Chapter 13 - Who is this Skeleton?

A night has passed, and after thinking about the place where he could be hiding, I still have no idea where Shade is. But, the morning class wouldn’t wait for me, so I had no choice but to continue my job as a student.

Well, up until now I’m still bothered by the fact he suddenly disappeared without waiting for me. I sighed, taking another step on the stairs.

“Fourth floor really does take too much breath…” I whispered, before taking my final step to reach the fourth floor of the building. “Phew… finally…”

I continued my way to the hallway and arrived at our designated room. I immediately noticed the commotion coming inside. I frowned as I stood in front of the door.

What’s happening? I thought, watching as the whole class was clumping in together in one place, circling about something. Without any much thought, I walked towards the rest of the class and looked over what was keeping them busy.

Then, without any warning—SHADE!? I shouted in my mind, surprised to see him.

WHAT!? With my eyes widened in absolute surprise, I tiptoed, trying to get a good look at the skeleton who was sitting on top of the table.

I took a step back and asked Rain, “What’s this?”

“We actually brought that skeleton in here yesterday.” she whispered.

“Really?” I whispered back. “Where did you find this?”

“We found it behind the wall.” she said, nudging Kai beside her. “Right?”

I turned my head to Kai.

So these two were the reason why Shade has gone missing. I wonder how they managed to bring him over here.

Kai nodded once and approached me. “We thought it would be a fun prank…” he said, looking at the skeleton. “But, we think it’s not a normal skeleton…” he continued.

I raised an eyebrow and whispered, “What do you mean?”

“Well…” he paused and looked at me, “Do you think these skeletons can bend their knees?” he whispered back.

“You mean they aren’t supposed to?” I asked back.

“If we aren’t wrong…” he said, taking a glance at Rain. “They shouldn’t be able to do that.”

Rain nodded in response, agreeing with him. “You knew about the skeleton in the room right?”

“The room?” I muttered as I pondered about it, remembering about the skeleton together with a lot of abandoned chairs. “Ah, that one along with the chairs?”

“Yeah, that one.” she said, nodding weakly. “We actually thought that the skeleton in that room and this skeleton that we brought in is the same. But, we are wrong about it.” she continued.

She’s not wrong. But, I know for sure that Shade is a lot different compared to the skeleton we use for learning the skeletal system.

“So they are not the same?” I asked.

“Well…” she paused and looked at the rest of the class. “We actually went inside the room and looked for the skeleton in it. Then, we were mistaken, it was not actually the same skeleton.”

“Compared to this skeleton, the skeleton in the abandoned room looked fake. It was much more light, and overall looked different compared to this skeleton.” Kai joined, looking at the skeleton. “Not sure about it, but I’m not sure if it was a good idea we brought it here.”

I turned my head to Shade.

I wasn’t able to compare it, but surely enough, a real skeleton looked different from the skeleton we used for the science class. And I haven’t tried lifting him, so I’m not sure if he was heavy or not.

“So what are you going to do with this skeleton?” I asked, trying to keep my voice as low.

“I was the one who decided to bring it here as a prank.” Rain chuckled awkwardly before sighing. “We might need to bring it back there.”

“Hm…” I muttered, thinking about what we should do about Shade.

I turned my head at him. I wonder if he realized I was here near him. But, he said I looked like a fire, does that work the same for others? I have no idea. I need to bring him back if I want to ask that question.

“If you don’t mind, I’m volunteering to bring him back behind the wall.” I suggested.

“Really?” Rain exclaimed, her face is close to mine.

“Sure. I’m kind of interested in the skeleton.” I said.

“Interested?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “You’re interested in it?”

“Kind of. I wanted to see it for myself If how it really differs compared to the skeleton from the abandoned room.” I explained, trying to make myself less weird.

I hope it worked. I hoped in my mind, looking at the two who were looking confused.

“I think it’s fine…” she muttered. “But, I think I’m going with you. It’s my fault, after all, I was the one who suggested Kai bring it here.” she continued.

“Then it’s my fault too.” Kai added.

I smiled and suggested, “Then, let’s bring it back after school.”

The two nodded in response before thanking me, “Thanks, Mara.” Rain said, smiling at me. “I hope we don’t get cursed or something.” she added.

I laughed softly. “I wonder about that.”

━━━►◄━━━

Finally. I said as the rest of the class now has gone back to their seats. I looked at their backs, all looking like a floating fire, but there was one that differed from the rest of the class.

It’s Amara for sure, no doubt about it. I thought to myself because it was the only fire with a different color, an orange color. I was not sure whether her fire looked like it the first, time but I am sure it looked red rather than an orange one.

I sat on top of the cabinet, watching the class as they went on to discuss some things about mathematics that I wasn’t able to understand. I died and was never able to learn the rest of the mathematics subject.

Time went on, and the class continued until the afternoon bell chimed. Some students went outside immediately to get their lunch, some stayed in their seats to eat snacks, and some came over and approached me. Then after a few floating fires approached me, the orange fire finally floated towards me.

This is Amara, right? I thought to myself as the orange fire stood in front of me. Then suddenly, I felt warmth on top of my head.

“Don’t worry Shade, we’ll get you out here.” she whispered.