I was frightened. Certainly. I thought all my years or training myself to have a doctor's mind would mean I would be ready, ready to face gore and dead bodies, but this wasn't the same, this was like a portal into the mind of someone insane. It was frightening. In the distance, I could hear hard, fast breathing. Hyperventilation. I picked up the pace, turning a corner to see what I could find, but getting there I hadn't prepared myself. I saw someone lying down, not quite dead, but dying, certainly. A pair of scissors stuck from their stomach. Opposite was a girl, curled up tight, blood on her hands and face. It took me a moment to realise her face had stitches on it, and they'd split open. I went over to her, as it was too late for the dying boy.
"He was trying to kill me, it was self-defence!" The girl cried as I examined her injuries.
"It's okay." I told her gently. "It's okay. I understand. Don't worry." It was Kazuyo I was crouched before, I could tell that much, but she was very upset, terrified. No wonder. A boy just attacked her with a knife. She threw her arms around my neck and sobbed. I rubbed her back to calm her. "You're safe now. I'm here. It's safe. We'll find the rest of the class." I helped her stand and she clung to me, sobbing still. I shushed her gently, patting her back, but then something jolted us out of our thoughts.
"Jou!" The voice screamed. We broke apart and stared at one another.
"That was Yurie." Kazuyo stated, going pale. She was best friends with Yurie. "We have to find her."
I wasn't so sure that was a good idea myself if I'm honest. I mean, I'd just found her injured and totally freaked out, and she wasn't exactly in the best frame of mind. I opened my mouth to object, but she ran off, calling for her friend.
"Kazuyo!" I scolded, running after her, but I tripped. I turned to see the boy who'd been stabbed holding tight to my ankle. "Get off!" I yelled, kicking.
"I'm going to enjoy watching you die." He hissed. I screamed.
"Get off! Please! Get off! I haven't done anything wrong, I swear, please get off! There's nothing I can do for you, I'm sorry...I'm just a child..."
"You're dead meat." The boy hissed as I reached down to get his hands off, but he had a vice like grip. It was amazing. He'd been close to death a moment ago.
"Please! My friends are in danger!"
"Your friends are all going to die here, just like me and all my friends. You'll all die horribly and painfully and I'll be watching on, laughing! Laughing!" He started laughing then, a twisted, half-choked sound from within his blood-coated throat. I think I began to hyperventilate again.
I must have passed out then. When I next woke up, I was lying on a bed in an old, beaten infirmary, someone looking over me. "Kazuyo?" I asked blearily, but I quickly realised it was a boy. "W-where am I...?"
He didn't answer.
"Where's Kazuyo? Can you even talk?"
"I can't find Sako..." The boy muttered. "She went to the toilet and there was an earthquake and when I went up there she was gone..."
"Iwase?" I asked blearily, but the boy walked off. "Iwase, stop!" But he was already gone. I think I was alone...
