"Rings of blood and rings of woe. Are you the one to carry me so? I butchered them up, I made them bleed. I carried my task for the darkest deed. God Almighty, smite this dread. I am the one who sees the dead. Now it's time for you to see. Come, stay, and be my family...."

---

Day 6

Hideki High stood proud and tall even as the sky above became a grimy and gray expanse of color. More rain. It seemed the wet season was taking its toll on the students, and there didn't seem to be an end in sight. Even still, it did nothing to deter the school's various different students from participating in their studies. As if fate knew of this dreary boredom, a new student made her presence known to the entire class. Fate indeed....

The slightly short girl had long black hair that cascaded down to her back while a set of red eyes contrasted with pale skin. Writing her name on the chalkboard, the newbie turned around to face the class with a small smile and a bow of respect.

Even now she was scanning, looking for specific individuals. Seemingly ordianry people with irregular ties to their own destiny. Akane Kabetake. Audrey Ordoñez. Shiba Aito. Nagatani Reiko. Resan Shinobu. And her. Mizuhana Shiori. Fully aware of the unsettling nature of her appearance, the girl made an effort to widen her smile.

"Hello. My name is Yoshida Shizune. It's very nice to meet you all."

---

Day 0

Shizune groaned slightly as her vision began to return slowly. Her head hurt. That was something new. Sitting up, she looked around to take in her surroundings. The more she saw the more she remembered.

An average school day. The end of the day actually. A couple of members from the school P.O.I.R club had decided to help a couple of students with research or something. Always research. Something happened. The power went out. Everyone else had gone home, so no staff nor other students were present at the time. Shizune vaguely remembered an earthquake. How could she forget that? Then everything went black.

Standing up now, she saw that the classroom was now torn apart. Desks were skewered everywhere, the floorboards were covered with dust and a sticky substance that could have been blood or mucus. But the worse part was the outiside. Shizune walked over to the window and opened it, revealing a wide forest that seemed to span for miles surrounding Hideki High. The sky was blood red with no stars in sight. Only a pitch black moon.

The World of Wasted Dreams. A nightmare. A twisted parody of our own reality. Hell.

Shizune narrowed her eyes and turned back, only to see what she already knew was there. All of the students were sprawled on the ground, unconscious. Sucked in with her in this dark realm. Walking over to them, Shizune began to gently wake each of them up.

"Shiba-san, are you ok? Ordoñez-san, please wake up. Resan-san you have to get up." Her gaze followed over until landing on the president of the P.O.I.R club. Her best friend. Or so it seemed.

"Shiori-cha-" She stopped herself, hesitating. "....Mizuhana-san, you must wake up. Quickly, before they arrive." Her warnings were suddenly drowned out by a melody of music. Violin music. It was beautiful. A song that spoke to the soul and opened up the hearts of mortal men. Listening to the sweet music coming closer to their position, Shizune paled.

What? Why was he here? This was too soon!

"Everyone, please!" She spoke with renewed urgency. "We have to leave now!"

The music got steadily closer, entering the run-down classroom, surrounding Shizune with it's deafening noise....

Day 0 - Before the Storm - Kabetake Household

"Beni!"

The familiar alarm echoed throughout the small apartment, loud footsteps chimed against old, creaking floor boards along with that cry, and Kabetake Beni tried her best to feign ignorance of the noises, shifting deeper under the plaid-designed comforter that covered her small body. The smell of eggs and burning bread almost drew her up again, but the bed was just so warm, so comfortable... The sounds were slowly approaching, a morning demon would eventually tear her out of the warm bed, and Beni let out a shuddering sigh. Perhaps it would be best to sit up, rather then be ripped free into the cold morning like usual. The doorknob shook, and then light from the living room and kitchen poured into the darkened room. Giggles replaced the calling, and soft footsteps slid across the floor, and quickly Beni sat up and yelled,

"I'm awake!" To which her sister, Akane, replied with a loud laugh. She grinned down at her groggy sister, lifting a hand to ruffle her already messy red hair. Beni reacted with a yawn, kicking off the covers. They conversed briefly, Akane explaining that breakfast and lunch for later was prepared and that she would be leaving earlier and staying a bit later after school today, to which Beni replied with nods and tired looks until her sister exited the still-dark room. The younger sister eventually stood, turning to her closet to prepare for her school day, unaware that their conversation just now would most likely be their last.

---

Akane devoured her breakfast quickly, all while brushing out her long hair and watching the morning news from the tiny, old TV that sat on their kitchen counter. Weather reports, news from the night before, sad or uplifting stories, same old same old. Nothing changed, nothing mattered. At the table was her cellphone, and a small box. A present she had received the night before from Beni, a late birthday gift. Inside had been a lovely silver-chained necklace, and the ornament it showed was a small, silver disk. The front of the disk was the design of a clover, small and cute, while the back was inscribed with a small message that read: 'A little luck for Akane from Beni'. It was her new favorite accessory. Eventually, Akane swallowed her last bite and stood up, placing the dirty plates into the sink, and she turned back to the two-seat dining table. She reopened the gift box and quickly clipped on the necklace before grabbing her own bento box and school bag, calling out,

"I'm off!" Just as Beni exited her room. They shared a smile, and then Akane turned on her heels, slipped on her plain sneakers, and ran out into the cool morning sat that had sat, waiting, outside their open-air apartment complex halls. The school they both attended together wasn't far, only a few blocks, and normally they would walk together just an hour later, but today all of the Karate club had been instructed to arrive early to clean the dojo. It was hard work, but not unusual, and honestly Akane felt it would do some good for the club as a whole. And so, without another thought in her mind, she ran all the way to school, appearing as carefree as she normally would.

Day 0 - Before the Storm - Hideki High School

After cleaning up the dojo and running a few drills, Akane went along as she normally did with her school days, talking, trying to pay attention in class, laughing, listening, helping, working, and nothing seemed unusual. Her mind whirled with thoughts about what to make for dinner, gossip she had heard earlier, usual, usual, usual. During one class though, Akane had found her eyes wandering, and eventually settled them on Shizune, the mysterious transfer student. She frowned at the girl, eyes squinting, trying to decipher her expression or body movements as she normally did when she had a thought that someone she knew was feeling down, but no feeling of any sort entered her mind.

'Such a hard girl to read,' her mind whispered, 'it makes me... Sad?' Ideas of what emotion she felt whirled quickly into her thoughts, but no answer arrived. Only a feeling of emptiness. As usual.

