Chapter 9

Meanwhile...

May woke up, slowly sitting up and looking around. She winced and held her head for a moment before looking at her nightstand. She got up and read over the note her brother had left her before letting out a silent breath, getting herself dressed. She brought her plant to the bathroom and gave it water before putting it back on her dresser. May got her daggers and put them on her belt before leaving, closing the door quietly behind her.

May then made her way to her classroom. Once she got there, she was surprised to see no one there. She then made her way to the lunchroom, only seeing a few people there. As she walked down the hallway, she saw Doku and Illaden talking with each other.

"The student has already been transported to your room." Doku told him.

"What about the other one?" He asked in response.

"Danny has already claimed her. It's been a few weeks since his last and it’s beginning to affect his performances." She told him as they passed May, Doku giving her a friendly smile, Illaden giving a slight smile. While May walked down the busy hallway, she glanced at each group of students, hoping to find her brother in the mixture. 

While she walked, a sudden wave of dizziness came over and she quickly leaned against one of the walls, holding onto her head. She stayed there for a few minutes the feeling slowly went away. As it was gone, she began to walk around again, heading to the clubrooms. She looked at each door before stopped in front of the Arson club, going in. When she stepped in, she was greeted with intense heat, causing her to take a step back and cover her face.

After the heat began to die down, she slowly uncovered her face to see Li and Lee and a few other students looking at the small controlled fire in the center of their room. She began to look around until Vicky walked up to her.

"Hello, May!" She said with a large smile. Vicky than began to look around before turning back to May.

"Where's your brother?" She asked and May gave her a soft shrug.

"Ohh, your lookin' for him. Well, he isn't here. The last I saw of him, he was running down the hallway." Vicky mumbled before May's eyes went wide, her smile quickly fading.

She quickly turned and left the room, but as she took the first step out, the dizziness came back but a bit harder. May ran into the wall, pressing her shoulder against it as she struggled to see straight. Vicky came running out and went over to her, gently putting her hands on her shoulders.

"May, you need to sit down." She told May but she didn't listen, shaking her head and starting to run down the hall, leaving Vicky standing there.

May ran through the hallway, looking in each clubroom and at each student before making her way to the ground floor of the school. She began to look through each classroom, surprised to see them all empty. She slowed down to catch her breath, now speed walking pass the science classrooms. May was about to head to the courtyard but stopped once she heard the sound of someone struggling as she passed a classroom. She looked at the door and got one of her daggers out, taking a second before swinging the door open.

May let out a silent gasp and covered her mouth with her empty hand, her eyes glued to the scene before her. 

All along the walls where bodies, hung up and mangled. Some had twisted and stretched faces for an everlasting smile, some had multiple arms and legs. The floor matched the smell that followed with opening the door, massive amounts of blood and rotting flesh, hung on the walls here bloodied tools and weapons used for making these monstrosities. In the center of the room was a large table that was also stained with blood, a small cart of tools next to it with a fresh body already dead and cut open, organs laying on a small counter beside it.

And standing behind the table was Illaden, a shocked and alarmed expression on his face.

"You aren't supposed to be in here..." He said with a more serious tone.

"You've seen enough." He took a step away from the table and towards her, As soon as he did, May snapped out of whatever trance she had been in, turning and running.

She ran until she got to the courtyard, another wave of dizziness hitting her much harder than before. She fell to her hands and knees in the grass, her body shaking in fear before she felt the urge to throw up. She held it back as she looked up, her sight slowly beginning to come back to her. She stood up with shaking knees as she kept her gaze up, focusing on the huge pillar she stopped at. She looked down again to see a door next to her, going over to it and turning the knob slowly. Just as she thought, it was locked.

"M-May?" A voice called out to her, making her jump and turn back with her dagger in hand, slowly putting them down when she saw it was Hidan and another student she hadn't met yet.

"Are you alright?" The student asked and she just stared daggers in his eyes, seeing one was blue and one was red.

"This-This is Ollie. He is th-the school theorist. He has a bunch-bunch of crazy ideas." Hidan said as he looked over at him.

"This is May." He told Ollie, who nodded.

"She almost won the first festival this year." He said with a bright smile. "I see you found the pillar. I'm sure someone is living there. Why else would it be that big?" Ollie asked as he looked at Hidan.

May shook her head and began to walk away from them, not turning to look at them as they called her name. She kept her gaze down while walking with shaky legs until they gave out once again. As she fell to her knees she noticed that she made it back inside, somehow to the second floor without realizing it. She began to glace around the hallway, seeing that there were no longer any students to be seen. May put her shoulder to the wall and began to make slow realizations.

She couldn't avoid Illaden forever, she was going to have to face him at some point. She also didn't see if the person on the table was her brother or not. She had been trained to fight, to kill even, but never to witness something like that. Without thinking, May slowly covered her face with her hands and began to cry silently as the images of the bodies that were in that room began to flash across her mind.

"Hey!" A voice called out to her but she stayed with her face in her hands.

"What are you doing? Why are you just sitting in...." The boy's voice came to a slow stop when May looked up at him with her red eyes and puffy face.

She gave him a small look of confusion when she saw a blue lotus clip in his well kept silver hair. She looked at his purple eyes, noticing the slight lack of eyelashes as if they had been trimmed. He stared at her for a moment before scoffing at her, walking over to her.

"Knock that crap off. Ladies look hideous when they cry." He said with a small huff as he held his hand out to her.

