Chapter 70

Another night of not being able to sleep. But now I actually have a reason. In the morning, at nine o'clock, this whole town is going to be in danger. My friends and family might possibly die, and if not then get severely injured. And I'm the only one who could save humanity from completely dying out. So, it is clear to see why no one would have easy sleep with all of this coming.

I spent the night at the mansion, since it's surprisingly closer to my school than my house. I walked through the halls, feeling like I was patrolling. The entire place was quiet, making me feel both secure and on edge. I had told everyone about this and I doubt they're asleep. Well, except for Sally. She doesn't need to know that everything she knows is possibly going to be destroyed.

Slenderman gave me a body armor suit which I'm wearing under my regular clothes. I don't really need to wear it now, at 12am, but if I rush to put it on in the morning then I'll waste time. That Darren guy said I couldn't waste a minute. I wore my hair up, not because it keeps it out of the way but because it bothers me. I'm already paranoid. I don't need my hair to give me chills every few seconds.

Hours went by. I haven't slept once. It's 4am now. Only five more hours until clocks everywhere hit nine and hell breaks loose. I keep walking throughout the entire mansion, passing by rooms that I've walked by dozens of times now. I pass by Jeff's room and stop to listen in. It's quiet in there. He's a bit of a snorer so I know he's not asleep. I sigh and keep walking. My footsteps are heavy from my worn combat boots. It sickens me to think that they'll be caked with blood soon.

I walk downstairs to roam the main floor. I pass through the living room, then the kitchen and everywhere else that I'm familiar with. Grinny and Smile are sleeping on the couch. The smiling cat was sleeping comfortably on Smile's head. And Smile slept soundly as well. I remember when they wouldn't even want to be within ten feet of each other. Now look at them. Though it sucks to have them get along so well now of all times. "Keep each other safe," I whispered and kept walking about. I finally take a break as I sit at the kitchen table. I brush my bangs back and hang my head. The stress is immense. It's nearly consumed me.

I put my head down on the table and sigh. What am I going to do? Am I really prepared for this? I'm completely terrified. I sit there for what seemed like an eternity and I wish it was so I wouldn't have to face Zalgo. I shut my eyes to keep the tears of frustration away. I didn't manage to keep them in so they fell silently. I clutched my fists and scowled as I shut my eyes.

"Aw, is someone a little sad? Poor you," I heard a voice say and I quickly look up to see...me? It was the demented version of me, sitting across from me at the table. She had her legs up on the table, leaning back on her chair like there wasn't a care in the world. She was biting down on a tooth pick. No...a finger bone...

"You look like you've seen a ghost," she chimed as she pulled out the bone. It still had blood spots on it. Even some bits of flesh.. I kept staring at her, wide eyed and trembling. She smirked at me and pointed the bone to me. "You know what your problem is? You're too quiet! Too tense! Lighten up a little, will ya? It's not the end of the world. AHA!!! Get it?! 'Cos it is!!! AHAHAHAHA!!!"

I stared at myself in utter horror. Demented me laughed and giggled like a child, enjoying her own messed up joke. I glared at her and she suddenly stopped to stare at me. Her blood red eyes nearly pierced through my very being. Her skin, paler than mine and covered with black marks of corruption. She grinned at me, her smile eerie and wicked despite that it was only a normal smile. She bit down on the finger bone, nibbling on it until it snapped in half. She spit out the other half on the floor and put the left over bone back in her mouth. I just kept glaring at her, fists clenched tighter. She chuckled and said, "Oh, don't give me that look. This isn't as bad as you think! I feel...powerful. It's absolutely amazing! And soon, you'll get to feel this way. There's no way to resist the intoxicating sensation of chaos and sin in the very palm of your hand!" She grabbed the leftover bone and crushed it with seemingly effortless strength.

I frowned and growled, "I'll never give in to that power. Not if I'll end up as wretched as you!"