The classes passed quickly, and eventually the final bell rang. All the students rose, bowed, and then were excused, and Akane rose and stretched, letting out a sound of pure bliss as the day was finally done. She turned her eyes downwards to the watch around her wrist, and then slowly stood, reaching for her bags so she could hurry off to the dojo once more for a club meeting, but someone caught her wrist, and she turned up to see the familiar face of the club president, Eni. The mature third-year stared down at her with vague, dull eyes. Another hard character to read,

"Practice is cancelled today, but I need you to do me a favor." the girl spoke with a low, harsh voice, which matched her menacing eyes and boyish haircut. Akane smiled in response and nodded, listening to her senpai's request. Eni nodded once she was through and then they parted ways, leaving behind a somewhat crestfallen Akane. She did really want to practice today, but in the end they were unable to because Eni had forgotten to write down a piece of paper work for the club. The girl, despite her angry-appearance, was rather shy, and had trouble talking to adults, so she entrusted Akane with getting it from their adviser and filling it out. After the classroom emptied a bit more she stood, collected her bags, and wandered down the teacher's lounge.

The paperwork took awhile, and Akane was easily distracted as the teachers slowly began to head out of the room, towards their cars to prepare dinners or attend important dates. She soon finished up, returned it to the club adviser, and bowed farewell before re-entering the hall. It was quiet, the sky was already beginning the darken with storm clouds, and Akane had a sudden feeling of dread. She didn't want to walk home alone. Her head slowly lowered as she began to think of people who would still be lingering around, and she finally settled on Aito, or Ai-chan, as she would always call him. The club he was in, the P.O.I.R, was probably still in session. Dragging him out would be easy. She giggled and started down the hall, mind tracing the paths that would lead to the creepy club room, but everything quickly went blank as the entire school was plunged into darkness.

"Eh... A power outage?" she murmured, glancing backwards. Silence... Oh shit, Ai-chan! He was afraid of the dark! Her pace picked up towards the room, an unfamiliar thumping beat against her own chest. Fear. Of what? The room was closer, and Akane thought she could faintly hear movement from inside.

"Ai-chan!" she called out, forcing the voice to stay calm and cheerful. She reached blindly out and managed to slide the door open, right as the shaking started. Violent tremors, familiar. An earthquake. Her next call was a yelp of pain as she slammed against the ground, losing her balanced from the sudden shaking. It was so dark, she couldn't see. She could hear though, screams. Most familiar. The members of the P.O.I.R perhaps? Shaking. Darkness. Screams.

"Ait-" Her voice cut as another powerful tremor sent her flying out of the doorway, slamming the door. She tumbled back into the hall with a cry, losing consciousness as she crashed against the far wall of the hall and slumped down onto the tiled floor. Silence.

---

Day 0 - Hallway
'Music...'

A beautiful sound, violins strummed out a sobbing melody that managed to wake Akane just slightly. Her eyes wavered, focusing only on the familiar, closed door of the P.O.I.R club. Pain filled her head as she tried to sit up, so much so that she simply gave up and fell back onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. Something cool rested against her cheek, and with curiously fingers she reached for it and ended up discovering her sister's necklace. She smiled once, then refocused on staring above, trying to calm her beating head, and then she noticed it.

The sky, it was red. From where she lay, just by the hallway windows, Akane had a perfect view of the sky, and it was red. Blood red. Empty. Akane once again tried to sit up, her teeth clenching tightly, and was soon kneeling high, using the wall as a crutch. Her eyes forcefully scanned the outside world, and confusion mingled with her pain. Instead of the familiar Hideki courtyard and school walls there was just a sea of black trees. The sky, which had been black with storm clouds just before she was knocked out, was red, and a black moon hung in the air.

"Where..." Music interrupted her thoughts again. That violin, where was it coming from? Akane cringed as she stood up fully and then ran a hand through the hair at the back of her head. Something warm and wet met her finger tips, and she pulled back quickly as soon as she realized it was blood. Nothing else about her showed symptoms of instead brain damage, she wasn't exactly dizzy or sick, maybe a bit confused, but nothing more. Akane disclosed it as a scrape... But... No, don't worry about yourself! The others, in the room! Her heart thumped, but she managed to stay calm and turned towards the club room again. She reached out and, rather strangely, knocked instead of ripping it open.

"H-hello?" She called, voice strained, "i-it's Kabetake... Akane. Are you guys okay in there... Are you in there at all?"

Her voice trembled. The music, was it getting closer?

Day 0, Class 2-4's classroom.

Blackness. It was all around her, in her eyes, in her ears, in her mind... Until something, something far away called out. At first it was just a whisper, a faraway droplet of water breaking the surface of a massive lake... But gradually it grew, until it was so close you could feel it on the very nape of your neck.

And so, Shiori Mizuhana's eyes shot wide open, and she sat up with a start.

"... Yoshi...da... san...?" Wha...?" She spoke slowly and as if having just woken from a deep sleep, her mind not entirely clear or focused yet.

However, there was no time to be a sleepy-head here. Giving but a brief glance around the strange and alien room that was vaguely remeniscent of their classroom, it dawned upon the girl that something was terribly, terribly wrong here. The fact that some of her fellow classmates and club-members were still lying sprawled on the dusty and sticky floor was another cause for immediate alarm. Just what had happened here? Pushing herself up and taking a moment to stand and take in the scene, Mizuhana's eyes soon caught sight of the outside through one of the classroom windows, and her eyes stared in stupified surprise, confusion and momentary fright. What was this?!

The new transfer student, Shizune Yoshida, seemed to be trying to wake everyuone up in a panic, while at the same time some strangely pleasant music was getting louder and louder. Odd... There was music, but the lights in the classroom weren't working, and that would mean that the PA system and loudspeakers wouldn't be functioning either, so how was music... Well, it didn't matter, now did it? Yoshida-san was frantically trying to get everyone up, and that was a good idea and a reasonable thing to start with.

Walking over with firm steps, she knelt down next to fellow club-member, Shiba, and raised a gloved hand.

"How long do you plan on sleeping, Shiba-kun?" She asked, while giving the boy a firm slap across the face, the sound would have ecxhoed through the classroom had it not been for the violin music which was drowning out most everything but the voices of Shizune and herself.

"Everyone, wake up!" She called with her calm voice, moving to Resan-san next, and giving the kind and bubbly girl a swift slap across the cheek as well.

She then turned her head to Yoshida, seeing as she had been the person who first woke up and was the one who was frantically trying to wake everyone else.

"Yoshida-san, just what's going on here? What's happened?" As usual, her tone and voice was calm and collected rather than panicked or demanding as surely some others' would be once they awoke.

She then heard another voice, a voice belonging to Kabetake-san. Another classmate seemed to have woken up, what a relief. But the unsettling feeling that the music was getting louder and closer was still pressing dow on Mizuhana and she turned her attention back to trying to help Yoshida get the others up and on their feet.

Day 0: Morning

Let sleeping dogs lie, the saying goes. Why the hell couldn't that also apply for humans? Reiko awoke to the infernal buzzing of an alarm clock on an endtable beside her bed. Hitting the shut-up button and groaning "Yeah, I'm awake," Reiko got up to her feet. Another day at Hideki High School was supposed to start, and as always, Reiko was taking her shinai with her. The only place she didn't bring it was the bath. Some teachers objected to her carrying it around given her violent record from her first year at high school, but her fellow kendo club members could vouch for her that she'd mellowed out quite a bit since then. Besides, until there was an outright ban on carrying a shinai around school grounds, Reiko was holding it to her at all times. If such a ban did happen, she'd probably drop out.

