Do I need to go into that room or bypass it?" I asked Cansu. I waited for a response for half a minute, and remembered.
"Oh, you can't talk here, can you?" I sighed. I ran into the music room and closed the door.
"Please change the way I want you to change..." I repeated loudly. "Please, dear building, have mercy on me!"
Suddenly, half of an entire wall of the music room broke apart, opening a completely new way.
"This building is done for." I said and got out into the newly opened hallway.
"Oh, I know where I am!" I said in excitement. We were close to the intersection just next to that mass grave I had discovered. I fastly walked to the intersection and turned towards the way that lead towards the mass grave. When I arrived at the mass grave, something wonderful happened.
There was someone in the hallway, looking at me with a mixed expression of wonder and sorrow. She had a black-crimson colored dress, short black hair and dark hollow eyes. Around her, a dim blue-purple light was shining. I couldn't take my eyes off of her.
"H-hello!" I said.
"Hi there." she replied, and slowly began approaching. This voice! I was visibly scared, but I didn't move away.
"You are..."
"We know each other very well by now." she said as she came to a stop just a meter in front of me.
"Is this your body?" I asked her.
"Sort of..." she said. "When I was much younger."
"Where is the rest of The Community?" I asked. "Are you alone?"
"The rest of The Community?" she asked. "Oh, well... Let's say they have found peace."
"I don't understand..." I said.
"I AM The Community. There is no 'rest of The Community'." she replied.
"What the hell?" I let those words out.
"No, YOU LIAR!" yelled Cansu. "I have seen and felt many of you!"
"Oh no, you didn't." the 'Community' shook her head.
"I have seen tens of spirits -if not hundreds- trying to haunt people!" Cansu insisted. "I've fought to keep all of you away from him, myself!"
"How stubborn..." the 'Community' said. "My dear, you are in for a shock, but there is only one spirit here."
"Something is really off here." I said. "Even Mr. Kenan said-"
"He was a failure." the 'Community' interrupted. "Don't think of his words too much."
"It is hard to believe, because even YOU said there were many spirits..." I said. "Then, why and how did you become 'The Community'? And, furthermore, why did you lie?"
"You don't understand..." she said. "I AM THE SCHOOL ITSELF. Everything here belongs to me! You are in my universe! I control everything in here!"
"But then WHY!?" I shouted. "Why let people die and play the victim against those scientists, when you could just get rid of them!? They would not be able to fight against you!"
"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear." she said. "The war between that 'Community' thing and the scientists was a complete lie. The underground facility isn't independent from me. There is no experiment, it just provides me with a base of operations. People who die in this school are MINE. To maintain my power, PEOPLE NEEDS TO DIE!"
"Seems like when I died; I didn't just dodge a bullet, but a 50 caliber shell." Cansu said.
"All this time, you played the role of a faction in this war... In this FAKE war, you played both sides!" I said. "If you had all the power, why didn't you just kill everyone in the blink of an eye instead of playing with us? Why did you let people run around, trying to escape for so long?"
"Oh, I would love to kill everyone in the blink of an eye, but things were different with your generation..." she said. "It was about Mr. Kenan. He was my single ultimate mistake. I tried to use his assistance; but he deceived me and jeopardized my operations, which eventually lead to a decline in my powers. So I had to use more clever manipulations to make up for my losses. And besides, large crowds of people were inhibiting my powers as well, so that's why I had to wait until school hours have ended."
"Still, you had many chances to kill us!" I said. "But somehow, you didn't, and we survived..."
"Do you want me to kill you so badly?" she asked. "Yes, I had opportunities, but I didn't posess the required power at the right times. I had to push you into death instead of bringing death to you, which I failed miserably."
"So, again, why?" I asked. "If that was your wish, then why did you decided to be nice at occasions? And now, why are you trying to tell the truth now?"
"Because it is over." she said. "I've already passed the point of no return. I tried to kill you in time, and failed. It no longer matters now, the time is out... You've played my little survival game, and won."
"What? What happens now?" I asked.
"I'm losing my powers." she said. "Just go away and save yourself. You are the only people who defeated me, and it pains me to say so, but you deserved it."
"Still, your actions are not justified and outright stupid." Cansu said.
"I didn't tell the full story, and you don't have to understand everything." the 'Community' said and then turned to me.
"Say goodbye to her." she said.
"Who?" I asked.
"Your lovely student."
"NO! You can't take her away from me!" I said.
"Her spirit might not be under my control, but her existance isn't independent." she said. "Don't worry, you will forget about her, and it will be a painless transition."
"No!" I started crying. "No..."
The building started shaking again.
"I can't hold too long." the 'Community' said. "Go away already."
"I won't see you again, will I?" I asked her.
"No." she said. "Farewell."
"Farewell."
I walked away, all the way back and up to the bottom floor. The building was a complete mess. Everything was falling apart. I reached the main enterance quickly and got out of the building. Just then, Idil opened her eyes and started moving. I put her down on her feet.
"What is going on?" she asked.
"We are free." I told her. "Don't worry about things for now, I will tell everything. But we have to go."
We started getting away from the building. Suddenly, with a monstrous noise, one third of the building disintegrated from the rest and collapsed. Pieces of debris went flying all around. Fire alarms started wailing, something was burning in the second floor. The fire was spreading quickly.
I stopped at a safe distance and observed the building for a while.
"Should we call the fire dep-" Idil was trying to say something, but I interrupted.
"No." I said. "Let it burn."
Soon enough, the entire building was burning. The flames were going tens of meters above the roof. I could hear some explosions inside.
"Let it burn..."
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