Demented me smirked and replied, "Honey, you don't get to decide that. He does." I knew who she meant, my blood boiling when thinking about him. She finally put her legs down from the table and leaned over the edge. "Don't be a goody two shoes and refuse this ecstasy. Once the time comes, it will be too good to resist and you'll want it in the split second you have it right in front of you. And you'll feel so good when you do accept it. Just imagine all of the havoc you could cause with a blink of an eye! Kill, kill, kill, right?" She giggled evilly and I seethed. I hissed, "I will kill. I'll kill every Corrupted I see! I'll kill all of the evil I see! And I'll kill Zalgo! One day, I will and when I do this world won't have to suffer any longer! I will not give in. I'm going to win this war. And you can't stop me!"

She grinned again and said, "You'll kill all of the evil you see, huh? Well, good luck with that. You're too focused on saving humanity that you're oblivious to the real evil in front of you. So go on, save your pathetic human race. Just know that as long as they strive, evil will never die." I tensed up at those words. I had a sudden feeling of reluctance but then I scolded myself in my head and kept glaring at my demented self. She was giving me a stern look. I did the same. Her expression didn't stay long and she soon smirked again. "Since you seem to not tolerate me right now, I'll say one last thing." She stood up from her seat and smiled mischievously at me. Then she said...

"Make Daddy proud...!"

She suddenly threw the crushed and powdered bone in my face and I screamed as some got in my eyes. Once I could see again, I looked up to see Demented me on the table right in front of me with a crazed expression. "WAKE UP!!!" She screamed at me and before I could contemplate this, my head jerked up from the table.

I panted and gasped for air as I clawed at the table. I managed to breathe normally and look around. No demented me. It was only another dream. Wait. I fell asleep. But for how long...? I looked out the window and saw bright daylight outside. My heart started palpitating at a disorienting rate and I searched for a clock. I found one above the kitchen entryway and checked the time. I was nearly about to have a heart attack. It's 8:20 in the fucking morning!!!

"No!" I screamed as I ran for the front door, yanked it open and didn't bother to close it as I sprinted out. I ran through the forest, boots stomping through the snow and vision blurry from rushing. Trees whizzed past me as I kept going, navigating my way through the woods. I made it through the tree-line and headed for my school. I sprinted on the sidewalk, rushed through traffic. I nearly got ran over but I jumped up and slid across the hood of the car. I kept going as cars honked at me and bumped other cars. After a while I saw my school up ahead and willed myself to get a burst of speed. Déjà vu struck me and I noticed that this moment was what I saw. I ignored the feeling and kept running. I jumped over the front gate and rolled on the ground as I landed before getting back on my feet and pushing on.

I burst through the front doors of my old school and rushed through the halls to the main office. I need to inform the principal that the entire campus is in danger. Hopefully he believes me and gets everyone out before nine. I was in a hurry so I actually forgot where the office was. "Shit!" I breathed under my breath as I came to an intersection of the halls. Everyone was in class right now so the halls were empty. But not as empty as I thought. I felt a hand land on my shoulder and I swerved around to see a student. "Can I help you?" he asked me. I huffed and nodded. He was a hall monitor. He has to help me. God, my head is spinning.

"Okay, I'll take you to see the principal," he said and started escorting me, holding onto my shoulder as we walked. I was mentally begging him to go faster. "What time is it?" I asked him.

"Eight forty-two," he answered. Shit. Hurry up. I bit my lip and started shaking out of anxiety. As he escorted me, it dawned on me. How did he know I needed to see the principal? We walked past a trophy cabinet and I glanced at our reflections. My eyes went wide as I saw the hall monitor's mouth was wide and jagged. It quickly shifted to a normal mouth and I kept walking forward. "Hey," I spoke up, "what time is it now?"

"Eight forty-four," he answered me. I nodded and muttered, "So then I should have enough time to kill you." His grip on my shoulder got tighter and I spun around to strike him, or it, across the face. The hall monitor's head jerked to the side and I jumped back to get space between us. He turned around and held his face as he winced in pain. Then his wincing turned into seething and then growling and when he turned around his face wasn't human. Nearly half of it was black and bony, thin skin smothered on black ooze. Half of its mouth was wide and jagged and sharp teeth dripped with saliva. Wide, red eyes glared at me with a lust to kill. It's another human Corrupted.