Class was nothing remarkable. If nothing else, she got to sleep well through most of it. Lunch had also been pretty standard. She'd made her own, as always. All in all, she'd gone through the day pretty sure it would just be another ordinary day, with one exception. One of the kendo club members had meant to return a book to that POIR club, but was out sick today. The member in question was also Reiko's next-door neighbor, so she'd decided to do it for them. If she hadn't done that, it would have just been another ordinary day for Reiko Nagatani. But she did return the book, and thanks to it, she was still on-campus. And so...

Day 0: Just outside class 2-4's classroom...

Let sleeping dogs lie, the saying goes. Why the hell couldn't that also apply for humans? There was that earthquake just before Reiko had entered 2-4's classroom, which drove her into a wall hard enough to knock her out for a short while. She wouldn't have minded. From her perspective, it was just another way of sleeping. Though she'd dropped the book, despite everything, she held on tight to her shinai. As a result, it was still in her grip. Even when she'd regained consciousness, she figured a quick snooze wouldn't hurt at all. She would have even tried to go back to sleep, but there was no way she was sleeping with all this noise. Specifically, some girl who was at a door addressing herself as Kabetake Akane, and that music. That violin music. While she would have admitted it was well-played, Reiko found it annoying.

There was no helping it; she wouldn't be able to sleep like this. Using her shinai as support to get back up to her feet, Reiko observed a small cut on her left arm. Nothing major at all; she'd seen paper cuts worse than this. Did it happen when she hit the wall? Whatever the case, she still had a task to finish, but she couldn't see any sign of the book she was supposed to return in either direction. Reiko guessed she'd have to put that goal on the back burner; she figured there were bigger things to worry about when she saw through the windows that the sky was bloody red with all those black trees outside. Reiko wasn't typically one to experience fear, but she still found the sight unnerving. On her feet, Reiko made her way to the door, nodding to the Kabetake girl as a greeting. Then she too knocked at the door, with the hilt of her shinai. "Anyone back there? What the hell's going on?"

After school was out, Aito headed to the classroom where the P.O.I.R held its meetings. It was an, entertaining club, to say the least. At least, he could get a steady flux of information for his own paranormal investigations, which involved more internet-related figures than rather those of ancient cultures, like Slenderman, the Rake, Eyeless Jack, etc... In his opinion, those were way scarier than anything depicted in a book, something rather sad, since most of them came from amateurs. Maybe it was the way that they wrote about it that really made Aito tremble. While his thoughts darted off in many other ways, he arrived to the club before he could realize it. He opens the door and announces his presence. "Sup." After that, he sits in the nearest chair and takes out his portable game console. He hoped that today they could at least do something club like, for once, like, I dunno, going to the beach or something. That was a classic setting for an anime with this kind of setting. He let himself have a single stupid thought for a while and let out a chuckle, but he then returned to his rational thinking. With the president and associates, that was something impossible.

Thenm darkness fell upon them. He tried to remain calm, but his nervousness was clear as he was shaking and trying to diverse his thoughts from the situation at hand. He just couldn't stand it anymore and bent over to get his MP3 out of his backpack. Music would help him relax, even in the dark. He felt like screaming, no, he was screaming on his inside. To be honest, he wanted someone to be by his side right now. More especifically, Akane, since she always calmed him in those kinds of situations. Before putting on his headphone, he heard Akane's voice and he raised instantly from the chair he was in, with a hope-filled voice, which also indicated that he was on the verge of tears, he said. "Akane!" Though, as soon as he did, everything started shaking. An earthquake? Yeah, that was probably it. He would remain calm in this kind of situation, if it wasn't frigging dark. He crouched down in a reflex, but the violent tremors sent him against the chair he was sitting on. He first hit his head against one of the legs, but that wasn't quite enough as to leave him unconscious, however, the violent shaking made the chair lose balance and fall on top of Aito's face with a rather loud crashing sound. That made his lights go out.

He grasped to whatever little consciousness he could get his hands on. Opening his eyes little by little after such an impact, he wanted to take it easy and steady. Then, he was bitch-slapped. His eyes were now wide open after that. What was that that he could hear far off in the distance? Someone playing the violin? Whoever it was, they were truly extraordinary. But right now, the music creeped the hell out of him. A chill went down his spine. He sprung to a sitting position and rubbed his cheek. "What the hell was that for?! There are other ways of waking people up, you know?!" He said, somewhat angry at the president for having slapped him. "Anyway, what the hell is going on here?" He stands up and walks around the clubroom. It felt different. Maybe it was because of the foreign music constantly drawing closer, but something sure was off. What was it, though, Aito had no idea. He was glad that he brought his backpack with him. He rushed over to get a notebook out and start making notes, though now that he was searching for his notebook he noticed something.... It was still dark.

His irrational fear triggered in and he started shaking uncontollably. "W-What the heck? H-humans aren't in reality scared of the dark, right? They are scared of whatever may hide in it! Yeah! A-and besides, darkness is just the abscense of light, not much to it, right? L-like, oh god dammit!" Again, he just scared himself more with the more stupid facts he spouted out. He was on the verge of tears again. If only Akane was there...

He heard her voice though, from outside the classroom, and, without even thinking about it, he rushed out of the classroom and the first thing he did was hug her. "I'm scared, Akane... What the hell is up with that music?" Noticing that he must look quite childish when doing that, he let go of his childhood friend. "I'm sorry. I'm alright now." With a more familiar and reassuring face around, Airo felt more at ease. He takes a deep breath to calm himself, though he doesn't let go of Akane completely, holding part of her uniform like a child. He clears his throat and proceeds to make some inquiries. "So, um, what was up with that earthquake? Any ideas? Convergent? Divergent?" He tries to return to his smart boy character as he takes out his fake glasses and puts them on.

Hearing Shiori's calm tone was enough to reassure Shizune in what she was doing. Sure enough, the other students began to gather in one spot, with the exception of Resan Shinobu and Audrey, who were still unconscious. Choosing to hover over them for protection, Shizune looked up at her gathered classmates. Her red eyes seemed distant and her voice was level and controlled, losing it's earlier panic. The violin was getting closer. This would have to be quick.

"Everyone, please calm down. The more you panic, the more likely you'll attract...him." She left it at that, directing for everyone to take in their new surroundings closely. "We've all been dragged into a different dimension from our own," she explained. "One that looks and acts like our own, but as you will all find, it is naught but a twisted reflection. This is the World of Wasted Dreams."

She said this as if it were indisputable fact, completely confident in her own words. "There's no way to escape. We can't exit this school. You will also find that you will lack the need for normal bodily functions. You won't feel hungry and you'll find your exhaustion increasing as time goes on." She listed down all that she knew of the situation to inform these people as quick as possible of their impending danger.

Something was wrong. Something was amiss. Shizune unconsciously sensed it but said nothing, not quite sure what the disturbance was.

