Bloody Curfew

Atsuo was laying in bed, struggling to fall asleep. He knew he had to, but his brain didn’t let him. Everything that happened hitherto, was swirling around in his head.

He was conscious of everything, while not thinking about anything at the same time. The state rendered him completely awake and irritated.

He got up and went outside of his room, hoping a little physical exercise and fresh air would get him relaxed and in the right condition to finally rest.

Before beginning his walk, he pressed his ear against Lord Kaiser’s room. Inside he heard loud snoring.

‘At least he is getting some sleep’ Atsuo thought to himself.

He went down the Minae hall, contemplating where he should go, and whether Drezore has a curfew.

He was about to go down the stairs, when something changed his mind.

He saw a dark figure standing near the bottom. He couldn’t see what it was very well, so he squinted his eyes.

No matter how hard he tried, he still couldn’t see what it was. It appeared that whatever was down there was wearing a cloak.

Abruptly, the thing moved up to the foot of the stairs, which was illuminated by the starry night.

Standing at the top, Atsuo saw some shining silver behind the thing’s hip. It took the first few steps up to the dorm, lightly swaying its arms as it ascended. What came into view during those waddles was a cleaver lit up by the moonlight.

Atsuo gulped in fear from the sudden realization.

He darted back to his own room, but upon reaching it, he had a horrible thought.

‘What if it tried killing other students?’

He turned around to face it, but didn’t see anything there.

He waited a couple of minutes for reassurance, before going to check the staircase again.

Atsuo thought he shouldn’t creep up along the wall leading up to the corner in case the thing was waiting for him there. Therefore, he hugged the opposite wall when walking down the hallway, always keeping the farthest possible distance.

As he was nearing the corner, his heartbeat was increasing exponentially. He was peeking the corner from a running position, though for naught.

The thing was no longer there.

He moved near the stairs, finding it near the bottom of the stairs again.

‘What is going on?’ he thought to himself.

Suddenly, he heard a creak behind himself, causing him to flinch. He saw another student staring at him.

“Can’t sleep?” the stranger asked.

“No–”

“Neither can I…” the stranger cut him off, “The thought of the competition really gets your blood going, huh?”

“Yeah…” Atsuo said nervously, glancing at the thing that was coming closer as it climbed the staircase.

“What’s wrong?” the guy asked.

He looked past Atsuo and suddenly burst out laughing.

“Ah… creepy huh?” he said, leaning on his knees.

Atsuo stared at him, perplexed at his calmness and what appeared as ‘familiarity’ with whatever was closing in.

“I was the same as you a few days ago,” he said, “couldn’t sleep, went out to roam a little, and stumbled across one of these.”

“Don’t worry they’re harmless,” the guy said, looking at Atsuo’s concerned expression, “the school calls them ‘Curfew Maintainers’.”

“Well, not much to explain,” he shrugged, “you just have to stay out of sight at night. You can go around the dorm, bathroom and whatever, but if it sees you near the stairs it will forcibly escort you back.”

“Aren’t we standing a little to close?” Atsuo asked uneasily, looking at the puppet.

“Nah. It doesn’t go past the last step, I checked” the stranger reassured.

“What if there’s a malfunction?” Atsuo voiced his concern.

“Just watch” the guy said, motioning to the stairs with his head.

They watched the robot ascend the stairs, go past the last step, and head towards them.

Again, Atsuo’s words came to fruition.

“I like how he stopped there,” Atsuo said, poking at the guy.

“THAT’S NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE” the stranger said sheepishly, starting to run alongside Atsuo.

They sprinted down the hallway, while the robot was following them at a slow pace.

“Oh… shit…” the guy said, abruptly stopping.

“What’s wrong?” Atsuo asked, slowing down.

“There’s a dead end around that corner” he said, pointing ahead of them.

“WHAT?” Atsuo asked coming to a halt.

“I should’ve asked before, but… where is your room?” the guy asked uneasily.

