Souls

3

Questioning Reality

   He shook his head, taking a moment to breathe before making sure the two boys left and leaving the room himself.

  He stood in front of the door, unsure of what to do next. Was the other boy covering for him? Or could he really not see him. He looked at the palm of his hand, taking a few seconds to truly examine it. Almost like he was expecting to see through it. After a few moments he put his hands to his side, continuing to stare down the hallway blankly.

  It was almost like he had a moment of derealization, as if nothing seemed real. Like he was just floating in space, nowhere to go. Then he felt that creepy feeling crawl up his back, the feeling he felt with the entity that took the appearance of scribbles. He snapped himself out of it, shaking his head as well as slapping his face.

"Come on... You can't go bringing that thing here." He breathed in deeply. "Just focus on getting out of here."

  He was able to find the rest of the flight of stairs rather easily. Reaching the bottom floor, a feeling of joy crept into his heart. This floor seemed to have rooms that shared multiple purposes, club rooms being shared with the first year classrooms. If they hadn't closed down the fourth floor clubs would be able to use those rooms without worrying about students messing with their things.

   But then again, he wasn't surprised. The state that floor was in, you would think something terrible went down. It was weird though, why hasn't the school cleaned it up, it looks like it's been there for a while. He passed by a room that didn't seem to be anything special, but he still felt the need to enter.

  Walking in the first thing he noticed was the white tubs. Curious he went over to look at them, they were filled with some sort of liquid that he couldn't name. But then again he couldn't name anything, his memory was that far gone. Having his interest lost in the tubs he turned around and looked up, seeing a string of twine hung up with a single photo on it, seemingly to be dripping.

  He stacked a stool on one of the tables, standing on it to be able to grab the photo. When he did he simply shook the wet substance on it off, trying not to dirty his clothes more than they already were. When he looked at the photo the first thing he noticed was that it was him.

"What the... Why is a photo of me here?" He questioned as he moved it closer to his eyes, double, triple checking to make sure. "And who took it?"

   Looking at it longer he noticed how he was wearing the same uniform he was currently in. Navy blue with grey slacks, however this photo was clearly taken earlier in time, since the uniform in the photo was cleaner then what he was currently wearing. He sat down in one of the chairs for a while, his sense of reality once again failing him.

   Why was this photo here? Clearly he didn't attend this school, his uniform was different from the others. Someone at this school has got to know him, otherwise why would this be here? He was smiling and posing for the photo, something you'd only do if you knew the person taking it.

  Shaking his head he put the photo in his pocket and stood up. He would come back to this school, but first, he needed to find a way out. Staying here would just be a recipe for disaster. He needed new clothes, a place to sleep, eat, he couldn't get that at this school. And if anyone caught him he'd surely be arrested.

  Before he left the room however, he put the tubs away in the classroom closet and pulled the desks apart. Making it look like it was just a normal classroom and not a club room. He didn't know exactly why he did it, but whoever left before cleaning up will thank him.

  It took a while to find the front door, but after he did he opened it and exited the school building. Looking around outside he noticed how the fields and just the land around the school made it look like it was isolated, when in fact there was a paved way downhill to housing and stores. As he walked down the hill he saw a stone sign that had the school's name on it, Yeon Dul High School.

"Yeon Dul... Hopefully I can remember it." The boy chuckled, using humor to mask his unpleasant feelings.

  But when he tried to pass the stone sign he couldn't. It was like an invisible wall stopped him in his tracks. Confused by what was happening he tried to push through with the palms of his hands but it didn't work. Then he tried ramming his body into it but all that lead to was a sore feeling in his shoulder.

   He really couldn't leave, but why? It's not like this is some fantasy world. Magic barriers don't exist here. This isn't a world of wizard and mages where they learn spells and potions. This is the real world... Or it's supposed to be. That sense of derealization came back to him. What if this was all a dream and he can't get out? Multiple questions of the such swarmed his mind until he fell to his knees.

"Giving up already?" A sinister voice crawled into his ear like a snake. "After such a convincing conviction?"

"Leave me alone! You aren't real!" The boy said with his eyes closed tight as he attempted to push the thing off him, only for it to tighten around his arm.

"But you can feel this can't you?" It snickered as it's grip became tighter. "If you can feel and hear it... Isn't it real to you?"

"No! Nonono!" Spaces between words being lost, all of it merging together with how fast he spoke. "You're just something I made up! You aren't real!"

"But everything we know is made up. Those traffic lights used to be nothing but a dream, the school you just came from, even the clothes you wear." The entity crawled up the boy's arm, reaching his neck. "Everything was once nothing more than a human's delusion."

"That- That's different!" The boy shouted as he tried to get the thing off him, but of course it didn't work.

"How so? Don't they have the same principles?" The entity said, taking full enjoyment in twisting and turning his head to see how far it could pull it until it broke.

"Because! Because... I'm the only one who can see you!"

"And yet the boy from earlier couldn't... Does that mean you're Intak's delusion? That you're not real?" It hissed, like a snake flicking it's tounge.

"No... No... I'm... Not?" The boy started to question even his own sense of being, if he was real, if he was just something made up by someone else.

"See, if you are to believe you are real. Then I too am real." The entity then slithered away, under a nearby rock. Leaving the disoriented boy to suffer.

"This is... Reality... Isn't it?" The boy whispered to himself as he looked at the sky, that of which appeared darker than earlier.

  Running through the hall was a boy, he was dressed in a white long sleeve sweater, one of the versions of Yeon Dul's uniforms. He seemed to be in a hurry as his messenger bag continued to sway in a way it could easily harm someone who was too close to him.

   Reaching a classroom he harshly threw the door open, his breathing loud and heavy as he bent over to catch his breath. As he looked around, presumingly trying to find something, he pulled back his hair that was dyed pink.

"Where is it! That photo! It took forever to develop!" He exclaimed as he looked at every individual desk. "Who even put the tubs away??? I was the last one to leave."

"Great... That was the only photo I could develop, the rest of the film is all messed up." He frowned as his arms fell to his side. "Now I'll have to talk to the Council president..."

With a large groan the boy sluggishly left the room, like his world had ended.