"In this world," she continued, "it's just us...and the monsters. Predators that will hunt us down and kill us. That's all. It is the utmost priority that we stick together and don't take any risky moves if we wish to survive." She looked directly at Aito and Reiko. "This isn't the first time I've found myself in this dimension. Many have died because of foolish mistakes..." She trailed off, as if keeping the truth half-hidden. She quickly shrugged it off. "Now, let's find somewhere safer t-"

Shizune's eyes widened as the darkness shifted ever so slightly. That feeling....the sense of something wrong at the back of her mind. She knew what it was now in sick realization. The music had stopped playing.

"Nagatani-san. Shiba-san. Akane-san...please come into the classroom." Her eyes were fixed on the....the thing that lay in wait, standing right behind the three in the hallway.

It looked like an impossibly tall man dressed in dark clothing, a jacket and pants. A white powdered mask lay on its face, with only two slits for eyes. It's left arm looked bloody and torn apart, flakes of flesh and cloth shredded and melded as one. In its right arm was a violin stick.

"The Friagne."

Shizune took a step forward, carefully motioning for them to walk quietly while keeping an eye on the thing. The Friagne titled its masked face sideways in an inhuman manner before raising the violin stick to its left arm....and then proceeded to slash it back and forth violently on the shredded skin. What resulted was a beautiful melody of violin music. Sickening.

Without hesitation, the thing's chest began to rip apart to the swoon of the melody, revealing several long strands of material. On closer inspection, one could see that these strings were in fact veins. Still bleeding, fresh, and thin human veins. With a lash, the Friagne's innards reached forward and wrapped around both Reiko and Akane's throats, lifting them up in the air and strangling them.

"No..."

Shizune ran forward to free the two only to have a large cut suddenly appear on her cheek. Stumbling back, she tensed as several baby dolls began to crawl out of the Friagne's gaping opening and leap and slash out in all directions. They each had half-burned and crooked faces armed with knives in their hands.

As the veins coiled tighter around Akane and Reiko's necks, the creature continued playing its violin piece by using its self-inflicted instrument. Shizune gritted her teeth in agitation and fear for her classmates.

No, no, no! This was all wrong! Why was this happening so early! Friagne wasn't supposed to be here!

Day 0 - Hallway

The sudden presence beside her made Akane jump, but once she realized it was simply Nagatani Reiko, a soft smile of reassurance met her face. However, before she could even utter a single 'hello' the door was flung open and arms wrapped around her shoulders. Instantly, almost as if it was a set-in reflex, her hands reached up to grip the shoulders of her attacker tightly, preparing to throw him off, but once the familiar voice of Aito interrupted her thought-less attack Akane felt her grip loosen and she hugged him back, smiling widely.

"Don't be such a wuss, Ai-chan~" she mumbled, and then he pulled away and she was greeted with his usual cold eyes, but now they seemed rather unsure. Frightened. His right hand was loosely gripping at the hem of her sweater, shaking, and she felt her mouth draw into a thin, worried line as she began to scratch at her forearm. Aito eventually began babbling about the earthquake, meanwhile, Akane drew her attention to the shadow behind him, Shizune, who was quickly explaining their situation. But Akane couldn't believe a word of it. Or maybe she did. Unsure, unsure.

"We've all been dragged into a different dimension..."

Lies, lies. That's not possible. The music was getting closer quickly, and Akane felt her head pound painfully from the scrape and the countless questions she could not utter.

"There's no way to escape..."

What about Beni? Akane reached forward to clamp onto Aito's hand, squeezing it tightly as her mind began to pulsate with worry. How would she get home to cook for Beni? Who would take care of her? Beni, Beni... Oh, God, Beni! Tears quickly filled her gaze and she wiped them away, trying to calm her pounding heart and swelling lungs. The music was deafening, and nearly, but not entirely, drowning out Shizune's words.

"...hunt us down and kill us..."

"-kill us...

Akane let out a quiet gasp, squeezing Aito's hand until her knuckles were white. The music had stopped. Everything was still and silent. Akane scanned the room behind Shizune, and then glanced behind her back. Nothing. Something was wrong. The air was heavy, and the smell of something rotten filled her senses. Her gaze returned to Shizune, and the girl's red eyes were wide and frightened, looking not at them but behind them. And Akane felt her heart drop into her stomach as those words to enter the classroom were uttered. Behind them. Someone was behind them. Her head turned, slowly, and she felt a scream enter her throat at the sight of the man.

His arm was red, like the sky. His clothes black like the moon. His face, a mask perhaps, was as pale as Akane was. The man rose his right hand, which held a violin stick, to his left wrist, which was torn and bled heavily. Frozen, she watched with awe and disgust as the man began cutting the flesh. Music was once again produced, but now it was too loud, and the scene matched with the melody just made everything seem utterly awful.

'My heart is pounding, what is this feeling?'

Fear

With sudden, jerking movements she shoved Aito back into the room, and then as she turned to pull Reiko towards her the man's chest exploded and a foreign object wrapped around neck, instantly squeezing the air from her throat. A choked scream escaped for a moment and then Akane clamped her mouth shut, thinking it would be best to conserve her air. The creature, and at the same time it was strangling her and producing even more horrible creatures from the hole in it's abdomen. Her hands moved on their own, clawing at the air and then around her neck, tugging at the thin vein that constricted her breath. She managed to get her fingers beneath one of the ties and pull it, ever so slightly, looser, and air entered her lungs once again but was quickly cut off as the vein tightened and shook her. Akane squinted and struggled against the tightness around her throat, glancing around to see if anyone else was in trouble, and once her eyes settled on Reiko she began to struggle harder. Her hands were clawed and tugging at the vein, her eyes half open as the hold became tighter and tighter. There was no ground beneath her feet, just air, and she kicked froward, hoping to land a hit, but only met wind and the occasional splatter of blood against her legs.

"N-Nagatani... Shit." Akane gasped and lashed around as the veins tightened even more. Darkness cornered her vision, which was focused very clearly on Reiko, and slowly her head began to slump.

'No, no, stay awake. Don't lose. Nagatani-san needs help, help her. Don't die, if you die then Beni will... And everyone else...!'

Akane grunted instantly, head raising. Shaking hands clamped tightly around the taunt part of the vein, the strand that connected her to the man, and then began to pull. Rip. Shred. Destroy. Destroy. Everything was black and white, and she continued to pull, harder, harder.

"Like I'm gonna let you kill me, fucker!" Akane screamed suddenly, fear replaced by rage and motherly worry, and with one final pull the vein shuddered and gave. Air rang passed her ears, blood splattered against her face, and her legs hit the ground with a loud bang. Akane quickly balanced herself and lowered into a crouch instead of toppling, eyes narrowed with intensity, chest heavily rising and falling. A deep red surrounded her neck, and it would eventually purple and bruise. Something gleamed at her feet, and upon realizing it was Beni's necklace she snatched it up and slid it into her skirt pocket before turning to Reiko, staggering up quickly.

