Forget the Forgotten

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The terrible red mist poured over the remaining earth. A flood of foul air kicked Amelia so suddenly that she choked.

"Get up!" cried Amelia and crawled over to Nick.

Nick coughed and tried to sit up. At the sight of the mist his eyes widened in fear and he jumped up.

"We have to get out of here now!" he yelled. He grabbed Amelia by the arm and dragged her towards the main tunnel.

"And what about Mr. Grey?" cried Amelia.

At the sound of his name, he stirred and groped for his lamp.

He picked it up - and looked stunned at the red mist.

"Oh no", he croaked.

"Come on!" Nick yelled at him.

"It's going to kill us, Mr. Grey," Amelia explained, tugging at the sleeve of his jacket. "We have to get out of here now!"

"I can't believe it," mumbled Grey. "That's just not possible."

Amelia tried to drag him along, but he wouldn't budge. He stared at the red mist as if hypnotized.

"It's them," he whispered in a choked voice. "They are back. Can't you see them?"

"What do you mean?" Nick asked.

Amelia looked more closely at the red mist. She had changed somehow. "I see it," she whispered.

Several figures began to appear in the mysterious mist. At first, they were just flickering shapes that slowly became clearer. Amelia couldn't believe her eyes, but she knew what they were.

They were faces.

"My friends," Grey croaked.

Faces. Angry, distorted faces. Mouths were dark caverns, ripped open to screams that no one could hear.

The eyes were black and empty. The mist wafted around them like a deadly web.

Amelia's eyes grew large when she suddenly realized the truth.

The red mist had not killed the six teenagers. The six were the mist!

*They knew that they were trapped and that they would die,* Amelia thought.

With the courage of desperation, they had dug through the mountain of earth and rubble, only to come upon the brick wall that Grey had built.

Only to find that they were trapped down here permanently. Forever.

Amelia could only imagine their hopelessness. Their horror.

Their rage.

Suddenly she knew what the red mist was made of. The murderous rage of six teenagers. Somehow their souls had been locked up there and had finally united to form the deadly cloud.

With each day her unrestrained hatred had to grow. With each day, their ardent desire for revenge.

*They've probably been waiting for their chance ever since,* Amelia thought. *And it came when we freed them behind the brick wall.*

Now they would all die.

"My friends," Grey whispered incredulously. "I can't believe it's really you."

The mist was now hovering close to him. The faces pulsed and seemed to hiss at him.

"Yes," Grey said. "It's me. So you remember."

Amelia sensed someone tugging on her sleeve.

"Come with me," mumbled Nick.

But she could not move. Couldn't stop staring at their faces.

"Amelia, listen carefully," Grey said, his eyes fixed on the fog. "There is a shaft that leads from the tunnel directly into the school boiler room. If you take six left turns in a row, you'll find it."

"What do you mean?" she asked. "We're not gonna..."

"Remember," Grey cut off her word and stood up.

Nick now tugged roughly on Amelia's arm. She took a step towards the main tunnel.

"What are you doing, Mr. Grey?"

Finally, he turned around. His face was completely blank.

"I have a little business here," he replied. "Tell Ayla I'm sorry."

Then he turned back towards the cloud.

It moved forward. Wrapped him up.

Amelia tried to follow him, but Nick held her back.

The next moment, Mr. Grey was swept up by the cloud. He howled as he disappeared into the mist. The lantern fell to the ground, rattling.

Sharp cries of pain echoed from the tunnel walls. His body twitched and reared up. His arms were pulled back forcibly and broke. His head was spinning uncontrollably back and forth.

A last terrible crackling sounded and then the terrible screams died away. Mr. Grey's limp body hung in the cloud, twitching.

Amelia opened her eyes.

What happened there?

The horribly dislocated body seemed to be getting smaller. It did not shrink directly, but rather seemed to collapse into itself.

The cracking of bones filled the air as the ghostly faces whirled around Grey. The headmaster's body grew smaller and smaller until finally it was only the size of a ball.

And then he was gone completely.

The mist rose high into the air until it hung under the ceiling of the tunnel. The faces still emitted their silent cries. Their cold, staring eyes were now fixed on Amelia and Nick.

"Run!" yelled Nick shrieking.

Amelia looked up and prepared herself for the pain that was about to befall her. Strained, she tried hard to make out the ghostly faces.

*Something's changed,* she thought.

The mist did not approach them.

"Nick!" whispered Amelia. "Look!"

The faces began to dissolve. Amelia no longer felt any of the unrestrained anger. The red of the mist no longer shone so intensely. Even the eerie sound of breathing had become quieter.

Finally, Amelia understood. "They've had their revenge," she said softly. "It's over."

Slowly the cloud disappeared before her eyes. Finally there was only one last veil left, which hung in the air for a few seconds.

"Go", Amelia asked silently. "Just get out!"

And then the last remnant of the red cloud was gone.

.

.

.

.

.

933 words

please vote and comment!:)