May looked at his hand for a few seconds before looking up at him again.

"Are you going to take my hand or are you going to stay out here and cry?" He asked before she took his hand, standing up. He began to walk and she followed close behind him, walking for a bit until they came up to one of the club doors.

They walked in and May was greeted with the familiar sight of colorful ribbons and dolls aligning the walls. Once the door closed, she suddenly felt eyes on her.

"Oh, Hello! Ren, who did you bring?" Annabelle asked as she and Vivian went over to the two, May turning to face them. The boy named Ren put a hand on her back and gave her a small push forward.

"I found her in the hall crying. I thought bringing her here would be better than leaving her there." He told the girls before a moment of silence fell on the room. Annabelle covered her mouth with her hand as she began to let out small and muffled giggles, her giggles slowly turning into loud laughter.

"Oh! You first years are always so emotional and funny!" She said in between laughs. Vivian looked at her then May and motioned for her to come over.

"Come on. I'll get you something to drink." She said as she walked over to the small sink in the room. May took a seat in one of the chairs and waiting as Vivian brought her a cup of water as well as a sheet of paper with a pen.

"It's my understanding that you're mute, correct?" She asked in a blank tone and May nodded.

"Then write down what made you freak out." May nodded and began to write down what she had seen with Illaden before handing it back to Vivian.

When she did, Annabelle and Ren went over to her, heading what was on the paper. A few moments after that, Annabelle began to laugh again but slightly louder, Ren looking over at May.

"I'll go look for your brother." He told her with a small groan as he went to the door, leaving without another word. 

Jay finally got to his room and opened the door, a smile on his face.

"May?" He asked as he looked around the room. He went over to the bathroom door and opened it ever slightly, his smile dropping when he didn't see her in there. He went over to her bed and took a quick look under it before sighing softly.

“She has her weapons with her…” He spoke to himself before leaving the room and heading to the second floor to look for her. As he stepped down the stairs, he saw Angel walk pass. Jay smiled and went over to him, reaching out and grabbing his wrist. 

"Angel, have you-" Jay took a step back when the student turned around and yanked his wrist back. Jay realized very quickly that it was not Angel.

"I am not Angel." Ren said in a low growl. 

"I am not Angel, I am not related to him in any way, my hair is natural, and yes, I know I look like him. I mean seriously, his hair is so much longer than mine, how the hell do you people keep confusing us?" He told Jay before crossing his arms.

"Oh, I’m sorry." Jay told him quickly. 

"Have you seen my sister? Her name is-" Jay was cut off by Ren putting his hand up.

"May, right? She's in Annabelle's club room." Ren told him and he let out a sigh.

"She's safe..." Jay mumbled, causing Ren to give a soft chuckle.

"I wouldn't say that..." Ren said under his breath before the speakers in the hall turned on, Emily's voice following shortly after that.

"May Williams, please come to the student council room. I repeat, May Williams, please come to the student council room." Her voice rang through the halls before the sound of the speakers turning off replaced it.

"I guess you getting head there if you want to see her, she's not our problem anymore." Ren said as he turned and gave a small wave before starting to walk away.

Jay watched him for a second before starting to make his way to the council room. He soon got there and opened the door, smiling widely when he saw May was already there. He ran over to her and hugged her tightly. 

"Awe, how cute." Emily's voice caused them both to look at her. 

"I kinda wish my siblings were here now..." She mumbled with a small pout as she ate her cake, Illaden putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Emily, remember why we called her here." He told her before she nodded. 

"I know, I know." She told him with a smile before looking at the two. "The next festival is in a few days. It actually works that you both are here because I wanted to help you both out." She said as she got up from her throne, walking over to them. Once over to them, she wrapped an arm around each of their shoulders. 

"Listen, since you two survived the last festival and someone else entered your name in, I want to offer something you two something special. If you would like, I can hold your names for this festival to ensure you don't suffer the same fate again." She explained to them quietly before moving her arms off them, standing in front of them with her friendly smile.

"Why would you do that?" Jay asked as he watched her shrug. 

"If you don't want me to do it, then fine." She told then as she turned, Jay taking a small breath. 

"A-Alright. Can you hold our names?" He asked with a shaky voice and flinched a bit as she spun around to face them again.

"Of course! Just don't tell anyone, alright? I only do this for true survivors." She told them with a small wink as she went back to her throne. 

"Now, you two run along. It's almost night time." She told them as she motioned them to go, Jay and May doing just that. 

As they began to walk, Illaden watches as they leave, giving May a sense of dread, her thoughts clouding her mind until Jay looked down at his sister.

"I met someone I think you'll like." He told her with a small smile, May nodding and pointing to herself. 

"You too, huh? Can't wait to meet them..." He said with a small yawn. They soon got back to their room and shut the door, locking it behind him. 

May went into the bathroom and closed the door, filling the sink with water before dunking her head in, keeping it in for a few seconds before slowly lifting it out. Jay was getting his notebooks prepared for the next day. May came out of the bathroom with a handtowel covering her face, walking with her arms stretched out.

Jay gave a few laughs until she finally got to her bed, face planting into it after tripping over the throw rug. May looked up with, the hand towel now on her bed. Jay returned her smile and motioned to her bed. 

"Go to sleep. You have notes to take tomorrow." He told her as she rolled her eyes, putting her head on her pillow. It wasn't long before she fell asleep, Jay going to bed shortly after.