"Nagatani-san!" Her voice was hoarse, eyes wide, "Nagatani-san, hold on!" Akane reached up to grasp onto the vein that held the other girl, but a sudden pain sent her spiraling back into a wall out of reflex. Blood swelled from a cut on her calf, and she glanced up to glare at the herd of baby dolls that surrounded the man. They approached her, and the people in the class room. Her body was already beginning to feel heavy with exhaustion, and there was an unfamiliar wetness against the back of her neck. The scrape was bleeding again.

"Dammit, dammit!" she muttered, dodging another slash quickly. With a quick thought, she glanced around the hall, and eventually landed on the familiar shape of a school bag. Her school bag. With staggering strides Akane eventually grabbed her school bag and turned, holding it out like a weapon. This aura around them, this menacing aura, it was filtering her senses. Her mind was aching, yet she could feel the twinge of a smile on her face. Like the time with the pin and her ears. Or when she nearly leaped from the second story balcony of the school. Akane felt like she could do anything, and with that thought she ran, head-long, into the closest group of baby dolls to the door, swatting at them like flies. Her tactic was swat, jump back, jump back in, swat, which helped to manage to amount of injuries.

'If I can get most away... Then the others will be fine. Nagatani... Nagatani can handle herself...'

The room was getting darker and darker. No, stay awake, fight. Fight.

Shinobu Resan

---

It took more than a simple slap across her face to wake the young Resan up, not to mention that the music helped a great deal in actually extending her stay in the land of dreams about donuts and cats. However, the fact that Shinobu hated sleeping in uncomfortable places and voices kept talking on and on she slowly opened her eyes with a big yawn. "Mornin~" Slowly taking her surroundings in, Shinobu realized something was out of the ordinary: The classroom, for whatever reason she was here in the first place, looked way...older, the night sky that served as a light source was completely red and at the entrance of the class room was some abomination molesting two of her classmates. Of course, she didn't hear a single word of the explanation that the transfer student blurted out just a few seconds, or minutes, ago and thus it was left to the girls broad imagination to explain herself what was actually going on.

Rather than scared, Shino was more grossed out from this abomination that was just a few metres away and had its way with her two class mates. Yes, her mind settled quickly on this being just a lucid dream, she did play a lot of games after all, including horror ones, not to mention she sadly knew just too well that there was no magic or occult things on this boring planet earth, or so she believed.

Having no words for now she finally stood up, her entire body hurting a bit, and scanned the room again. Apart from that atrocious thing she also saw those overused baby doll things now, really? Well, Shino was never the type to think a lot and considering this was her dream she was the heroine, so she had to save those two...somehow... .

Before she could do anything though, Akane-chan was already freeing herself, such power. Yeah, staying around wouldn't help and if Akane could free herself, then Reiko should be able to do so too. The green hair simply grabbed the next best thing you could use as a weapon, a chair, and charged with a motivated "Hurrryyyaaa!!" forward, unless someone would stop her.

"We've all been dragged into a different dimension from our own. One that looks and acts like our own, but as you will all find, it is naught but a twisted reflection. This is the World of Wasted Dreams."

Reiko saw this as both a good thing and a bad thing. On one hand, it meant her initial impressions were a little off. On the other hand, it meant she had no clue what this place was, and changing that probably wouldn't be something she could do on her own. By no means did Reiko consider herself a team player. She could work together with others fairly well, but never willingly. A different dimension was kind of a thing where working together was a good idea. Reiko decided that in the interest of survival, it wouldn't kill her to team up with the others.

"There's no way to escape. We can't exit this school. You will also find that you will lack the need for normal bodily functions. You won't feel hungry and you'll find your exhaustion increasing as time goes on."

No hunger? That was something Reiko didn't like. It may have seemed odd at first, but not feeling hunger meant that there wasn't any need to eat. No need to eat meant no need for a cook. Which in turn meant that one of Reiko's greatest joys in life was just smothered into the ground by coming here. At least she could still kendo, and it was quite possible that she'd have to somewhere down the line.

"It's just us...and the monsters. Predators that will hunt us down and kill us. That's all. It is the utmost priority that we stick together and don't take any risky moves if we wish to survive."

Yep, she'd get to kendo somewhere down the line. At least Reiko had that much going for her.

"This isn't the first time I've found myself in this dimension. Many have died because of foolish mistakes...Nagatani-san. Shiba-san. Akane-san...please come into the classroom."

"Sure." Reiko had every intention of entering the classroom, as per the transfer student's request. She didn't get that chance. Before she got to step in and enter, she felt something wrap around her neck and lift her. It was pretty sudden. Sudden enough to throw her off-guard, to the point that she reflexively released her shinai to use both hands in an attempt to escape. The moment it registered to her that she'd dropped the shinai, her mental dialogue was a long stream of profanities best left unmentioned. All she knew about this thing was that Shizune had called it the Friagne, and that its violin music was really starting to piss her off. That, and if she wanted to live, she'd have to release herself from the vein around her neck. She saw the other girl break free. Reiko also knew that girl was in the karate club; she was probably stronger than Reiko in the end.

If she were at least being gripped around her stomach, she could have always tried biting the vein. If she hadn't dropped her shinai, she could jab at it with that furiously. Neither was the case of course, and all she could really do was struggle, pulling as hard as she could to get the vein off her neck before it choked her to death. She was able to loosen it a little bit, but couldn't outright free herself. She was able to breathe, but not sufficiently. Even if she was just slowing down the process, Reiko refused to die this soon. Taking careful note of how much air each breath gave her, Reiko squeezed out the words "Help...me..."

Day 0, Class 2-4's classroom.

So, according to Yoshida-san, they were now trapped in some alternative dimension where nightmarish critters were going to seek them out and kill them. There was no way to leave the building they were in and there wasn't any way to get back home to their own world. Had she not been so certain that she wass awake, Shiori would have had an enormously rough time swallowing all this. Still, here she was, in a place where there was a black moon, a blood red sky, a dusty and broken floor with no lights. Still, there were things that you couldn't just take at face value, even given the situation. Why were they here? Why just them and nobody else? Why was there no escape? How could Yoshida have been in this world before if there was no way out?

Trying to sort her mind out and organize the questions she wanted to ask in the most proper and priority-heavy fashion, she was interupted mid-thought as she heard Shizune urge the three in the hallway to step inside. Why?

And then she saw.... it. Really, there was no other way to describe the creature that stood behind her three classmates. It had the posture of a man, but it clearly wasn't, it looked more like a mangled corpse who had a theatrical mask pulled over its face to hide whatever horror lay beneath. As if the mere visage of this ghastly abominiation wasn't bad enough, the thing then let burst from its chest a pair of... Strings? No, intestines!? Which wrapped around the throats of the two girls in the hall and hoisted them, beginning to strangle them without any warning! Then, to add salt to injury, small, horrible doll-like... things... burst from its stomach, armed with blades, and began flitting and hopping about, cutting and swinging their weapons wildly.