I scowled and watched as it ripped off the other half of the once human face and screeched at me. It charged at me, mouth wide and ready to maul. I dodged to the left and kicked its back. It jerked forward and spun around to attack again. It raised up a hand to strike me with its now elongated claws and I blocked the attack. The claws ripped open my sleeves but didn't get through my armor. I sneered and punched it across the face.

The Corrupted jerked to the side and then suddenly tackled me into a few lockers. Sharp teeth clamped down on my shoulder and scratched the armor. It shook its head viciously, trying to tear through my suit. I growled in frustration and summoned my bracers. I stabbed it in its side and it quickly retreated away from me. Black blood smothered my hand but I didn't care. I ejected my right spear heads and they caught the Corrupted in the chest. They didn't go deep enough to the heart since it wasn't withering away by now. Dammit.

I started pulling the monster towards me though it resisted my force. I quickly ejected my left spear heads and whipped them at the Corrupted. They wrapped around its neck and I yanked on the wires. The head was sliced off and it fell to the floor with a smack. The body stopped abruptly and then fell to the floor, still. My spear heads retracted and I huffed. It's not over though. And right one cue, the body twitched and crawled towards the decapitated head, a trail of black blood covering the tiled floor.

It grabbed its own head and black strings of ooze connected the neck to the head. I glared at the repulsive regeneration and waited for it to attack again. Once it was whole again, the Corrupted got up and snarled at me. It hissed and growled like a wild animal. We circled around in the hall, anticipating each other's moves. To intimidate me, it dragged its nails slowly across the lockers then quickly tore through them as it pulled its arm away from them. I only stared at it. We both suddenly stopped and waited. Then, at the same time, we ran at each other. The Corrupted screeched as it came closer to me and I was preparing to use a spell. But, before I could, it spit out black liquid and it splattered on me. It started burning through my regular clothes and nearly through my armor. Bits of clothing hung from my body but I didn't care for it.

As I was distracted with the acidic black liquid, the Corrupted came up and smacked me into the lockers. A loud bang erupted through the halls and I suddenly wondered why no one is coming out to inspect the noises. But then again, I'm glad no one is here. I can't have any casualties. I slumped to the floor and got up, my head spinning from the impact. I turned to see the lockers and most of the ones I hit were caved in and dented. I turned back around only to get a face full of fist. I fell across the floor and the Corrupted got on top of me. It hissed in my face, sharp teeth and dripping saliva covering my vision. I started punching it off of me. I managed to stab it in the chest and it wailed from the hit.

I finally threw it off of me and it lay on the floor, twitching. I probably only nicked the heart. I frowned and started walking towards it to finish it off when it spit out more black acid and it caught me in the face. My shrilled screaming echoed through the halls and I stumbled around, blind. The liquid burned me, and a sharp pain reached my bones. I ran into lockers, lost my balance and fell over but I kept getting back up, tripped over my own shaking feet. Soon my vision came back and I wheezed from the painful subsiding sensation. My vision was blurry and I could barely stand up. I looked around and saw a janitors' closet. I quickly got up, opened it and ran in as I closed it behind me. I leaned against the shelves of cleaning chemicals and tools and rested my vision.

The black acid was gone though I don't know how. I felt at my face and didn't feel any burnt flesh or blood. I was okay. But how? The halls were quiet as I listened for anything. After a few moments I finally heard footsteps and low growling. I froze and backed up against another set of shelves as I realized the Corrupted was searching for me. And I think it knows where I am. I felt something poke my back and I turned to see a broom stick. I grabbed it and held it out. The closet is too tiny to fight my way out. If I can push the monster out with it when it finds me, then I can run out and fight it out in wider space. I waited as the footsteps and growling grew louder as the Corrupted neared the closet.

Then, the noises abruptly stopped and I faltered my grip on the broom. Why did it stop? The silence rang in my ears and I tightened my grip on the broom, my knuckles turning white from the pressure. The silence went on and I thought maybe the monster left. Though I know I couldn't be that stupid as to think that it did.

