Breaking The Loop

Chapter 6

     I look down from our little platform and see the Teacher playing her piano. Mono taps my shoulder and points up at the little bridge thing and down at the crank. He points to himself and then the crank. I nod and he heads down the bookcase. I silently watch, scared for him.

     The Teacher stops playing her piano and starts to write, Mono is dead still in the center of the room, not even breathing, I think. The Teacher goes back to playing and he continues his journey. He hides behind the step stool and waits for the Teacher to start a new round of playing before lowering the bridge. I hop onto the bridge and Mono goes over to the footstool. He drags it halfway across the floor when the Teacher stops to take notes again.

     We wait, I start sweating. She starts playing again and I release the breath I didn't realize I was holding. Mono makes his way up to me and we jump down onto the platform together. We wait for the Teacher to start playing before trying to open the vent, however she still hears us. She screeches and elongates her neck.

     "WHAT THE HELL?!" Screams Mono, I forgot, he hasn't seen the Teacher in this timeline. He pushes me into the vent in front of him and we take off. We push down a door, and climb up a ladder. I run and jump across the gap between vents and turn around. Mono jumps and I have no time to prepare before catching him. I grab his arms and we tumble backwards, rolling off the roof and into the dumpster.

     I watch as the Teacher looks around before retracting back into the School. I release a breath and look over at Mono. He's looking up at the sky, rain splattering his face. "What. In the. HELL!" He looks over at me. "Did you really run from... THAT THING! WITHOUT ME AND AN INJURED STOMACH?!" He yells. I cover my ears and nod. He looks at me with concern. "Are... did I scare you?"

     He reaches out and gently touches on of my hands covering my ears. "I'm sorry. I got a little scared. It's ok, I promise, I won't hurt you." I uncover my ears and look at him. "I... I have many problems..." I mutter, sitting down in the trash. "I have sensitive ears, I get scared easily, I hate physical touch. I just want to stop being like this." I curl into a ball.

     Mono sits beside me and nudges me with his shoulder. "I have a secret. But you have to promise not to tell anyone." I look over at him. "Promise?" I nod. He holds out his hand, it's closed around something. When he opens it I see a little figure on it. It's like a small projection. As I look closer I realize it's a tiny me. I smile. "That's cute." Suddenly I remember something.

     "OH NO!" I dig through my pants pockets and a few seconds later pull out a very smashed, and dirty sausage. "DAMNIT! That was supposed to fed us!" I hang my head. Mono laughs. "Listen Jay, I've eaten some very questionable things. A lint covered sausage is nothing. He plucks it out of my hand and splits it in two.

     I take my chunk and take a bite. Despite the occasional lint piece, it's rather good. We eat our sausage before jumping out of the dumpster and heading forward. We walk across a tiny bridge over a huge gap and keep progressing. We pass by a bench with clothes on it before reaching the dumpster puzzle. I help Mono with moving the dumpster before we climb on top.

     He goes first and turns around, holding out his hand on the other side. I jump and reach out, grabbing his hand, barely making it. We walk forward, past the creepy wall with a face. I follow Mono through the door that partially broken. I expect to find the iconic Six raincoat waiting there, but instead it's something completely different. It's my favorite black hoodie. I walk over to it and pick it up. I hand Mono his coat and pull on my hoodie, feeling safe. I turn to him and smile.

     "This always made me feel safe. Why is it here though?" I turn around, none of the junk in here seems like my stuff. Suddenly my phone in my pocket buzzes, I completely forgot about it. I pull it out.

     The time is all glitchy but there's on notification on the screen.

You're getting closer

     I sigh. Classic ominous message, it's obviously from the Thin Man, or Future Mono as I like to call him. I help Mono open the door and we continue on our journey. We walk through the hat shop and jump out the window into more rain. I pull up my hood and follow Mono. We make I to the area with the fence and I boost Mono up onto the dumpster. He makes his way to the other side of the fence and pushes down the board blocking the hole. We climb up onto the dumpster on this side together and open the vent door. We fall down onto a roll of bandages that have a small stain on the unrolled part.

     I grab the roll, tear off the stained part and shove it into my hoodie pocket for later. Mono nods at me and we crawl out of the vent. We walk towards the front doors of the Hospital, up the bloody steps, and through the open window. We walk past a few chairs and rolling shelfs filled with medicine and bandages on them. Mono crawls under a bed blocking our path and I follow him. We pass by a hallway with bars that has light spilling from it.

     We walk towards some doors that have light leaking through the windows. Mono goes up and starts pushing on them, I help him. The doors fly open and I stumble forward; I fall over the edge. Mono reachs out and grabs my hand. I slam against the rock and pain shoots through my body. My hand loosens from the shock of the pain.

     Mono grabs my arm with his other hand and grunts as he pulls me up and away from the drop. I sit down and pull my hood over my eyes.

I almost died. I almost died. I ALMOST DIED! Stop being an idiot and rushing into danger, you don't have infinite lives here. You die, you're dead.

     "Jay, are you okay?" I look up at Mono from under my hood. "I... almost died." He sits down in front of me. "I know you almost died. But... I saved you. I'm here, I'm... I'm going to protect you." I look at him dumbfounded. "What?" He smiles. "You've trusted me before. I've trusted you-" He holds out his hand and projects a small me onto his palm. "-we can do this together."

     The little projection flickers out. I grab Mono's hand and we stand up together. I turn and look at the hanging beds. Mono jumps forward, letting go of my hand in the process, landing on the bed safely. He turns and waves at me to jump. I step back and get a small running boost before jumping.

     I crash into the side of the bed and Mono pulls me up. I lift my hoodie and see some blood, staining the guaze around my stomach. I unwrap the gauze and pull out the roll of gauze I grabbed. Mono helps me patch myself up and we continue forward. We climb up the bed hanging vertically, walk across the bed above the one I crashed into, climb up some sheets tied together, and crawl onto the bed the rope is tied to.

     We jump across the three beds and pull ourselves into the next hallway. I see the battery in the wall and try to tug it out. Surprisingly, I can't do it. "What?" Mono walks over and tugs out the battery. The doors close behind us, blocking off the light. A small glow emits from the battery, eerily lighting Mono's face. I brush off not being able to tug out the battery as me just not having enough energy.

     We walk past carts and past a door to the other battery plug. Mono pushes the battery into it and the other doors open, loudly blaring. I cover my ears and squeeze my eyes shut. A gentle touch on my hand, I open my left eye and see Mono. He holds out his hand and I gently take it. We walk forward into the darkness and plumit downward.