"... Wha... What is th-"

"HUUUUUUUURRRYYYAAAAAAA!!"

Shiori's sentence was cut off, as she heard the battle-cry of the freshly awoken Resan-girl. Spotting the girl from the corner of her eye, Mizuhana saw that she was wielding a chair and now charging towards the absurd scene that was taking place in the doorway. Her thoughts ceased and she took the only proper action that was called for - stopping Shinobu before she got herself strangled too. Bolting to the side and intercepting the green-haired, muffler-wearing girl, Shiori threw herself headlong into the side of the charging girl, causing them both to hit the floor with a loud thud. The chair clanked and smashed against the floor, and Shinobu was unfortunate enough to be the first to hit the ground.

Shiori, however, was far luckier and had Shinobu act as a cushion for her. Though, when they hit the ground, the former found herself sliding across Shinobu's stomach and then coming to a sudden halt, as something soft but squishy touched the top of her head and stopped her from sliding further. Momentarily stunned at her reckless and zero-thought action, Shiori sat up on her knees, giving Shinobu a quick glance-over to majke sure she hadn't been hurt in the fall. Luckily, it appeared she was fine, which allowed Shiori a quick sigh before narrowing her eyes and looking at the girl sternly.

"What're do you think you're doing, Resan-san!?" Even though she was still calm in her voice, one could clearly tell she was upset, especially since she was frowning and glaring at Shinobu.

Still, there was no time to scold the girl further. The other two, they needed help! She could hear the strangled, strained voice of Nagatani calling out for help. However, it was at this time that SHiori also noticed that, somehow, Kabetake had somehow freed herself and was now doing exactly what she had stopped Shinobu from doing!

That idiot!

It was the only thought fitting for the girl's reckless and brainless berserker-charge at the... Things... Not only did she not have a proper weapon - a backpack does not make for a heavy impact-tool - but as she was running and swatting wildly at the tiny dolls around and infront of her, she was contineously suffering small cuts, nicks, pokes and scratches. Her arms and legs were getting more and more marks of red across them as her skin was pricked and torn. There was no deeper or longer gashes or wounds, but many small scrapes eventually add up - and if she continued like ths, things could get really bad. Not to mention the, Friagne as Shizune had called it, was still there - behind his dolls - waiting for her and strangling Reiko.

However, it seemed that the violinist corpse had grown confused, scared or irritated with the situation. For in a fit of sudden, erratic movement, it pulled off a whipping motio with its still intact vein and flung Reiko into the classroom ahead of it, causing her to smash into a desk, which had luckily already toppled over so she only hit the wooden surface and not the metal legs or frame. Still, the crash - and sight of it - was quite unpleasant. The dolls were getting more excited it seemed and their movements became more frantic and unpredictable, now running and hopping about almost completely at random.

At this point, the Friagne also noticed Aito, who was standing close by - shaking in fear from the sudden occurences - and proceeded to also give the body a whipping. Luckily for him, he was only slapped to the ground, tumbling into the classroom and dropping his fake glasses. He didn't hit or crash into anything, so he would be in far less pain than poor Reiko who had taken a back-full-of-desk moments before. But now what? Was it just gathering them up in the classroom so they couldn't get out? Was it planning to trap them in there and then kill them off one at a time? The only person still outside was Akane, and she was being swarmed by the little dolls. A cold sweat broke out across Shiori's forehead.

Her eyes then moved to look to the side. At her.

"Yoshida-san..."

Shizune gritted her teeth as the cuts began to add up. The dolls just kept coming, no matter how much of a fight or effort the group put up. Through the pain, Shizune saw Reiko being flung across the room, Aito get knocked back on the floor, and Shiori save Shinobu from a gruesome fate. Good. Everyone was still alive then.

"Yoshida-san...."

Shizune gave the P.O.I.R president a shake of the head before kicking the dolls out of the way and dashing after Akane. That girl...why was her mentality so skewered? Vaguely ignoring the pain, Shizune barreled out the doorway and tackled the beserker girl to the ground.

Panting, she rolled off her and gave a glare, her red eyes burning with anger. "Stop....stop trying to be hero! I told you we have..... to stick....together...." Shizune blinked as the violin music became silent once again. Realization hit her in the face and she looked to the left, directly back into the classroom.

How stupid she was.

The dolls had ceased their assault and were being hoarded back into the Friagne's chest, chanting some childish babble while doing so. The masked creature looked over a single form. The one defense the still unconscious girl had was now on the other side of the doorway.

"No....no!" Scrambling to get up, Shizune tried to close the distance between them, only to falter from the wounds inflicted on her now bleeding legs. The Friagne lashed out its veins to string up Audrey like an ornament. By the time the girl was awake and screaming, it was too late.

Shizune turned away. She knew what was to come next.

Holding up the struggling girl for all to bear witness, a pair of scissors, needles, and threads held by the veins hovered over Audrey. The girl gave one more shriek before the masked musician began its work. It tore her skin, opened her up, spilling blood and a few entrails on the floor. The stench of a slaughter house hung in the air as the Friagne continued with its messy procedure.

A little twist here, a tiny cut there, some polishing everywhere....all matched up with that damned violin music. After several long moments of screaming and pleading, Audrey became still at last. Its work done, Friagne held up the dripping thing for all to see.

It looked like a hollow shell, its body drained of all innards and liquids, the face of Audrey caught in an everlasting scream. The skin was paled and flaking as Friagne gently began storing it away in its chest. It wasn't quite done, and Shizune knew it would take the corpse away to finish its "art" later. When it would have more supplies to work with....

With a sudden jerk, the masked musician landed on all fours and spidered away at rapid pace out the classroom. It pushed Shizune off to the side, it's shuffling feet still echoing down the hallways.

Silence.

Getting up, Shizune walked over to where Shiori stood. Despite her stoic nature, Shizune had no doubt that her friend was as equally shaken and disturbed as the rest of them. "The Friagne," Shizune said quietly. "It's a special creature that doesn't feed. Instead, all it does is make art. Music and...that. It turns victims into a...a human puppet."

The girl's eyes were blank as she looked down at the bloody pile on the floor. "All it wants is your body. The physical shell. Everything else...just gets in the way. This pile is all that is left of Audrey Ordonez."

The only object that could be remotely recognized as human was a severed foot.

Shiori stood quiet.

Her mouth remained closed and at first you would think she wasn't affected by the scene just now. But that was not true. This was easy to tell if you looked in her eyes. Those eyes that were usually harsh, cold and had a piercing feel to them were now open wide, the irises quivering. She tried to say something, but no words escaped her open mouth at first. She closed it again, swallowed something, be it air or saliva. This... was a nightmare. No, something else... something much, much worse. The sight of Audrey being snipped open, having her innards pujlled out and then being treated like a roll of cloth, with needle and thread going in and out, in and out... The screams of that poor girl... This wasn't something you could forget. Something that would haunt you until the end of your days.

