S T U C K

P R O L O G U E

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Cadenza was sleeping peacefully but she woke up from the loud noise that occurred outside her classroom. Her head was pounding and she couldn't focus on the things around her. She vaguely remembers anything as well. Eventually, the pain wears off so she checked out her surroundings. She was confused nonetheless. She stood up, a hand running through her hair as she began to look around. She also noticed something written on the whiteboard in front of her written in bright red:

COME

She knew things weren't right and she had to find other people.

Cadenza slowly made her way to the door, navigating through the darkness to find it open. She unlocked it and found herself looking at a dark and scary hallway with only a few lights flickering for a moment. It's as if she was in a horror movie.

She shivered and slowly walk through the abandoned hallway making sure she checked every class. So far, she can't find other people. She started becoming more anxious at the thought of her alone in this huge school. Who knows what lurks behind the curtains and the corners of this place. Right now, her only objectives are to find students and get away from here as fast as possible.

As she walking she heard someone calling out on the hallway and quickly froze up. She barely heard it but she knew its someone saying "hello." from the distance. "H-Hello!? It's me." She called out. "Hello!? Where are you?! F-Follow my voice!" She tried communicating with that possible student. She proceeded walking and abruptly heard a low growl. Her heart stopped. "That is definitely NOT a student." She had this instinct that she needed to hide. She unlocked one of the lockers and slammed it closed. She remained still, her breathing fast.

The growling became louder and louder as she stayed still. She was suffocating from the small space. She was uneasy that even the slightest sound movement can be her end.

After what has felt like hours, the growling stopped signaling her to get out. She looked from left to right just to be safe that 'thing' wasn't there anymore. "This is fucking startling... But I need to find SOMEONE in this hellhole." She went on where she left off and heard what sounded like someone attempting to open a door. She jumped from the sound but she needed to know if its a student or not. "Hello? A-Are you a student? You're not one of those things, are you...?" She questioned, silently wishing its a student.

"Holy fuck! Yes, I am a student. Fuck, it's a good thing you're here. The door won't budge. Can... you help? Please?" The voice reverberated through the hall. "Yes... um, give me a minute." She replied faintly. "Maybe I can pick the lock..." She thought to herself. She tried locating a bobby pin and to her luck, she found it on her hair. She placed the bobby pin inside the hole and did a few twists and turns, struggling a bit.

After a few minutes, she unlocked the door with her bobby pin. "Holy shiznits. I didn't think that would work." She muttered quietly, doing a victory dance in her head. She locked eyes with the man in front of her. Cadenza seemed to be frozen in place, alerted in a way by the sight of someone. She's seen this person, at least she believed so. Not everyone in her classes deemed important, as they didn't associate with her.

"Oh, nice." He dropped the chair on the floor. "I was hoping you have answers but you look as confused as I am..." He said, sighing. "We should try calling someone... do you think that there's gonna be service? Hell, we're stuck in this place. We're gonna die, man, we're gonna die..." He whispered, having a panic attack as he glanced around and fidgeted. He noticed something on the whiteboard written in bright red:

AND

"D-Don't say that... We just need to understand the situation we're in first." She fidgeted and began rubbing her arm, taking a moment to breathe. "Do you think that means something?" He asked, looking at the whiteboard. She glanced at him. "And... Come... Come and..." She muttered to herself. "I-I don't know, to be honest. There was something written like that inside the classroom I woke up in. It said COME. Pretty creepy, haha..." She chuckled nervously.

He took a small breath in, and a small breath out. "What... what do you think is going on?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. "I don't know. I woke up only to find myself inside a classroom with no one around me. I also encountered some sort of... monster." She let out a soft sigh.

"A monster? So we're not exactly alone in this place?" He furrowed his eyebrows. "Th-there might be more students here. We just need to find them." She said, silently hoping to find them alive and well.

"I hope this is just a dream. I... I want to go home." She said softly, tears threatening to spill. He moved forward, gently hugging the girl. "I want to go home too." He whispered, now trying to be reassuring. He lets go, and glanced around, frowning. "What should we do now?"

"We could try to leave. I mean we're pretty close to the exit." She glanced about. "Down the stairs... is the east exit a-and we can see if the doors are open. If it won't open then we can check other exits... If none of them do open, then..." She gulped. "-we're stuck here." She continued.

"Yeah... we could do that." He muttered, taking a small breath, before nodding sharply at her. "Everything will be just fine!" He said, a small smile appearing. She nods, only to realize she didn't get his name, nor did she introduce herself. She couldn't even recall if they even shared a class. "Um, your name?"

"Winston Cruedor, you?" Winston pulled out his hand to shake hers. "Cadenza... Cadenza Aldea." She shook his hands and gave him a soft smile. "It's nice to meet you, Cadenza. I just wish it was under different circumstances." He sighed. 

Cadenza took a moment to breathe before turning towards the east stairwell. "Down there is an exit." She told Winston. He nodded, proceeding to step down the stairs, looking back to ensure that Cadenza would be following.

While the second floor had flickering lights, the first floor was dimly lit, almost dark in many ways. The walls marked left and right with words, in the same way, that Cadenza saw on the whiteboard, red in color.

FIND ME

DARKROOM

HIDDEN

BOOKS

CESSATION

The words written were confusing. Cadenza kinda got a glimpse of what it meant but she wasn't sure nor ready to find out.

"What is cessation?" Winston asked. I raised my eyebrow. I gave him the are-you-fucking-kidding-me look. "Look, I never said I was smart." He shrugged.

"To simply put it, it means the fact or process of ending or being brought to an end. Something like that." Cadenza told him. "So something like... Death?" He asked, slowly understanding. I hummed in response. "Isn't that a bit... unsettling?" He said, panic slowly hitting him. "Everything about this whole place is uns-settling." She fidgeted nervously.

"I think those words written on the wall mean something. We both saw "COME" and "AND". Now, this? These words probably connect." Winston said, analyzing the words.

It took me a few minutes to understand the words written on the wall. "Winston, I-I think I know what it meant..." I said, slowly breathing air to calm myself.

COME AND FIND ME IN THE DARKROOM HIDDEN IN THE BOOKS OR ELSE FACE CESSATION.
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