Lesson One - A Monster School Fic

Chapter Fourteen - "Homework" at Midnight

You were roused very early that morning by thumping in the hallway outside.

Your first reaction was to sit straight up, momentarily panicked that you'd somehow slept in late, but you quickly realized that it was still very dark outside. You rubbed at your eyes, frowning at the door. What had woken you? Had you just imagined it?

A moment later you heard it again- followed by footsteps that ran past your door. You frowned, slowly slinging your legs over the side of the bed. Who would be running around the school at this hour? Was there something wrong?

Your curiosity got the better of you, and you opened the door, onto to immediately jerk back when a figure darted past you.

"Huh?" The figure skidded to a stop, turning to look at you, and you immediately recognized him as the husk.

"Dusk, shh!" Another voice came from your left, and you turned to find Xa-Tul freezing in her tracks at the end of the hall. You slowly eased out of your room, shutting the door behind you as not to wake Silvia.

"What are you doing?" You hissed. It was dim, but Xa-Tul and Dusk were both clearly visible, as their pupils glowed in the dark. "It's the middle of the night!"

"Practicin'." Dusk shoved his hands in his pockets. "For hiding class."

"Wait, who are you hiding fr-" Your question died on your lips as another zombie - the drowned - shot around the corner and tapped Xa-Tul on the head.

"Got you." He exclaimed as she jumped.

"But... why??" You frowned. "What about, I don't know, sleeping?"

"We couldn't sleep." Dusk explained. "So we decided to practice. Why are you not sleeping?"

"Because your running around woke me up!"

"Oh." Dusk had the decency to look at least moderately ashamed. "Sorry."

"A-anyway, are you allowed to be doing this?" You looked back and forth between the zombies. "Aren't we supposed to stay in our rooms at night?"

"Technically, no." The drowned cut in "We are not forbidden from leaving our rooms. Or required to sleep, for that matter." You shook your head in disbelief.

"Want to join us?" Xa-Tul's question made you pause, and you considered this for a moment. You weren't really tired anymore, and this was sort of like homework.

"Sure." You broke into a small grin. "But, uh, maybe we shouldn't do this by the dorms. What are the rules?"

"Wait, we need to tell the others that you're playing." The drowned interjected.

"Who else is playing?" Before they could answer your question, two more figures rounded the corner, ones you quickly identified as Morpheus and Azara, the zombie piglin. Morpheus lifted his hand in greeting.

"Hi Y/N." He said. "Not sleeping again?"

You scoffed. "Like you're one to talk!"

"Hey, I don't need to sleep."

"Oh." You blinked. This was new information.

"Come on, let's get away from the dormitories." Xa-Tul nodded around the corner. "Then I'll tell you the rules."

**

"Rounds last fifteen minutes each, or until every player has been caught." Xa-Tul explained, standing in the center of the group with her arms folded. "Whoever is 'it' remains 'it' for the entire round. When 'it' touches someone, they must freeze in place and remain silent until someone who has not been 'frozen' comes and touches them, freeing them. Anyone who is frozen at the end of the round loses, as does 'it' if they have not caught everyone."