Shiori's head sank, a shadow cast over her eyes as she looked at the floor. Her shoulders and arms shook slightly, through be it from anger, fear or both was hard to say. But finally her voice came back and words slipped from her mouth.

"Yoshi... da-san..." She spoke in a choppy manner at first, as if trying to avoid vomiting right there and now "What... is this place? Was that... this... all of it.... is it really real?" Shiori looked up at the transfer student who she had met just one day before. The shadow was still cast over her face, but her eyes had regained their piercing glare, and it was now directed at Shizune, along with a grim frown.

Shizune tensed and looked away from Shiori's stare. Shame crossed her mind. Shame of getting these people involved and condemning them for life. The dark haired girl allowed herself a few steady breathes before meeting Shiori's icy gaze with her blank one.

"Yes, Mizuhana-san. This is all real. Despite the title, the World of Wasted Dreams is very much grounded in our reality." She glanced across the room, taking in the faces of the remaining survivors, staring more so at Akane and Shinobu than the rest. "Let this be a lesson to us all. This world is cruel. People will die. There are no second chances, only consequences. Our only hope is to work together."

Shizune turned back to Shiori now. "No one can escape so our best chance is to simply survive. Maybe try to find a way out, though I doubt it. There are never survivors..." Her calm voice trailed off and she refused to say more.

"You said before..." Shiori seemed to have partially ignored what Shizune just said, or perhaps she felt what she wanted to ask was more pressing. "... that you've been to this... World... before. You also said there's no escape. Tell me, Yoshida-san, how can you have been to this... place... if we cannot leave it?" She paused, frowning and glaring. "How do you know so much about this place, and about that... thing."

At Shiori's constant questioning, Shizune shrugged and laughed bitterly. "You think I came out of this place unscathed?" Her expression turned serious though as the other girl brought up a point. Walking up to the classroom door, Shizune motioned for everyone to follow her carefully. It wasn't safe to stay in one location.

"You shouldn't be so serious Mizuhana-san. I told you I've been to this realm once before. I never said I survived from that experience." Shizune's own frown began to form on her lips. "You shouldn't be concerned with my past anyway. It doesn't matter. Your lives do. Would you prefer we continue to dwell into things best left unsaid? Or do you want to get out of here alive?"

A pause."Out of all of us, I am the only one who one who has the slightest clue of what's going on. All you need to know is that I will help all of you in anyway I can." She certainly was persistent. Not even the wounds on her limbs slowed down her brisk pace leading the group.

Shiori closed her eyes briefly. Shizune was right. There was no point trying to pry into her background, not right now at least. Her classmate, that spanish transfer student who she had never really interacted much with, had just been torn apart right infront of her eyes. That was a fact. It was also a fact that Shizune had run to stop Kabetake from running headfirst into that corpse-musician and suffering the same fate as the red-headed girl... The red-headed girl... She couldn't even bring herself to calling her by name, not even in her mind. Not right now at least, she needed time and distance if she was to keep her sanity.

"Wait," Shiori said, her voice and expression having returned to, somewhat, normal now. "We need to treat these wounds, everyone's wounds." She pointed with her gloved hand at the floor. "In a dirty place like this, untreated injuries will easily get infected." She looked over to where she had woken up. Her purse was still there. "I've got some things in my purse. It won't be enough though." With that said, Shiori walked over and picked up her purse, then moved to the desk which Reiko had crashed into.

"Nagatani-san, are you alright?" She knelt down, putting a hand on her classmate's shoulder and looked at her throat. "... That's going to leave a nasty mark."

At the offer of checking wounds, Shizune mentally cursed herself. Why didn't she think of that earlier? It was a rhetorical question of course. She knew the reason why. It was because she was too focused on keeping them safe, no, keeping them alive. She shuddered as she thought of Audrey's final moments in this life and again the question remained. Why was Friagne here in the first place? Usually....

"Yes. We must make sure everyone is well enough to move. We have a long journey ahead if we wish to escape." That was assuming there was an exit to begin with. Standing at the head of the group, Shizune turned where no one could see and glanced at her own wounds. Bending down, she wiped the blood away from her skin....only to reveal exactly just that.

Unbroken skin.

"Nagatani-san, are you alright? ... That's going to leave a nasty mark."

"I-I..." It had felt as though Reiko had only caught her breath just to lose it again. If nothing else, her expression was clear. She was pretty violent in the past, and it seemed that there was a new murder to talk about every day back in the big city. But never had Reiko witnessed the death of another human being. Much less, in such a gruesome manner as what had just happened in front of her. Her expression showed clear fear; the kind where one can't quite figure out if what they saw really just happened. "I'm breathing, at least, but...did...did what I just see...did that really just happen?" While she wasn't a violent type these days, Reiko made a mental note the beat the hell out of the club member that sent her on this errand when and if they ever saw each other again. She'd been brought to this hellish place and saw what she still wasn't sure if it was real or not. The quivering of her irises began when the realization suddenly set in. That could have been her. If that...calling it a monster didn't even feel sufficient to Reiko anymore, but if it hadn't tossed her, that lifeless husk could have been her.

"I'll be okay," Reiko finally said. "We...we can't let what just happened slow us down! Right?" The tone in Reiko's voice sounded more like she was looking for confirmation that she was right, rather than for someone to agree with her. She saw her shinai still in the hall. At least it was still there. That in itself helped with this new feeling of fear she wasn't used to. Slowly making her way to it, as though any step could set off a land mine, Reiko began making her way toward the shinai. If she had that, she figured. If she had that, she could at least try to fight. Would it even do her any good? She was clearly shaken, no matter how hard she tried to hide it, and she figured you'd have to be crazy to not be. Right now though, it was her only thought. I don't want to die. Even if fighting won't do anything for me, I want to survive, no matter how much I have to kick and scream to do it.

There are lots of things Tsubasa understands. He understands how to get small children to stop crying (most of the time at least). He understands how to make omelets. He understands how he ended up in the baseball club room putting away equipment for some of his friends (despite having stopped playing baseball long ago). What he cannot understand his why the sky is red, why the lights are off, and why everything is on the floor or tipped over.

Wait, that last bit he can piece together. An earthquake is distinct in his mind, one that knocked him over and caused him to bump his head on the floor. Nothing too bad, Tsubasa thinks. It can’t be any worse than taking a spike to the face, which he’s done many times before. What worries him isn’t the fact that everything spins a little bit when he sits up. It’s the fact that he still can’t piece everything together and, frankly, apart from taking a dose of LSD, he can’t think of any reason for the sky to be red. The worst part is that it’s almost dead silent save for his own breathing and that unnerves him.

