Hikari's footsteps echoed through the desolate halls of the school as she ventured further into its murky depths. The air felt oppressive, thick with the weight of stagnation. It clung to her skin like a suffocating blanket, heavy with the sharp, musty scent of old dust and the faint stench of mildew. But there was something else too, something far more unsettling—a sickly-sweet fragrance, almost floral, yet putrid. It hung in the air like a rotting bouquet, as if the building itself were decaying from the inside out.
Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, their dull, flickering glow casting long, warped shadows that seemed to stretch and writhe as though alive. Each flicker made the world feel unstable, as if the very fabric of reality was fraying at the edges. Every corner of the hallway appeared to shift slightly when she wasn't looking directly at it, as if the place itself resented her presence.
"God, can this place get any creepier? Is this really what exorcists deal with on the regular?" Hikari muttered to herself, a sense of unease creeping up her spine. She wrapped her arms around herself, the hairs on her neck standing on end as her footsteps quickened.
But as she continued down the corridor, something caught the corner of her eye. A flicker of movement—two small figures, barely visible in the dim light, standing at the edge of her vision. She snapped her head toward them, her heart leaping into her throat.
What she expected were two innocent children, perhaps lost or out of place in this forsaken building. But what she saw was anything but innocent.
Two emaciated, humanoid figures stood before her, their bodies unnaturally thin, almost skeletal. They were draped in tattered remnants of school uniforms, the fabric hanging off them like discarded rags. Their faces were smooth and featureless, void of eyes, noses, or ears. Only their mouths remained—gaping, hollow cavities of darkness that seemed to stretch wider than any human mouth should. The grotesque emptiness of their faces sent a wave of nausea surging through her, though she forced herself to look at them, unwilling to show fear.
Their movements were jerky, disjointed—like puppets being manipulated by invisible strings, each twitch a sign of their unnatural existence. They flickered, shifting between states, their forms phasing in and out of reality itself, as though they were not entirely anchored to the world around them. One moment, they were solid, their ragged clothing hanging in place; the next, they seemed to blur, like static on a broken television screen.
The hairs on Hikari's arms stood on end as one of the figures slowly turned its head toward her, its mouth stretching unnaturally wide as it spoke, its voice low and distorted, mimicking a child's tone with unnerving precision.
"Ha…ve…yo…seen…A…man…da…?"
The words echoed in her mind long after they left its grotesque mouth. Hikari's stomach churned. She had faced undead horrors before, countless times—monsters born of shadow and death, twisted abominations that crawled from the depths of forgotten curses. But never, never had one of them spoken to her like this, with the chilling cadence of human speech.
Her skin prickled as a cold shiver crawled up her spine. She had always known that the world she inhabited was far darker than she could ever have imagined. But this… this was something new. Something wrong in a way that even her hardened instincts couldn't fully comprehend.
Her hand instinctively went up towards them, glowing with cyan psychic energy. but she didn't move yet. She couldn't tear her gaze away from the figures, the air around her thick with tension. Something about them—something in the way they flickered in and out of existence—told her they weren't just undead.
Hikari: "Sorry, but you're just going to have to get out of my way. I'm here to save someone!"
With a fierce resolve, Hikari raised both hands high above her head. The air around her seemed to hum with raw energy as she harnessed her telekinesis, her focus sharpening like a blade. She summoned two enormous chunks of earth from the floor, the ground groaning beneath her feet as massive stones rose into the air. The weight of them seemed to distort the very air, a pressure that made the walls vibrate in protest.
Without hesitation, she thrust her hands forward, sending the earth hurtling toward the twisted figures. The creatures, their movements jerky and unnatural, didn't have the time to react. The boulders crashed down upon them with a deafening impact, the sound of grinding rock and broken bone filling the hallway. The figures were flattened beneath the force of the earth, crushed into the cold, unforgiving floor like insects beneath a boot.
The air was still for a moment—silent, save for the faint echo of the stones settling.
Hikari didn't pause. She didn't have time.
She willed herself into the air, her telekinesis lifting her effortlessly off the ground. The world below her seemed to stretch, the walls of the hallway narrowing as she shot forward, her mind focused entirely on finding Amanda. She zoomed through the school like a streak of light, her body gliding effortlessly through classrooms, offices, and lunchrooms, each door and hallway passing in a blur. Her eyes scanned every corner, every shadow, but she couldn't find her.
The silence in her head grew louder, her frustration mounting with every passing second.
Hikari: "Jeez, where is she…"
She muttered to herself, her voice tinged with growing desperation. She scanned the hallway ahead, her mind racing to process any clue, any sign that would lead her to Amanda. Then, without warning, the world around her shattered.
