Chapter 35: Principal III
The voice continued.
"Very well. If that is what you wish, then I’ll be enforcing four more rules from this moment onwards. Each in response to infractions you’ve committed."
"Truancy shall not be tolerated. Any attempt to leave the school premises is strictly prohibited and shall be met with maximum disciplinary measures."
"This is a school setting. It is only right to be alert at all times. From now on, sleeping is no longer allowed on these grounds."
"Distractions are the bane of modern students. The usage of phones in any manner shall be banned henceforth."
"And finally..."
The principal paused, letting the silence drag for a few moments before adding.
"... No more television."
"This much should be enough to control you lot. You have five minutes to get your affairs in order. Let it not be said that I am a tyrant."
The speakers died down afterwards, plunging the room back into silence.
Then everyone began moving.
Anyone still holding their phones switched off the lights and stowed them away. Some even threw them as they did so.
All except Morgan, who held his light above himself, gesturing for everyone to gather around before turning it off as well.
This left the only lights in the room to be those emitted from the locker rooms.
Miles felt his phone resting in his pocket, glanced at the corpse lying before the open locker room, then walked towards Morgan. He was careful not to bump into anyone in the dim room.
At least the room wasn’t completely dark.
The moment he drew close enough, he heard the man whispering.
"Alright. Let’s huddle. Not enough to touch, but at least enough to hear each other and shake anyone sleeping awake. It’s currently 4:00 a.m., so we still have about two hours..."
The intercom crackled to life again.
"Time’s up."
Morgan fell silent for a few tense moments, only letting out a shaky breath of relief when no one collapsed. Carefully, he began again.
"We should be safe for now. You can sit on the ground, or bring your mats, just try not to fall asleep. I’ll be back soon."
He stood up, picking up his bat before heading off to the side. Miles’s eyes followed him, taking a seat on a nearby mat as he did so.
He couldn’t risk losing heat to the ground.
In the meantime, Morgan had walked all the way back to Alice’s corpse, his bat lifted above. The man hesitated for a moment, then swung.
A resounding crack echoed through the room.
Those still dragging mats, as well as those sitting down, could only stare at the sight. Miles did the same.
Morgan swung again for good measure before standing upright and facing the corpses still inside the locker room.
Luckily, Chloe was fast enough to intercept him before he did. She whispered something Miles couldn’t make out given the distance. But he didn’t need to; he could already guess.
’It’s the mirrors, right?’
He still remembered what the girl had said regarding the mirror and Bloody Mary. The ground in the locker room was littered with mirror shards, making it a death field. Looking at the ground could get you killed, and even looking to the sides wasn’t completely safe either. The mirror hadn’t shattered completely.
In the end, Morgan settled on just closing the door. At least it would serve as a barrier when the corpses inevitably began moving once again.
Miles frowned.
’That’s only three hours.’
It had taken that long for the first corpse to turn into a ghoul. He’d be seeing Kathy soon if that was the case.
Morgan made it back to the group, Chloe in tow. She took a seat at the edge, while the vice-principal made his way to the center before taking his seat.
He didn’t say anything for a moment, his eyes still lingering on the door he’d just closed. Then,
"We leave for the cafeteria, first thing in the morning."
"And do what?"
Grimm interjected, much to Miles’s surprise.
He couldn’t see many details on the boy’s face in the dark, but he could tell his eyes were staring straight at Morgan.
The man didn’t answer immediately, so he pressed.
"You heard what the principal said. He’ll kill us if we even try to leave."
"He’s right. That’s not even considering whatever bullshit happened to us the last time we stepped in the hallway."
Another voice whispered. Brandon.
Miles glanced between the both of them, but they weren’t looking at each other.
"We’ll..."
Morgan scratched the back of his head.
"We’ll cross that bridge when we get there."
"What do you even mean by that?"
"Do you have any better ideas?"
Morgan looked Brandon directly in the eye as he said that. The boy fell silent.
In the end, the man could only sigh before speaking again.
"Look, we’re dealing with things we don’t fully understand. There’s food if nothing else at the cafeteria. As for how we get there, I don’t know yet, but there has to be a way."
"I think there’s a way."
Miles raised a hand, feeling the gazes on him, even in the darkness. He continued,
"I was able to break through the illusion with my ability. It takes a toll, but it’s how I was able to bring everyone back. I can use it to test for a path out."
"Thank you."
Morgan said earnestly, his eyes widening as he looked at Miles.
"We can test it in the morning."
Miles nodded in reply. Although he hadn’t been too sure at first, there had been a hypothesis growing in the back of his mind regarding the hallway. One that only grew stronger when Chloe identified the mirror monster as Bloody Mary.
In the end, he still had to test it to be sure.
Morgan looked back to Brandon, then Grimm.
"There you go. Even if it fails, we’ll try another, and another until we find a path. We can’t just give up."
Grimm turned his head away, while Brandon could only nod begrudgingly.
"Fine."
Miles could barely see the weary smile that grew on Morgan’s face in the dark. The man scanned the students surrounding him before he continued.
"Good. No matter what happens, I’m not going to stop trying to get us out of here, all of us. At the very least, you can be sure of that."