Chereads / Northernfront: The Journey Through Hell / Chapter 4 - Deep Secret Lies Underneath

Chapter 4 - Deep Secret Lies Underneath

It was silent in the hallway, the students finally went to their homes. It was late afternoon, there were sounds of rustling brushes and clanking buckets coming from the art room. Rei was inside the room cleaning the floor, he was incharge of the cleaning duty for today. The silence became his comfort zone and the wind outside accompanied the sound of peace. Suddenly a sound of the walls slamming and a struggling voice of a woman vents out from the hallway.

"What was that..!?" Rei says, as he almost shouted.

The sound continues to bother him with worry. He immediately walked outside the art room and followed the sound. The voices were coming from the women's bathroom and the splashes of water could clearly be heard outside. The door was slightly open; he took a peek and saw a group of students which were his recent classmates, Hana, John, Vanessa, Carl, and Clint. They were picking up with a female student in the bathroom. Droplets of blood all over the floor brought him unease throughout his body.

"C'mon you can do it little girl!" Hana shouted with excitement.

"The person who will be the one to give me the phone number correctly will get all the sweets!, isn't that just easy." Clint says, with a serious yet unexplained smile.

"I'm gonna rip off your chest if you can't do it within ten seconds!" Carl shouted.

"Guhguhh I-I...can't bare-guhh…breath-gag pleashh… let me uguu!" the girl struggles with her voice garglng in water

"Try harder you fucking trash!" the man suddenly shouted and kicked the wall.

Rei couldn't think of anything and immediately barged into the room without a word. "H-Hey! stop whatever you're trying to do assholes!" Rei shouted with both of his hands grabbing the broom.

"Stay out of this!" John replied

"Well fuck, the game is ruined" Vanessa boringly sighed while holding her phone.

"Do you know how much effort we've put into this," Hana says with anger and stress.

John slightly pushed Carl off the way while his fist clenched with anger. He raised his fist and pointed at Rei with anger. Rei immediately raised his hand to protect himself. On the brink of time there was a security guard shouting outside the hallway.

"Shit! it's the guard again…Thanks for interfering with our entertainment, fucktard!" Hana says, with disgust and disappointment.

The group of bullies were alarmed and frustrated, they immediately ran outside the door and left. Rei was relieved and looked back at the cubicle and he approached the door.

"Hey! Are you o-"

Rei couldn't even finish his sentence, he was speechless while standing still like a rock beside the door. He saw the girl hanging upside down inside the cubicle. She was submerged in a bucket of water where she could hardly Breathe. She was still conscious, yet struggling to get fresh air as her nostrils were blocked from the water on the bucket.

"Shit! wait, I'll help you!" His senses came back.

Rei didn't waste his time and immediately lifted her up out of the bucket, pushed it away from her, and detached the rope from the ceiling.

"Koff koff!.. T-thank you… my koff… my classmate Crisha is on the other side… please help her" she says, while struggling with her voice.

She suddenly became nauseous after the incident. She puked on the floor, her head was bright red and the rest of her body was very pale. Rei immediately went to the other cubicle, he tried to turn the door knob, surprisingly it was locked tight. There wasn't any reliable material in the area and only the broom and bucket was there. He immediately grabbed the Broom and pierced the door hard multiple times, creating a small hole to fit his hands. He began to reach the knob on the other side as he struggled to fit his arm. Finally, the door was unlocked.

"Crisha?" The girl says as the room went silent, the door creaked open and her eyes widened.

As the girl slowly regained her strength, there before her eyes was her best friend Crisha. Crisha was lifeless, her body hanging upside down swaying slowly. Her head was also submerged on a bucket, A combination of drool and blood dripping out from the sides of the bucket onto the floor. Her eyes were wide open under the water, her neck was swollen and her belly was full of scratches. Rei couldn't do anything but stand in regret and pity. The place in the room took a dark turn as both of them saw something horrifying and unsettling. After that the place came silent...She watched as Crisha's lifeless body slowly swayed.

"C-... Crisha no...NOO!!! How could they do this to you!" Her face dripped wet with tears. Sobbing and crying echoes throughout the hallway.

"I-I'm sorry i couldn't make it in time…" Rei says, with his face looking down and frowning.

The tragic incident happened one month ago until one person went missing and was found dead on the side of the river. Beside the river bank over the trees, there was a student named Hana. Her body was found hanging upside down on the tree branch and her neck was slit open and fingers were Dislocated. There was no single evidence found in the area. The school didn't pay much attention and made it only a secret to the students in summit shine high school.

The girl was sent home for recovery from the injuries and trauma as the family of Crisha mourned her death. Days passed by and Rei vaguely remembers the incident before. The girl on the other hand was always hiding behind him, stalking him everyday. Her personality has changed a lot after the incident, she became more attached to Rei.