A brutal punch slammed into her side, sending her spiraling backward through the air. The force of it was unlike anything she had ever felt. It knocked the wind from her lungs and tore her from the sky like a ragdoll. She crashed into the floor, her body skidding along the cold tiles, leaving a trail of dust in her wake.
Gasping for breath, Hikari struggled to lift herself from the ground, her vision blurring as she blinked away the disorientation.
She looked up, her eyes narrowing, her pulse racing.
Before her stood an abomination—an immense, grotesque figure bound in thick, rusted chains that clinked and groaned with every movement. Its hulking form was made from shattered desks, broken rulers, and scraps of forgotten detention slips, all twisted together into an abomination of jagged metal and splintered wood. The creature's form was a grotesque collage of misused materials, a patchwork of discarded remnants brought to life in a nightmarish fusion.
Its heads—yes, heads—were locked inside rusted iron cages, the bars bent and warped. From within the cages, muffled screams echoed, distorted and shrill, as though the creature itself were a vessel of tortured souls. The sounds sent a chill crawling up Hikari's spine. There was no humanity left in this thing—just raw, twisted malice.
Hikari: "The fuck—"
Before she could process what she was seeing, the creature raised one of its monstrous arms, its fist clenched tightly. The chains rattled violently as it swung its arm down with terrifying force. The fist collided with the ground, and the impact sent a shockwave rippling through the floor, an explosion of raw energy that kicked up debris in every direction. Chunks of broken desks, rusted nails, and shards of glass shot toward Hikari like a hailstorm of jagged projectiles.
Hikari's heart raced, adrenaline flooding her system. She barely had time to react as the flying debris closed in on her, the air crackling with the force of the creature's fury. She gritted her teeth and raised a shield of telekinetic energy around her, but the sheer velocity of the debris made her struggle to keep it intact. The force of the attack was more than just physical—it was a tangible, oppressive weight that threatened to crush her beneath its intensity.
As the debris rained down upon her, Hikari's mind scrambled for an answer, her body aching from the impact, but then—snap. Something inside her mind broke free. Her heart pounded like a war drum, each beat shaking her to the core. The adrenaline flooded her system, and for a moment, everything slowed.
The moment the first shard of glass hit her shield, she felt it—the change. The world warped around her, the raw surge of power flowing through her like a river breaking its dam. Her pupils widened, her cyan eyes flickering with an unnatural intensity. The air itself seemed to hum, the pressure in her chest rising, suffocating and invigorating all at once.
Her muscles, already tense from the battle, felt like they were no longer bound by human limits. She could feel every fiber in her body unlocking, the veins in her neck throbbing with surging energy. Every breath she took became a force of nature—calculated, controlled, and utterly destructive.
The creature's fist came crashing down again, the shockwave of its impact thundering through the room, but Hikari didn't flinch. She didn't need to. She could see it. Time slowed, the air around her crackling as her psionic energy flared to life.
With a motion that seemed almost too fluid to be human, Hikari threw her hand out, her palm wide. The debris halted mid-air, suspended in the crushing gravity of her mind. Her telekinetic shield snapped into place, a force of psionic energy that distorted reality itself, bending the very fabric of the world around her. A violent pulse of psychic power shot out from her like a shockwave, and in that instant, every shard of glass, every broken piece of furniture, and every twisted fragment of the abomination's chains was ripped apart—disintegrating into nothingness.
The creature's fist stopped inches from her face. She could feel the heat of it, the force of its rage, but it didn't matter. She was faster, sharper, and stronger now.
"This is what I'm made of."
Her voice, calm and cold, rang out in the chaos, almost a whisper in the storm. And with that, she unleashed herself.
With a burst of speed that defied all logic, she was gone. In a blink, she reappeared in front of the abomination, her fist already swinging with the precision of a hurricane. The impact was thunderous, the sound of her punch cracking through the creature's metal-laden body like a sledgehammer to stone. The creature's massive form jerked backward, its grotesque body shuddering as parts of it exploded outward. The chains rattled violently as the creature staggered, unbalanced, before it collapsed to its knees with a deafening roar.
Hikari stood amidst the devastation, her body humming with the aftershocks of her power. Every breath was heavier now, every muscle aching as the weight of the adrenaline boost slowly began to take its toll. But she didn't care. Not yet. Her eyes burned with a dangerous, unrelenting fire.
"Come on. Show me more."
The creature groaned, dragging itself upright, but Hikari didn't wait. She lunged again, every strike a testament to the brutal power coursing through her veins. The storm inside her was uncontainable now. Her mind raced with possibilities, each punch more calculated, more vicious than the last. She was untouchable.
