Academy Murder Party

~:Chapter 43:~

He stalked her through the halls. He was following mere steps behind her through corners and the winding hallways of the main building just out of sight. Was he delusional? Maybe. Crazy? Probably. Still, he couldn't help but feel that something felt so familiar about the girl.

He watched from around a corner as she paused, brushing off her ruffled black dress as she held up one of the many sheets of paper in her hand. The strange girl stared blankly at the wall as if lost in thought before she suddenly held the piece of paper to the wall and held it in place with a clear piece of tape which he didn't even notice she had on her.

He stared at her hair. Two black pigtails protruded from her head. The face was covered behind a thin black veil. Her hairstyle reminded him of Yuki.  The more he thought about it; it looked so much like Yuki. Yet, there was no way for it to be her. He thought she died back in the science building. 

That girl wasn't Yuki. Even though her mannerisms were nearly identical, all of which he picked up on while, almost creepily, watching her in secrecy. Her body, which he wasn't able to make out from under the size of the gothic dress, seemed to be petite. The girl was short, precisely similar to Yuki. Yet, he couldn't tell if he was in denial. Something which he didn't quite understand. He had only met her about a day prior, so why did it matter to him if she was gone? In a way, it felt like a part of him was missing now that she was gone. He wanted to push these feelings aside, crawl back into his emotionless shell and wait for them to go away. They made him feel weak, and weakness was something he didn't need to be right now.

He watched as the girl slowly lifted her veil, rubbing one of her gloved hands across her face like she was wiping something from just below her eye. She pulled her finger back and stared at it, rubbing her fingers together. Whatever sat on her finger the boy couldn't make out. He squinted, attempting to recognize any familiar shape or color, yet, nothing.

He leaned around the corner. Immediately, something slipped out of his pocket, hitting the wooden floor with a metal clang. The girl's head snapped around, locking direct eye contact with the boy.

It was her.

She stared at him in surprise. Streaks of wetness ran down her face from her widened eyes. She opened her mouth in shock before turning on her heels and running off.

"W-Wait! Yuki!" The boy called after her. Yet, she didn't listen. She continued running down the hallway and disappeared around the corner as the boy quickly picked up the fallen butterfly knife and jogged forward.

"S-Shit." He muttered to himself, pausing at the spot where she stood. She was long gone, and he wasn't even sure what he saw was real. It looked so much like her, yet, why did she run away? Why did she look so scared of him? He grunted in frustration as he turned, slamming his hand against the wall. Immediately, a flash of pain rang out through his arm, throbbing as he recoiled. However, his eyes were fixated on something. A single poster on the wall. One that she had left behind.

See the women of Winchester's exotic art show in the fine arts buildings theatre. Doors open at the end of the grace period.

Leave your weapons OUTSIDE.

"Not a trap." He muttered to himself as he looked at the mostly blank poster, aside from text and a singular painted crimson rose in the middle of it. However, something near the bottom of the poster caught his eye. They were written in small, slightly messy, though legible, letters. 

HELP ME. 

He looked down the hallway, then back at the poster.  

"Maybe a trap?" He muttered to himself, raising an eyebrow. It seemed so clearly like a trap, yet, something about it felt weird. Hypothetically, even if it were a cry for help, he didn't care. He wasn't going to risk his life to save someone he barely knew. Yet, why was he considering it for her if he genuinely believed that? She looked terrified, yet, she was on her own. It's not like she was being held captive... or was she? The more he thought about it, the less he understood it. For one, he wasn't even sure if that was indeed her. Yet, Yuki didn't have any twin sisters last time he checked.