"Oh Rei… soon I'll be able to be with you… just as I kill those mother fucker s who murdered my friend… just wait for me fufu!" She smiled awfully while holding a knife and looking at Rei's stolen photo pasted on the wall along with the five of his classmates with a cross out marker onto Hana.

Ring! A doorbell rang from at the entrance of the apartment. Mary looked frustrated as she peeked through the bore hole. There were two police officers right outside the door asking for something.

"Hello, is anybody here?" The policewoman asked.

Mary slightly opened the door and only half of her face met throughout the side. Her face was expressionless while looking at the two officers.

"Ummm…miss…we're here for investigation… There was countless news spreading throughout this neighborhood about the incident where four students died. And now, another girl went missing earlier this morning." The policeman says, with a serious doubtful face.

"A stranger outside the apartment says that there was a mysterious woman who brought along a large sack to this building apartment. suspicion came bothering those people, so we're only here to inspect the room if you've brought something." The policewoman says.

Mary finally removed the lock on the door and gently opened it without a word. Her face changed drastically from normal as she made a polite expression.

"Sorry for the intrusion officers, feel free to come inside" she says, while hiding her dark impression.

The policeman finally went inside and began searching the living room. The place was fine for him not until he saw a trail of blood onto the storage room. The policewoman walked inside but a flash of a knife suddenly struck below her chin. Mary was holding the knife that clearly pierced through, receiving a large trauma to her head and led to an instant death. The blood gushed out below her chin and splattered everywhere on the floor.

The policeman wasn't alarmed; the place seemed to be more suspicious. He approached the storage room at the corner with tension. Mary immediately ran towards him with her knife ready to cut him through.

Rei was panicking inside the room. His heart was beating fast like a drum. His only focus was to break out of this Place with a psychopath. The bars that held his chains were rusted, that was his escape. He grabbed the chains and pulled it harder in order to break the rusted bars.

"Fuck! I have to get out of this shithole!" He says, with panic and frustrated face.

His last pull finally broke the bars apart yet the chains are still intact to his neck. Outside sound of shattering glass and banging walls coming from the storage. Rei quietly approached the door and opened.It was harder than before, something was blocking the way from the other side.

"Huh…?" he says, with confusion and anxiety.

He finally pushed the door and saw a pool of blood on the floor. He immediately glanced at the door and saw a policewoman's lifeless body lying on the floor. The policeman was clearly beside him, his eyes were full of blood gushing out and multiple stab wounds on his eyes and chest. Rei couldn't believe what happened right now, he's in deep shock and froze in a second.

He glanced at the side and took the key and removed the chains. A trail of blood sparks his curiosity and unease, he slowly followed the trail leading to the storage room. It was open, the silence in the room set a nightmare mood in the place. He peeked through the storage room and saw a girl tied up in a chair wearing a sack on its head. Her body was weak and her body was full of bruises. Rei became speechless as he stood up beside the door for a minute.

"You're trying to run away from me… right…? Rei-san…?" A sudden voice of a girl spoke behind his ear.

Mary suddenly pushed him down without hesitation, she immediately approached the girl on the chair and pulled the sack covering her face.

"A little hamster who tries to escape from their cage… should get punished, right?" she says, with an evil grin with her pupils dilated and becomes tiny.

The girl on the chair was Charlotte, the one Rei tried to save in the last incident. She was struggling to remove the bundled tape on her torsos and feet along with her mouth shut. Her hands were bright red and her face was full of fear and sweat.

"Mmf!...mmff!" she muffles while her mouth is covered tightly with a small handkerchief.

"Let me think… Rose Charlotte-san, right…? You were at the incident before right? I… saw everything, you know." Mary says, with an intriguing face and unusual eyes as she grabs the knife full of blood stains tightly onto her palm.

"Using your time and effort to talk to my Rei-san, how insolent. Like a fucking bitch in heat, you laid your lustful eyes on him and spent the time at the library… am I…right?" Mary says, while her eyes looking deeply into Charlotte's soul with the knife pointed toward her face.

"Mmf!…. mmmnff-" she struggles.

Mary expressed an unexplained smile on her face and suddenly the knife quickly dashed to Charlotte's and pierced deeply on her left thigh. She felt extreme pain and discomfort as her eyes went wild like a ping pong ball bouncing through each side. The handkerchief finally loosen on her mouth just as soon as she fell on the floor while still tied up in the wooden chair.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH! It hurts!...It hurts!" she screamed in deep pain while her left thigh continuously bled throughout the floor forming a pool of blood.

"I am the only one who can love Rei-san- '' Mary says, while expressing an amused face while the screams of pain and agony turns into harmony for her.

