Class Trip Ended in Horror

Chapter 19

Paul stayed with us all afternoon. "Don't you agree that Mr Schmidt is behaving strangely?" Paul asked us. He was right, Mr Schmidt seemed as if he were mentally somewhere else. "Mhm, yes," I murmured. "I'm sorry for him," Katy said. "Why?" asked Paul. "Look, he's a teacher and he's responsible for us and when we come back, he has to explain to everyone that many are dead or missing. Possibly he'll go to jail or lose his job," Katy explained. "I hadn't thought of that," Paul said.

"Where's Simon?" I asked. "I have no idea, after we put the suitcases in the entrance hall, he disappeared," said Paul. "Not him too," I said sadly. "Guys, can I move my mattress to yours? I don't want to be so alone," Paul said a little shyly and blushed slightly. "Yes, the four of us have to stick together now," said Fabi and patted him on the shoulder. Paul smiled gratefully at Fabi.

Before dinner we pushed Katy and Paul's mattress next to Fabi's and mine. "Paul, Fabian, Katharina and Amy, I think we should go to dinner now," said Mr Schmidt, more than just a little bit distracted. "Wow, he's calling us by our full names again. He's completely off track," Katy said to me. "Mmm," was the only word I could get out.

"Since it's our last evening, I wanted to give a little speech," said Vladimir. "Go ahead," said Mr Schmidt. "I was happy to meet such young and nice people again. I can only express my regret and sympathy for your loss. Tomorrow you will go back to your everyday life and it was really nice to have you here," said Vladimir. We applauded out of decency. "He's a real liar," I whispered to Fabi. "Yes, and he thinks we believe him," Fabi whispered back.

After dinner we lay down in our "big bed". It was nice not to be alone. Hopefully nothing happens tonight. We lay so close together that only two mattresses would have been enough. I lay in the arms of Fabi and Paul was close to Katy. "Paul, can you slide back a bit," said Katy. "Oh sorry," Paul said. I saw Mr Schmidt sitting in front of the fireplace and staring into the fire. The flickering of the fire made my eyes heavy and I fell asleep.

From the point of view of Malte Schmidt

I stared blankly into the fire. I wasn't aware of anything from the outside, but suddenly a sack was put over my head and I received a hard hit on the back of the head, knocking out my consciousness.

I slowly woke up and was tied to a chair. The bonds dug painfully into my skin. Wherever I was, it was cold and musty smelling.

Suddenly the sack was pulled off my head from behind. In front of me was a figure dressed entirely in black. "Who are you and what do you want from me and where the hell am I?" I asked anxiously. "Slow down, we'll explain everything to you soon enough," said an amused sounding Vladimir, I heard his voice behind me. "Vladimir?" I asked, startled and horrified. "You were so naive and trusted me blindly. It was actually quite easy to manipulate you. Back then on the phone I thought it would be difficult to wrap you around my finger," he said maliciously. As he spoke, he went to the person I didn't know. "Th-th-at were you on the phone?" I asked in horror, my eyes widening. "But enough about me. I already told you on the phone that a friend of mine still had an outstanding bill. I'm handing over to him," he said and pointed to the person who was just standing silently in the corner.

He pulled his hood down and his face was revealed. I caught my breath, the seconds felt like hours. Pale skin, sunken cheeks, big ears sticking out, the long pointed, nose, the squinting eyes that are different colours. "Imre? Is it really you?" I asked in disbelief and completely stunned. "Did you miss me?" he asked with a malicious smile. "Where have you been? We thought you were dead," I asked. "You must be wondering what you're doing here," said Imre. "Yeah," I mumbled.

"Revenge. Back then after the school disco I swore revenge on you and thanks to Vladimir's help, I got it now," he said angrily. I just looked at him questioningly. "What kind of revenge?" I asked confused. "The children of my tormentors are almost all dead," he explained. "But why the children?" I asked.

"Do you remember when Vladimir had your children with him? So, what hurts loving parents more than losing their children? This pain and loss can never be healed," he said. That's right, if my students were my children, I wouldn't want to live anymore. "It's so cruel, the children can't help their parents' mistakes!" I said angrily. "Do you think I could do anything about my looks? No! And yet I was treated badly. But soon I'll finally be free of my longing for revenge and no one will get out of here alive tomorrow and you won't see "tomorrow" anymore," he said and his voice got louder and more irascible. He came up behind me. "Take care, Malte," he whispered. I saw out of the corner of my eye that he took an axe in his hand and Vladimir was holding my head. Imre swung the axe and the blade flashed in the dim light of the lantern and rushed towards my head.