“Guess” Atsuo said with wide-open eyes and a deadpan expression.

The stranger glanced at the robot, sighing.

“Uhh…” he uttered tilting his head in all directions.

There was nowhere to go except in one of the rooms or past the rogue robot.

Atsuo was looking down the hall and saw something peculiar.

“Say, do you know what’s behind that door?” he asked.

“Huh?” the guy uttered, turning around, “That one? No, why?”

“It doesn’t have a number on it” Atsuo replied.

The stranger’s face lit up with hope.

“Can you go check whether anyone’s inside?” he asked, “I’ll bust it open, if not.”

Atsuo nodded and ran up to the door, while the stranger remained at a distance, preparing to force it open.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

“HELLOOOO, ANYONE IN THERE?” Atsuo asked, knocking loudly.

No one answered. Atsuo quickly knocked again, whilst glancing at the robot.

Still nothing.

He put up his thumb, motioning to the stranger that he is good to go and moved aside.

The guy started accelerating and jumped into a double side kick, busting the door wide open.

“WHAT THE **** ARE YOU DOING?!” said a girl hysterically.

Atsuo and the guy went inside, finding a girl sitting up in her bed, petrified.

“We asked if there was anyone inside, why didn’t you answer?” Atsuo asked.

“I thought you’d LEAVE, not BREAK IN” she said, infuriated.

“I’m calling the guards…” she said reaching for the phone.

“NO. PLEASE…” Atsuo begged, “there’s a Curfew Maintainer on the loose.”

“Huh?” the girl turned to him, “those things don’t–”

She quickly went silent at the sight of the robot behind them. She jumped off the bed and slammed the door closed, which now couldn’t be locked.

“What are you two doing?!” she exclaimed, “Help me!”

They pushed all of their weight on the door, while the Maintainer hacked away at the wood with its cleaver.

“Why is it here? What did you do?” she asked frantically.

“Nothing… it… malfunctioned?” Atsuo said, looking at the guy.

“Yeah… it should’ve stopped at the top of the staircase” he said.

“Should’ve?!” the girl yelled, “You were looking down on it?!”

“WHAT? NO…” the guy said, unable to believe what he’s hearing, “I was just showing newbie here how it functions.”

“And then you provoked it…” the girl nodded.

“W–”

“Hold the door,” she instructed, “unless we call for help, it won’t stop until it kills us.”

She went over to her nightstand and rang up the front desk for assistance.

She let them know that there is a Curfew Maintainer trying to carve its way inside the room, and that Atsuo and the guy broke down her door.

“Thank you,” she said hanging up the phone.

“You just had to mention that…” the guy said.

She glared at him with such ferocity, Atsuo thought she might kill him first before the robot gets to them.

“If not for you, I’d be long asleep getting some proper rest before the competition” she hissed.

Atsuo felt bad for involving her in this incident.

“Not like you were going to win… not with that temper” the guy said, adding fuel to the fire.

“YOU BAST–”

Sudden footsteps sounded across the hallway, interrupting the girl’s wrath. If not for them, she’d have long pounced on the master of provocation.

The robot stopped its rampage and shut off upon someone’s command.

The three opened the door, looking outside. There were two people, a man and a woman who carried a lantern.

“Were you the ones calling for help?” the man asked.

“Yes–”

“Okay, you two come with me,” the man said to Atsuo and the other guy, “As for you, young lady, she will take you to your new room.”

The woman nodded and waited for the girl to gather her belongings.

Meanwhile the mysterious man escorted Atsuo and the stranger downstairs.

They went down, all the way to the first floor, and entered a faculty office that was the only room with lights still on.

“Alright you two, sit tight here, I’ll be right back” he said motioning for them to take a seat, then heading out of the room.

“Sir, wait!” the stranger halted him, “We need to sleep before the compe–”

“I’ll give it to you straight,” the man said sternly facing them, “as it stands, there is no competition for you.”