△▼△▼△▼△
Lila stepped through the school's warped entrance, the door creaking in protest as she shoved it open. A gust of stale air hit her like a physical wall, thick with the scent of mildew, dust, and something that felt unsettlingly sweet—like the decay of forgotten flowers left to rot in the dark corners of a long-abandoned garden. The school before her was an eerie, decaying monument to something long past. The walls, once bright and alive with the chatter of students, now stood silently, heavy with the weight of time and neglect. The ceilings groaned under the strain of age, with exposed beams sagging ominously, their dark wood slick with patches of rust, as though the very bones of the school were bleeding out into the air.
Lila's footsteps echoed on the cracked tiles beneath her, the sound distorted by the low hum of fluorescent lights that flickered intermittently above. They cast long, warped shadows, their lights wavering like the faintest whispers of an ancient curse. Some of the lockers along the hall were rusted shut, their metal doors swollen and leaking dark, viscous tar onto the floor, pooling like ink stains in the corners. The air felt thick, as if the very atmosphere was soaked in the sorrow of the place, and even though the school was abandoned, there was an undeniable presence here—something waiting, watching.
She exhaled a breath that almost tasted like mold, pushing the door behind her closed with a soft thud. "Jeez, this place really gives off witchy vibes…" Lila muttered, crinkling her nose as she looked around the forsaken halls, her eyes flitting from one broken corner to another. "I don't think I'll ever get used to the vibe of this creepy-ass school."
She didn't hesitate, though—this mission had to be completed. The sooner she was out of this forsaken place, the better. As her thoughts flicked back to the mission, she smiled wide, her eyes glinting with a flicker of mischief. Time to move.
Lila's energy surged as she tapped into her aura, the raw power of it rippling through her limbs. She didn't need to use psychic abilities for this—she was always better at enhancing her physical abilities through pure aura manipulation. The world seemed to blur as her speed increased, her every movement sharp and precise, like the graceful dart of a predator in pursuit. It was her preferred method—quick, fluid, and oh-so-satisfying.
"I'm definitely not the best esper around, but hey, I'm not the worst either. Let's do this." She grinned to herself as she dashed forward, her footsteps almost silent, the echo of her fast-moving form melding with the school's distant groans.
The walls seemed to lean in, the building itself reacting to her heightened presence, and Lila felt the familiar rush of adrenaline coursing through her veins. She moved faster, faster, until her surroundings blurred into nothing more than an indistinct haze of dull hues. Her feet pounded the cracked tiles, her body a blur of pink and motion—until, with a sudden BOOM, she slammed into something hard, sending both herself and whatever it was sprawling onto the ground.
Lila let out a frustrated groan as she lay there for a moment, momentarily disoriented by the impact. "Ah, shit. Guess I got a bit too fast…" She pushed herself up, brushing dust and debris off her clothes.
"Lila? Is that you?" a voice called out, lighthearted and familiar.
Lila blinked in surprise, then let out a relieved laugh as she looked up. "Hikari? What the hell are you doing flying around like that?" She stood up, brushing her frilly skirt off with a quick flick of her hands. "I thought you were supposed to wait for me before causing a ruckus."
From the mess of rubble and debris that had been sent flying by her impact, Hikari emerged with a chuckle, a rueful grin tugging at the corners of her lips. "My bad," she said, raising both hands in mock surrender. "I tend to get a bit…excited sometimes."
Lila smirked, shaking her head at her companion's antics. "Always the thrill-seeker." She glanced around at their surroundings, a little dismayed at how much more distorted the school looked in the wake of their brief confrontation. "Whatever. Let's just finish this, alright? We're here to deal with Amanda, not chase our own tails."
Hikari grinned, her cyan eyes glinting with an unspoken excitement. "Right. Let's wrap this up."
Lila gave a short, sharp nod, the vibrant energy still pulsing beneath her skin, waiting to be unleashed. Her mind flickered to the mission ahead—Amanda, the twisted, grieving child they were here to find. A power like no other, wrapped up in a mind teetering on the brink of destruction.
"Alright then," Lila said, determination settling into her voice, the exuberance of her earlier tone shifting to something sharper, more focused. "Let's go save a soul, shall we?" She winked at Hikari before darting forward, ready to face whatever came next.
Hikari, following close behind, let out a playful hum. "Of course. You've never been one to shy away from a challenge."
"Not really my style," Lila grinned over her shoulder. "Now, enough with the small talk. I'm ready to get this over with."
Together, they vanished into the eerie depths of the school, their energy blending seamlessly with the shadows, their mission clear. The abandoned halls, drenched in the suffocating remnants of a world gone wrong, could only wait as the storm of their presence raged through the halls.
To be continued…