Chapter 7.1

"₩ⱧɆⱤɆ ĐØ ɎØɄ ₮Ⱨł₦₭ ɎØɄ'ⱤɆ ₲Øł₦₲?"

Hearing that raspy tone, Lilli immediately froze, and a cold chill ran through her body, causing goosebumps to appear all over her skin.

"P-pardon?"

"₩ⱧɆⱤɆ. ₳ⱤɆ. ɎØɄ. ₲Øł₦₲?"

As the principal repeated his question in a deeper tone, it seemed to Lilli as if the sun grew dimmer, the air grew colder, and the shadows grew more intense.

Feeling sweat dripping down her back as her brain began to work overtime, Lilli quickly came up with an acceptable excuse.

"I… no, we decided to take the kids to the public park as a special treat for Outside Play. Yes, that's right! It's Friday, so they get an extra treat. The kids and parents always enjoy it when we do so, so that's what we're doing. Please don't worry, we'll definitely be back before the next schedule." Lilli rushed out the words while holding her breath.

Please! Please let us go!

It seemed that the principal was contemplating her words as he twitched and tilted his head so far to the side that it was almost parallel to his shoulders.

And pretending she didn't see such grotesque movement, Lilli crossed her fingers and hoped for a miracle.

Unfortunately-

"No. No one is allowed to leave until dismissal. You shall utilize the playground here for Outdoor Play." Principal Simon calmly rejected her proposal, pointing to the playground behind her as his head returned to its normal position.

Not willing to give in, Lilli quickly scrambled for another excuse as she glanced around.

She had a feeling that if she made it out of the gate, or if she could get the attention of even one person walking or driving by, they would be able to escape.

"Then, why don't I take the kids for a brief walk to reinforce the walking rules we learned last week? You always talk about the rules, right? I agree and think they should learn! They could look at traffic lights and more before coming back to play in the playground for the remainder of Outdoor Play."

This time, the principal didn't bother thinking and rejected her immediately.

"No. No one is allowed to leave until dismissal. You shall utilize the playground here for Outdoor Play. I recommend heading to the playground immediately. Otherwise, you'll be late. Are you planning on being late and breaking the rules?" The principal repeated the words before glancing down at his watch.

The blatant threat was obvious, and Lilli immediately abandoned her argument.

"No-no, sir! We'll head to the playground right away! Let's go, Mal."

She was unsure of how much time remained and unwilling to risk her and the kids' safety, so Lilli temporarily gave up and agreed to go to the playground.

Once the principal was gone, she would try to hop the fence and call somebody to come help them.

Mallory glanced between Lilli and the strange principal, trying to understand what was going on before glaring at the principal challengingly.

He didn't understand why Lilli was being so weak-willed toward this frail old man who was acting like he was a member of the circus freak show.

If the principal was the one responsible for what had been going on, compared to those weird shadow things in the hallway, Mallory was confident that he and Lilli could both take him down.

As a matter of fact, even if Lilli was too afraid to help, he could do it alone.

No matter how he tilted his head, one strong push and the principal would be out of commission with a broken hip.

"We're not going anywhere. I'm going to go get something from my car, and then Lilli and I are taking the kids for a walk."

No, no, no!

Lilli is doing no such thing!

Please leave Lilli out of this!

Lilli wanted to scream at Mallory.

Instead, she just began creeping backwards with the kids toward the playground while calling out to him.

"Mallory, enough. Let's go."

"No!"

"₦Ø." Principal Simon echoed, finally turning to look at Mallory the moment Lilli ushered the children into the fenced playground.

The moment the playground gate shut, the air flickered with a strange shadow, and the ground, apart from the sidewalk, turned a murky black that was reminiscent of the hallway.

"₦Ø." The principal repeated as he took a step forward.

"I'm leaving. And you can't stop me."

As Mallory charged toward the gate, Lilli screamed.

"Mallory! Stop it! Remember the hallway! The TV!"

