Euphoria

Chapter 21

Time remained a mystery to (Y/N) and the other girls as they were forced through a pair of thick iron doors to another chamber with rows upon rows of beds, unlike the ballroom there was no cracks in the multicoloured walls despite the layers of dust and cobwebs covering the sparse furniture. Sharp black spikes slunk down from the ceiling, some of them reaching to merge with deep scarlet spikes protruding from the floor.
Fear was still strong throughout the group, as once every few hours one person would be randomly selected and forcibly hauled from the ballroom by the armoured shadows. They never came back.
There was a large circular window set into the ceiling that revealed inky black storm clouds, sinister red eyes peered at the group from the dark shadows in the corners of the room. Several of the girls were unreachable at this point, still crying hysterically and so lost in their own panic that they could barely breathe let alone register what was going on around them.

No one knew how much time had passed since they were brought here, days? Weeks? The man who seemed to run the place hadn't shown himself again but (Y/N) had a feeling it wouldn't remain that way for long. She tried to ignore her rampaging fear and stuck close to the two girls she had shared gym with. Amia was a stocky, tall girl with flaming red hair and blue eyes. While Vera was a small, unassuming quiet girl with dirty blonde hair and green eyes, she hadn't known them well in gym but they'd been inseparable since that day in the ballroom.

The three of them claimed beds for themselves off to the side of the room as the group began to spread out, some exploring the room while others claimed beds with ranges of fear, despair, or blank looks on their faces at their situation. A fresh spike of worry struck (Y/N) as she watched the remnants of their group before turning back to the conversation with Amia and Vera. "Do you think anyone will be able to escape?" The same worry was etched into Vera's face as she spoke the question that's been going through everyone's heads since they got here. Amia had a thoughtful look about her as she studied the room and the remaining girls. "We might be able to overpower the shadows with our numbers, but everyone is exhausted and terrified! What other choice do we have but to lay low right now?" (Y/N) let out a sigh as she reluctantly relented to admit that Amia was right, the groups were already divided by the shadows and there was no way they would want to risk being devoured like their schoolmates.

She crossed her arms and fixed Vera with a resigned stare as she shook her head. "No one would try anything with what happened in the ballroom, to go out like that would be agonizing." She shivered as the memory that had kept replaying in her head crossed her mind once again, seeing those girls devoured right in front of her eyes sent a frosty chill down her spine. She saw her own fear reflected in their faces before Amia reached out and gripped both of their hands with her own, a determined look replacing the uncertainty in her eyes as she gave both of them a firm squeeze. "No matter what happens, we stick together. We're going to get out of here somehow, all three of us." A small smile rose onto Vera's lips as she gave a hopeful nod and (Y/N) felt her own will harden with purpose as she gave a fierce nod.
The girls all waited with baited breath for the next person to be dragged from the room, however the shadows never opened the doors again that night.

Confused but thankful at not having to watch helplessly as another girl is dragged to her death, the rest of them dusted off the cobwebs and dirt before uneasily settling down for a fitful sleep.
The light outside had long vanished, other than the muffled sobbing of a few of the girls it was deathly quiet. A violently loud alarm rang out as piercing bright light lit up the room and burned away the shadows, a crescendo of confused and fearful shouts rang out before the bolt of the door slid and they were thrown open. A squadron of armoured shadows drifted into the room, unnervingly synchronized as the man with the red eyes stepped out from behind them.

An uneasy silence fell over the room as the girls began to get a grasp on what was happening, some immediately fled to the other side of the room as far away from him as possible, while others seemed frozen to the spot. The man merely looked annoyed as he snapped his fingers, the cowering students were dragged through a large hole that appeared under their feet by tendrils of mist. The hole sealing again before they had the chance to scream before he addressed the rest of the students, deadly anger simmering off of him in waves. "I don't have time for you brats's misbehaviour, shut up and move it!"
The students collectively flinched at his sudden anger before the shadows surrounded and shoved them out of the room, no one spoke a word or met the man's eyes as he silently followed behind the group.