Rei couldn't do anything but stand quietly with disgust and fear. His eyes were pale and shocked as tears began to flow to his cheeks. He still hears her screaming through every split second while watching her getting stabbed.

"I'm shorriii ...koff! I'm Sorryyy!...pleasshhh have mearchyy!!" Charlotte begs for mercy while she struggles to speak

"Why did you commit such a sin?... The reason for that is your hideous eyes, looking at him with fantasies and falling in love with his appearance and personality. Allow me to take it off for you" Mary says, with an awful grin as she holds the knife.

"Mary NO-" Rei shouted but couldn't make it in time.

Mary finishes the final blow to her eyes and pierces through the back of her head. Blood splattering everywhere and the screaming finally stopped. Charlotte was lifeless, lying on the floor along with the chair intact to her back.. Her face, especially the eyes, were sliced in half, brutally slaughtered in cold blood. So satisfied that she leaked out a smile as if she had completed a masterpiece.

"I can't move… it's useless… even if i tried to stop it, she's out of her mind…" Rei speaks in his mind with loss of hope.

"You only need me, anyone else is bad for you" Mary says, with a calm and unexplained expression.

The tense and pressure in the room intensifies as Mary takes each step closer to Rei. The creaking sound of the floor makes a suspense feel on each step. Rei finally regained his senses and immediately ran away from her with fear. He sprinted through the exit passing by the dead body of the policewoman, stepping on the pool of red blood on the floor.

"Are you running away from me again…? Why Rei-san…? why!" Mary says as she holds the knife tightly and quickly raises her hand.

Just as Rei finally reached the door a sudden bang of a knife completely pierced the wall, one centimeter away from his face. He couldn't try to turn back again, he continued to run as fast as he could from the psychotic girl. Rei was finally outside, he immediately checked the apartment number, it was room number 156 from the 4th floor. He took the chance to find a way downstairs and find the nearest phone booth but there's not much time, he only took the emergency exit near him. suddenly a clunking noise of bars approaching behind him slowly, the sound of footsteps combines the tension and pressure as Mary looks at him with dreadful eyes.

"C'mon…let's go back to our home now… I'll make you a nice warm dinner, okay…so be obedient." Mary says, while holding the knife tapping it to the bars at the side while stepping forward.

Just before he tried to reach the stairs, he tripped from his bloody shoes causing it to slip. He was dragged into a corner, Mary took the opportunity to get closer. Rei continues to back up while Mary crouches to reach him The emergency stairs haven't been used for the past few years and haven't gotten any proper maintenance, Rei didn't take any second to decide but took the risk rather than being captured by her.

"Please don't go, Rei-san…" she says, while looking at him with a soulless face.

Rei still couldn't understand what's going on but fear is his only focus. He immediately stood up while backing up. He didn't notice that he was at the side of the stairs. The moment takes a split second, he suddenly slipped and tumbled down from the stairs.

Re couldn't react much sooner as he only realizes that he's falling and immediately raises his arm to reach a bar but fails. Suddenly an arm reached down to his wrist and grabbed it tightly, it was Mary who stopped his fall. She quickly pulled him up and they both stumbled down onto the floor. Mary immediately kneeled down and stared down to the floor, suddenly there were tears falling down to her cheeks, her personality changed drastically after everything that happened. Her eyes were full of falling tears and a frowny face, struggling to list him up. She suddenly grabbed his shirt hard and placed her forehead onto his chest while crying.

"I don't want to lose someone like you, ever again. please…sniff…. don't die… i'm sorry for hurting you…sniff forgive me"

"Mary…?" rei says, with confusion coming out from his face.

"I-I'm sorry…I'm just lonely… I don't intend to do those things to you! Please don't leave me!.... mama…papa…. sorryyyy…sniff"

Rei was confused for a moment and it turns out, she still had a heart inside despite her cold blooded figure. They were both lying on the floor in the hallway and it was almost midnight. The pressure and fear that has been kept inside Rei seems to cool down for a bit. He was filled with questions about her family, maybe she's just like him. Mary's expression seems struggling and worried as she gently lets go of him and wipes her tears. She still continues to weep in disappointment as Rei looked at her with pity and worry.

"I know it's hard to lose someone you care about, Mary… but just try making it a bit less exaggerating, okay?" Rei says, while reassuring her.

Rei raised his arm and gently placed it on her shoulder, Mary opened her eyes while looking down and her head was placed onto his chest. Rei placed his right arm and patted her head in order to reassure her again. everything that happened seems to be okay, for now.

"I love you so much, Rei-san sniff…. hehe, thank you.. I'll do my best!"

"We should find another place to go, the police will soon come here…" Rei says, with worry.

"Maybe we mcan go to your apartment room Rei-san?, we'll be safe there for the meantime." Mary suggested.