DEATH IS MY FRIEND - TMC

f o u r

[NOTE: I'M NOT AN EXPERT IN MENTAL OR PHYSICAL ILLNESS AS I DON'T TAKE PSYCHOLOGY IN PRE-UNI NOR BIOLOGY. THE INFORMATION I USED IN THIS STORY ARE BASED ON MY RESEARCH AND READINGS. PLEASE CORRECT ME IF ANY INFO GIVEN IS FALSE AND I'LL EDITED IT AS SOON AS I CAN]

TW: VIOLENT CONTENT. SELF-HARM

There's a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons –
That oppresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes –

"Ilonka? Celeste?"

Kevin's voice echoed as the elevator went down. Frightened, Ilonka walked towards him in an instant. "Hey, I'm sorry. I don't know..."

"I'm okay. I'm okay." Ilonka assured him, albeit shakened.

The boy looked over her shoulder then around the room, his eyes squinting to see through the pitch black that covered the area. "Uhm, Ilonka... Where's Celeste?" He asked her once he noticed the Park girl's absence.

"I–I thought she was with you."

"No, Ilonka. I thought she was here.. With you."

"Where could she be?" Ilonka wondered worriedly.

"Maybe..." He trailed off. An uncertain look crossed his face. "Maybe she went back–But she wasn't in the elevator with me.."

"Then where –"

"We should get the others." Kevin said. "Maybe Celeste went up and we didn't notice." He looked around the place in fear. "What the actual hell is this place?"

By then, the rest of the club joined them down in the basement. They all scattered over the place, looking around the unfamiliar room for answers. None of them knew that such a place existed. From the arches and the tall pillars. There were no exits making it seem impossible to escape the dark space, and an unknown painting on the floor, the walls and on the ceiling.

"Look up." Amesh told them and everyone simultaneously pointed their flashlight upwards. Their light revealed a painting of a dark blue sky, decorated with golden clouds and a crescent moon. The only contrast to the creepiness state of the basement. "Pause the fear response just long enough to appreciate how hard it must have been to paint that."

"Someone slept down here." Natsuki noticed. In front of them was a bed and other furniture that signified the sign of the inhabitant.

"More like lived down here, it looks like." Cheri corrected the girl. "Reminds me of my bedroom at home."

"What the hell?" They all turned to Ilonka who shined her flashlight to the rest of the furniture. "This was a meeting place." She inspected the area for a while until her eyes landed on a thick leather bound book that was covered in dust. "Guys." Ilonka picked it up and placed the light above the book. Revealing its title; The Midnight Club.

"What the hell?"

"No fսcking way."

As Ilonka opened the book, the yellowed page was filled with words after words written in different colors and small sketches. Some of them were faint. This continued on in the rest of the pages.  "This is... This is a roster for The Midnight Club." Ilonka realized as her eyes darted from one word to another. She turned the page. "Names and years. I mean, these are all... These are all members. And look here. "This commemorates The Midnight Club founded January 5th, 1969 by..." She stopped reading the moment she saw a familiar name and her heart dropped. The girl suddenly heard a small sob in the far corner of the room.