After a few minutes of walking they were shoved into another room, which looked to be some sort of ancient crumbling arena. Anxiety fluttered in (Y/N)'s stomach as she took in the surroundings and noticed a dark mass shifting in the centre of the wide space. The man stepped out from a shadow at the far side of the arena and spoke with a hint of dangerous delight. "I thought it might help for you lot to find out what happens to those who choose to be difficult."

Sharp light pierced into the space and lit up the dark creature, and (Y/N) immediately wished it hadn't. An eye of the deepest black framed the things face, exposed muscle and broken bones rearranged like a jigsaw puzzle formed it's skeleton as the thing stared up at the girls. A gaping bloody hole formed where it's other eye had been torn out, gaping holes in its cheeks formed a window to see that the creature had a jagged cut where it's tongue was supposed to be.
Jagged, malformed legs held up the creature as it gurgled and then spat crimson onto the sands of the arena. The group was on the verge of a breakdown before another alarm rang out, confusion briefly muffled their fear before (Y/N) noticed doors lining the arena were thrown open, similar grotesque abominations beginning to shuffle into the light.

The fragile silence shattered as girls raced in all directions, the man and the shadows made no move to stop them as fear exploded in all of them and numbed all logical reasoning. Some of them tried to shove past the shadows to escape the room, only to be met with an unmovable wall of steel. The creatures began to close in before (Y/N) felt the pull of a hand, panic turned to relief as Amia pulled her and Vera away from the panicked crowd at the door. One of the creatures pounced at the trio, who just barely managed to get out of the way before it slammed into the wall, knocking a section of the cracked wall loose as it pinned the squirming thing to the floor. Vera began to sob hysterically as Amia frantically shook the girl's shoulders, trying to get through to her. The screams of the group clustered at the door turned feral as some of the creatures caught and began to tear into the students.

The sound of flesh and muscle tearing was the last thing (Y/N) registered before she felt her chest tighten and her heartbeat begin to spiral out of control. Panic numbed everything else as her breathing turned shallow and she ran blindly, she vaguely heard Amia shout her name before sharp claws sank into her side. Pain rang through her flesh as she desperately tried to pull away from the creature, before her head hit a chunk of rock and her head swam with dizziness. She swayed before stumbling over the edge to fall back-first into the sands of the arena.

Heavy footsteps approached her, the (h/c) - haired girl was paralyzed on the sand as both the head of the creature and the red- eyed man came into her blurring vision. Curiosity crept over the man's face as the creature growled at it's stunned prey. A chilling smile slowly spread across the man's face as he held a hand out to block the creature. "Don't eat this one just yet, I'll get you a substitute." More tendrils of mist rose from his hands to drag another girl into the sand at his feet, a girl with jet-black hair and wide brown eyes stared up at him, terrified as he released her. She immediately ran, adrenaline fuelling her steps as she tried to climb back up to the stands before the creature tore into her ankle and dragged her back.

(Y/N) covered her ears to muffle the crunch of bone and the screams of the girl, before a sinister laugh rang from the man's throat. "This is a surprise, I didn't think you would be this squeamish." Confusion pierced through her fear for a moment as she opened her tear- blurred eyes to peer up at the man. "W-what are you talking about.." He merely chuckled to himself again before waving his hands. "I've heard rumours about what you've been up to, although I didn't think I'd meet you like this." He crouched down to peer at her, a small smile on his face as he spoke. "You've helped make things a lot less dull in this school, I'll thank you for that."
Seeing him this close, he had messy black hair, and wore a buttoned black shirt along with simple black pants underneath his cloak. He would look like a senior student if it wasn't for his ruby red eyes and translucent form.
He snapped his fingers again as a hole was cut into the floor around the stunned girl, she began to fall. Her screams stolen from her throat as she vanished into the dark as the man gave her a chilling smile.
"Let's see if your worth it."