Building 17 Part 3

Building 17 Part 3

I was told that writing about what happened would help me cope.

I wasn't going to write this part. I was just going to write about meeting the Gentry, or the history of spirits, and hope that everyone would forget.

But I have to cope.

And nothing else has helped.

No one will believe me anyways.

He saw to that.

...

Here's what happened.

Prudence offered my blood to the spirit that was holed up in Building 17, and the vines retreated to let us in. Lee Anders wrapped silver cord around my wrist and Prudence's, then put a magical shield that looked like it was thrown together in some dark garage im under an hour over himself.

Lee Anders rushed in. Didn't even wait for me and the Oracle. I thought he wanted this to be over with.

I was stupid to believe that.

When we entered, the halls had been reclaimed by nature. The lights had been destroyed, so everything was only illuminated by glowing motes of spore. Moss covered everything, and the vines has broken inside and trapped the walls and lockers in the world's most uncomfortable death hold. Red flowers bloomed along the lengths of these vines, spewing out the light motes. Lee Anders was nowhere to be seen, but he only had one direction to go.

Building 17 was one of the shorter buildings, so we came across the first body pretty quickly. The vines had wrapped around his throat, and spewing from his mouth was one of the red flowers. I stopped Prudence when she tried to step forward.

"That's Colem. He's....fine." I grimaced. I still wasn't used to seeing his dead body. And I could only imagine him trying to scream, trying to claw away at the vines as they crushed his throat--

I closed my eyes and turned away.

The second body wasn't too far away. We probably would have missed it, were it not for the faint "....help....help me please..."

"By the Ten," Prudence covered her mouth. "She's still alive."

The girl with the pink hair who fixed the internet was being pinned to the wall near the ceiling by her ankles, waist, and wrists. A single shoot speared her thigh, and was budding. The girl sniffed, and tried to reach to us. "Help me...please..."

Prudence drew her knife, but the vines must have...sensed it somehow, because the shoot going through her thigh twisted, drawing a gasp from the girl. Prudence lowered her weapon. "Shit...."

I rolled my sleeve up and removed the bandage. "Help me up."

Prudence dropped her knife and grabbed me by the hips, lifting me towards the girl. I grit my teeth as I shoved my fingers into the cut, then smeared my blood onto the shoot going through her leg. It retreated, and the girl's eyes clenched shut. I started to paint the vines holding her up with more of my blood.

"How did you know that would work?" Prudence asked.

"It got us in here..." I thumbed over the vine holding her waist, and the girl fell to the lockers with a groan.

Prudence cursed and set me down, then uncerimoniously dragged the girl from the lockers into her arms. "She needs help now...." My neighbor looked at me. "Stay here. Don't move until I get back."

I was about to protest, but the girl was limp in the Oracle's arms. So I swallowed my fears, and nodded. Prudence held the girl with pink hair close to her body, and carried her out. Once she passed Colem's body, I couldn't see her anymore.

I waited for her. The light from the spores wasn't enough; I could barely see. And what I could see, I didn't want to. Destruction. Blood. Bodies that we had missed, only visible when the spores wandered into a classroom.

Colem was staring at me.

There was a twig snap. I looked around, wondering where it came from.

Another snap. Closer. I quickly scoop up Prudence's forgotten knife and point it towards our destination. Where Lee Anders had run off to.

Snap.

The principal stepped from the shadows, hands in his pockets. "Mr. Page?" He looked around. "Cautiousness, Wisdom, Judgement....?"

"What?"

"Your neighbor."

"Prudence? She left to help a student."

"Ah." Lee Ander's gaze drifted. He wasn't focusing on me....more like something behind me. I glanced over my shoulder. There was nothing there.

"Follow me, Mr. Page."

I didn't like the finality in his voice. He sounded like a doctor who was telling his patient that nothing could be done anymore.

"I don't want to."

Lee Anders frowned. "Follow me, Mr. Page." There was a sudden weight to his words that pulled me forward, no matter how much I told my legs not to move.

We seemed to walk for an eternity. I held the dagger close to me, and watched Lee Anders's back; when we walked into a patch of darkness, I still felt myself being pulled towards him.

Suddenly, a pinprick of light broke the darkness. I had to squint against it, but I couldn't stop from approaching its source.

I gaped. "Is that....?"