Immediately freezing, Mallory stopped before touching the gate as he recalled what had just happened.

Justina, the shadows, the fallen children. The television.

He had forgotten what had happened on the television.

His stomach heaved as fear filled his body, and he quickly backed away from the gate.

Glancing at the principal who was looking at him with that strange, polite smile, Mallory swallowed his words and quickly walked to the playground, locking the gate behind him.

Seeing the children playing happily, their cheerful laughter filling the air, Mallory wanted to shout, scream, and throw things.

He wanted to run away! He wanted to hop the fence!

But each time he got near the playground gate, the principal would randomly appear in the distance.

He wouldn't do anything; he would just stand there, watching him with that same polite smile.

And he would only disappear when Mallory backed off.

Completely creeped out and frustrated, Mallory stomped over to Lilli, who was squatting behind the slide, fiddling with her phone, and yanked her arm.

Hard.

Since she knew so much, she must have something to do with this!

This was her fault!

He was so close to the gate, and she had stopped him from escaping earlier.

"Why did you stop me?" Mallory hissed.

"Because I didn't want you to die. Now let go!" Lilli forcefully whispered before sending a smile at the children who glanced over at the two of them.

She hoped that Mallory would get the hint and calm down but he still continued raising his voice.

"So you do know what's going on! You're on his side!"

"No I'm not! I have no idea what's going on! But I just know that no matter how weird they are, the rules have to be followed so we survive."

"And how do you know that?" Mallory snarled, unable to understand how Lilli was able to stay so calm and collected when he felt as if his life was falling apart.

At the question, Lilli could only stare blankly.

She didn't know how to begin explaining her childhood, her family, and all the weird rules and regulations that had been hammered into her against her will.

All she knew was that she had a bad feeling, and in this situation, the best way to survive it was to follow the rules.

It had allowed them to survive so far.

And besides, the principal himself had said that nobody was allowed to leave until dismissal. Didn't that mean that as long as everyone survived to dismissal time, they could leave?

Then that was her goal - Make it to dismissal time!

Meeting Mallory's furious eyes, Lilli glared at him in return before yanking her arm away.

"We just need to survive until dismissal time, then I think we can leave. For now, you try calling for help on your phone while I do the same. I don't have service, but maybe you do. Okay? Do that, and stop trying to kill yourself by doing stupid things! Just follow my lead!"

Turning away from him, Lilli continued trying to call for help on her phone.

There was still no service, but she hoped her phone would eventually pick up another cell tower or even a satellite signal.

With her fingers moving faster than they ever had, she continued calling and messaging every single number in her phone book.

The police, emergency health services, even her family members, whom she didn't speak to anymore, she called anybody and everybody.

But nobody picked up.

By the time she reached the end of her phone book, Outdoor Play was almost over, and the last number was the service support number for her cell phone service plan.

'Giving you cell service from one end of the universe to another, guaranteed!' My foot!

You're liars who need to change that fake slogan!

Feeling angry once more at her cell service not working, even though she realized that strange things were happening, Lilli still called them on the off chance they would answer so she could give them a piece of her mind.

Ring ring ring.

Ring ring ring.

The call kept ringing, just like all the others.

And right when Lilli thought it was going to cut off, like all the others-

Click!

The call was picked up.

"State your name and location. How many people are with you, and what are their current statuses? What is the current situation? What are you observing? Do you need aid?"

Hearing the clinically cold voice asking the questions, trying to triage the situation and send help, Lilli almost teared up in relief before quickly collecting herself and answering them.

After all, this might be her only chance to get outside help, even if it was from a cell service support hotline.

Quickly remembering the questions, Lilli organized her thoughts and relayed the answers.

"Hello, this is Lilli Smith. I'm currently trapped at Sunshine Academy, located at XXXX, with 10 young children and another adult. No physical injuries, although 2 are mentally distressed from an incident. Strange things are happening here. We're not allowed to leave and-"

Click!

The line cut off.

Right as Lilli was about to redial the number-

[DING DONG!]