After School

2.41 Carter

September 17, 1946: After School

It turned out Yuta was the bad guy. Somewhat.

When he promised that he would defend and fight for Yuta no matter what happened, he meant it. Although, before the truth was revealed, there was a voice in the back of his head that said, 'Will you? Will you truly defend him even if turns out he's the one?'

He didn't know. He didn't have to, because thankfully it turned out Yuta was not the one. Although, in the end, it turned out to be much worse.

Mr. Stevenson was the one. That betrayal stung him even after an hour of listening to the truth. It caused an aching sensation to course through his body every time he moved. Every time he breathed served as a reminder that he was alive and that Jimmy wasn't, and the reason was because of his own contemptuous and Mr. Stevenson.

Mr. Stevenson was entirely at fault. But Yuta was unwillingly apart of this too, and Carter couldn't shake off that unwanted feeling. Yuta was a witch. Yuta was supposed to be the bad guy, and he was. Somewhat. Yuta was partly the bad guy because whatever option he chose would determine everyone's future.

Although Carter wondered why Yuta kept him being a witch a secret this whole time, it was understandable. Yuta was not the one and he knew as much about the paranormal activity as the rest of them back then. Perhaps he reasoned that telling his friends would further their suspicions of him, which were simply not true. Him being a witch had little to do with the past and more to do with the present.

He and the others had hope. Yuta didn't. If Yuta chose the first option, his friends would have to die by Mr. Stevenson's hands. Then, Yuta would be chained to the curse forever. If Yuta chose the second option, he would die, and his friends would live, because the curse would be diminished.

If Yuta chose the first option, he would be saving himself and his friends would die. If Yuta chose the second option, his friends would be saved and he would die.

Carter was just as conflicted as the next person. He didn't want Yuta to die. He didn't want to die either. He didn't want his friends to die alongside him. Was that selfish? Did that mean Carter was the bad guy, for thinking that?

Carter blinked away tears as the group grimly trodded towards the pool room, his brain spinning with strangling thoughts. The silence that hung in the air was uncomfortable and at times, frightening. It reminded them of how eerily quiet Willesden was, after school. Their wrists were in black shackles and their gazes were cast to the ground as they marched towards the half-obliterated pool room. The Shadow tugged them forward every time someone lagged as if they were dogs on a leash.

Finally, they entered the pool room. The Shadow locked the door behind them as all six students gazed around the gymnasium. The room was covered in dust and eerily dormant, unlike the debris that was raining down on him and Yuta a few hours prior. Upon viewing the deteriorated sidewall, it reminded Carter that everything occurred not so long ago, despite it feeling that way. So much happened between those moments to now that Carter forcibly reminded himself that a year had not passed.

Everything about the room was the same as they had left it. Everything about Willesden was the same as they had left it before the final bell rang. However, one thing was different. Jimmy was gone.

Carter heaved his guilt-ridden chest as he fell to the floor, desperate to rest after a long hour of pure horror. The rest of the group followed his lead, not daring to utter a word. They sat in a circle, with Jimmy's bloody corpse in the middle, his lifeless eyes looking up at the ceiling through his shattered glasses. The Shadow gripped their leash tightly and eyed each one of them carefully, but didn't say much.