"The Spirit Seed." Lee Anders smiled wickedly. A pale rose that was larger than my body cast its light on us; it hurt to stare, but I couldn't look away. "A single string of the spiritual world pushing its way into the real world to take a form that our minds can comprehend." The principal let his hand hover over the petals, but he didn't touch them. "And soon, it will open and spit out a Spirit proper."

"Shouldn't we....shouldn't we get rid of it?" I readied the dagger. "Before the spirit comes out?"

"After all the trouble I went through to get it here?! No chance!"

"You what!!"

"Spirits raise the vibrations of the Prana field. Having even one nearby lets one accomplish great feats of spellwork!"

"You--you destroyed a building! You killed students and maimed others!"

"These things always have a small measure of risk! As well as some sacrifice."

I felt myself step forward. "What? No, stop--"

"Unmisted blood is a rare delicacy. Your presence here really is a blessing."

My hands shook as I tried to cling to the dagger, but my hands flew open and it sunk into the grass. "I thought you weren't going to feed me to the spirit!"

"I lied."

"You're supposed to protect your students!"

"The needs of the many outweigh the pining of the few."

My eyes widened as the flower bloomed, and out stepped a wolf, who had wispy flesh and possessed blue eyes that trailed light. It had a gash in its size that leaked some kind of dark green fluid. It looked emaciated, and kept its head low as it trudged forward.

My hands rose into the air, and Lee Anders bent down to scoop up the dagger, and sliced one of my palms open. I clenched my eyes shut and tried to close my hand, but it refused to obey.

"I offer you this unchanged sacrifice. Pure human."

I tensed. "I don't want to die!"

"He is--what the fuck?"

I opened my eyes at the outburst, and....the cougar was approaching. It rubbed its muzzle against my hip, and I dropped to my knees. I flexed my hands, and they responded. I could control them.

The cougar strode forward and nuzzled the wolf, who closed its eyes and returned the gesture.

Lee Anders stared at the exchange. "Cougar, what's going on?"

The cougar lifted its paw, and used its teeth to rip it off. It was already regrowing when she threw the extremity at the wolf's feet. It snapped it up, and swallowed it in a single gulp. The gash on its side closed, and the cougar began to lick away the green fluid.

Lee Anders put his hand on his hips. "Cougar, you have some explaining to do."

I winced at his carefree voice, and the cougar glanced between me and Lee Anders. Then she rose on her hind legs and clawed Lee Anders' cheek. He fell to the ground. "Gah! Son of a whore!"

The cougar nudged the wolf with her muzzle, and they walked back the way they came. Lee Anders sat back up, pulling his hand away from his cheek. It was already healed. "Hey, come back!" He shook his fist at the duo. He sighed.

The flower eventually vanished, leaving the motes to be the only source of light. I immediately ran away from the man who tried to murder me. The hall seemed much shorter now.

I ran into something and swung my good hand at it. "No!"

Prudence wrapped her arms around me. "Hey! Hey what's going on?"

I looked up at her, then buried myself into her grip and broke down. She didn't push forward, and simply led me out of the building.

....

The next day was the worst day of my life.

The only positives were that Prudence and her Sisters excommunicated Lee Anders from the Church of X--he wasn't allowed to call on their help ever again.

A local newscast called Lee Anders a hero, and said that he went in to Building 17 by himself to drive out a rogue Fey and reopen the classes. I had gone to some of the students to ask what had happened, and they all claimed that Prudence and I were never even there. I had thought, okay, most of them weren't even paying attention.

But then I went to visit the girl with the pink hair, whose name was Ashes Kane, didn't remember. She said that after Colem died, Lee Anders came in and pulled her down.

Everyone's memories were altered. The only one who remembered was Prudence.

I didn't go to school for a few weeks after that. Whenever I was about to go, I broke down and panicked. Hence the...the therapy.

....

This is the only true record of what happened.

After the event, only one thing really brought me comfort.

I was sitting on my porch, clinging to a mug of coffee that had long since become cold. Micah Prince was walking home and glanced over at me and saw that I was there. He came over and took a seat next to me.

"Haven't seen you in a while." He took out a candy cigarette and started chewing on it. "I'm starting to miss your hounding and questions."

I simply stared at my coffee at the time. Micah sighed. "What happened to you man?"

I shook my head. "You won't believe me."

He held the box of candy out to me. "Try me."

I looked over at him, took one, and told him the story. The story I told all of you.

[End of Building 17]