The door suddenly opened and it was thrown off of its hinges as the Corrupted came charging in. I screamed and shoved the broom stick into it as I rammed my way out of the closet. I got out and slammed it into the lockers. I used the broom stick to hit it across the face but the Corrupted caught the brush end and bit it off. I should thank it. The stick will be easier to use. I twirled it around as I kept hitting the monster in front of me. I struck the head, legs, arms, torso and anywhere else that I can disorient it at. I hit it across the head and it fell to the floor, on its stomach.

I straddled it's back and placed the stick between it's mouth. I started pulling up, forcing the mouth to open. I kept pulling and the Corrupted screeched from the pressure. I heard cracking and tearing as I kept pulling and pulling, the jaw unhinging and gaping wider than it can. With one last pull, the upper jaw disconnected from the lower jaw and tore off, taking most of the head along with it. The Corrupted screeched and gurgled as mostly everything was dangling in pieces. I took this time to finally end this horrid creature. I stood up and raised up the jagged end of the broom stick that the Corrupted bit and stabbed it through the back, puncturing through the black flesh and hitting the floor on the other side.

The Corrupted screeched one last time, before the flesh started to wither and the bone crumbled into nothing but sizzling black blood and dust. I panted from the adrenaline and exhaustion and let the stick clamber to the floor. I leaned up against some lockers and rested. But my rest disappeared as I remembered that I came here for another reason. I quickly started running through the halls and to the principal's office. The panic finally made me remember the way and I kept going. I ran past a digital clock mounted on the wall and saw the time. My heart dropped.

9:10

I stopped running and stared at the red numbers. I'm...I'm too late. It's already past nine o'clock. But, nothing happened. Nothing happened. Nothing. Happened.

Darren was wrong. I was wrong. The end isn't coming. Zalgo won't arrive! I won't have to fight him! This was just a false alarm! Haha! I was paranoid over nothing! My god! Haha, there's not to worry about! Everything's going to be okay-!

A loud noise came from the intercoms, like a microphone being turned on and tested. A full minute of silence came from the com as it stayed on. Then...

"Attention students. We interrupt your ongoing classes to announce the information of an upcoming event," a voice stated. But it wasn't the principal's voice. It was deeper and more...chilling. "This is mandatory, so listen well. Elizabeth, you may want to listen closely too." I froze and paid attention to the voice. "Now, for those wondering why the principal is not speaking its because he's a little...ill right now. But don't worry about him. Onto the announcement. Boys and girls, listen in and listen well. This is not a joke. This is not a mere fire drill. You all are in grave danger and...you won't survive."

Who the hell is this? What are they saying?!

"Elizabeth," the voice sang, "My dear Elizabeth! If you want to put one bit of hope in the hearts of the students here then go ahead and fight for them. Their lives are in your hands. So come and let's chat."

Why does he...? No...it's...it's him?!

"Students! Your savior is Elizabeth Umber! Isn't that an absurd thing? She won't save you at all. You all are going to die! And Elizabeth will never be there to rescue you. Your home, your loved ones, your reality will be no more. The event is drawing near. Your world will finally suffer and be mine. I suggest you start running... And Elizabeth?"

I looked up at the intercom.

"Make Daddy proud," he said and I shivered at those words again. "Let the main event start in three! Two! ONE!!!"

The intercom shut off and it seemed that the whole world went silent. Absolutely no noise. The calm before the storm. I looked at the clock and saw the time. But the numbers quickly disappeared as the power in the clock ran out. I frowned out of confusion and suddenly a loud bang erupted like thunder. The floor shook under my feet and I was thrown up slightly from the force. I stumbled against the lockers and stayed still. What just happened?

His voice came back and echoed through the halls...but he wasn't using the intercom.

"Run," he said. Muffled screams started erupting and classroom doors burst open. Kids ran out and through the blur of bodies I saw Corrupted too. I panicked and attacked the Corrupted. I stabbed them in the hearts and they withered. One by one. But sometimes I'd be too late and a Corrupted would murder a student brutally. I witnessed as a senior got his neck snapped and head eaten. I witnessed as a young freshman girl was being eaten alive and crying. I witnessed as a teacher shielded a student from a Corrupted, only to have both of their limbs torn from their own sockets. Crying, screaming and Corrupted howls filled my ears and I knew that I was truly wrong.

The beginning of damnation has arrived.