Luckily, his bag is still on his back and his trusty umbrella is laying right on the floor beside him. Something seems off though, and it’s not just the fact that the sky has suddenly changed colors. Maybe it’s the silence, because even though school has been long over, he knows there should still be people here, especially in the wing of the school that houses all the club rooms. There should still be chatter. In fact, now that he thinks about it, it was a little bit weird that the baseball team asked him to lock up for them. Plus, he can’t quite remember the captain’s (he shudders at the word, because he already knows that next year the current captain has plans of giving him the title) reason for cancelling volleyball practice. He does remember it being a rather flimsy excuse though. That strange sense of off-ness is what prompts him to grab a baseball bat from one of the bags he was carrying, along with deciding to pocket the keys to the room. After all, it doesn’t seem like anyone’s around to miss them.

With his umbrella folded up and put into his bag, baseball bat in one hand and keys in his pocket, Tsubasa finally forced himself to get up off the floor. It didn’t make his head spin like sitting up did, so he takes that as a sign that he doesn’t have any head trauma. Possible yet unlikely head trauma notwithstanding, Tsubasa decided it was probably best to see if there were other people around.

The door to the club room creaks a little bit too much for his liking when he opens it, locking it on his way out. After all, he has the keys with him so it’s not like he couldn’t get back into the room if we wanted to. The silence really set in once Tsubasa got out into the hallway. Almost without thinking about it, he started whistling, letting the simple tune that was coming from his lips calm him down just a bit.

In fact, he’s so caught up in his whistling that he doesn’t notice the noise of other people coming from the end of the hall. Actually, he only noticed it when he was about walk right into a girl, who look to be reaching for something. It registered in his head that he was Reiko Nagatani, but currently wasn’t his major concern. That prize fell to the fact that there was quite a bit of blood in the hallway. Instinctively clutching his baseball bat tighter, Tsubasa let out the single sentence “Wow, that’s a lot of blood”. Maybe “what happened here” or “is everyone okay” would have been more appropriate things to say, but as his eyes grew wide, that was all he could think about.

Day 0 - Hallway

At the sight of Reiko getting thrown Akane froze up and watched, wincing as more cuts formed on her legs. Such an awful noise... Worry made her eyebrows twitch, but before she could pull from the swarm at her ankles and run into the room the monster struck again, this time whipping out at Aito. Her first reaction was stunned silence, and then she screamed out his name, raising the school bag over her head with sudden rage.

But she was quickly put out of commission as a body barreled into her's. The remaining air in her lungs was quickly sucked out as Akane slammed against the hall floor, and after a moment of stunned pain Akane turned her gaze upwards to her attacker. Shizune. The girl's red eyes were wide, desperate even, and Akane found that her face was streaming with tears of frustration. She did not, however, feel the least bit frustrated. Only worried, and scared. They were not her tears. Or were they? She continued to look up at Shizune, trying to catch her breath, failing to catch her breath, and often uttering a small, shaken sob. The girl was right, though being the hero was always Akane's mind set, if she wanted to live it would be best to just stick together. She opened her mouth slightly, as if she were going to say something, but Shizune was already scrambling up before she could begin. Something was wrong... She attempted to stand as well, but the room swirled and instead her head lolled back and her eyes locked up the ceiling. Something wet trailed down her back. The scrape had gotten bigger perhaps? Pain... Everything hurt...

'I have to get up...'

Then the screams began. Long and sharp. There was an accent to them, was that possible? It seemed to be. What was happening? Akane struggled up again, this time propping up on her elbows. Though she was just a few feet from the turmoil, her vision was impaired by the massive monster in front of the door. The only thing Akane could see was the countless number of dolls and blood splattering. And then it seemed to be over. The music had finally stopped, and the monster quickly scurried passed Shizune and Akane, and with one final breath Akane let out a shuddered whine and sat up fully, rubbing her legs and head gently.

Silence.

Tired hands wiped at her tear-stained face, and then she slowly stumbled until she was standing and staggered over to the classroom, leaning on the door frame. A horrible scene met her gaze. Red. Like the sky. Shreds of familiar fabric, and horrified eyes watched the still pile of gore. Akane felt her stomach churn and with slight hesitance she entered the room as well and collapsed into a crouch besides Aito, shaking him ever so gently. He seemed to be fine.

Thank God.

Wounds were checked, explanations were said, and the still, movement-less moments gave Akane just enough time to catch her breath and relax a bit. Though she was still visibly shaken by the fight before and the pile that was once Audrey, it was less so now. And then they were up again. Akane discovered that her exhaustion from before had dissipated slightly, and after a moment of wondering why she finally remembered that this "realm" apparently helped the body. Hunger was not a problem, and they would get tired less. She silently thanked... Whoever looked over this land (and then cursed them for having created this realm in the first place), and then turned to follow the group out of the room. Back in the hall, Akane found comfort among the crowd, and in complete silenced she walked along with them, staying towards the back, eyes constantly peering behind in case anything tried to sneak up on them. Her legs had ceased to bleed heavily from all the cuts, but they ached greatly, and after every step a limp would falter her movements, but her mind was focused on something else.

And that something else was the wound on Reiko's neck. It was deeply indented and seemed to be slowly turning into a bruise. Akane rose her hand to feel the very same wound that swelled around her own throat. It stung as her fingers gently brushed it, and she let out an audible gasp at the pain. Such power, that monster, The Friagne, Akane wouldn't be as reckless as she had been before around that thing. Sudden whistling quickly pulled her from her thoughts and a shadow quickly caught her eyes, just as it bumped into Reiko. At first, Akane lifted her fist and moved forward, as if she were going to throw a quick jab, but once she saw the familiar green eyes and silver hair she faltered and smiled slightly.

"Tsubasa-kun!" Akane groaned out, voice still harsh from the strangling. He looked rather uncomfortable, and appeared to be staring passed their group, at the bloody mess they had left behind. She took note of the baseball bat in his hand and then jumped a bit as he made a stiff-sounding remark at the mess. She lowered her head slightly, glancing at Shizune with dull eyes as she only uttered a single, "yeah" in response.

Shinobu Resan

---

"...?!" The otakus heroic charge came quickly to halt when Shiori decided to go on collision course. Luckily, for both of them, she let go off the chair the moment Shiroi's body violently crashed into Shinobu. Even more fortunate was the fact that Shinobu got through the rough meeting with the floor relatively harmless, apart from the small "Nya~" that hopefully no one heard as the club president's head kinda squeezed Shinobu's chest.

"What're do you think you're doing, Resan-san!?"

The green-hair slowly started to comprehend what happened, though still void of the reason Shiori actually did what she did. "Obviously trying to safe people!" The otaku quickly got up again, even if this was just a lucid dream, a very lucid one at that, she still wouldn't allow anyone to die. Paying full attention to the grotesque abnormality once again. Shinobu had to search for yet another weapon, her best bet would be something sword-like, heck, even a robust stick, after all, she wasn't carrying her practice-equipment around like a certain somebody.

Before she could even start to look for something to attack though, things happened way too quickly. "Reiko!" Instinctively crying out as Shinobu witnessed how her Senpai had a whole new experienced with desks she quickly moved towards her. However, taking just 3 steps towards Reiko was enough time for the monster to seek the weakest prey: the unconscious red-hair.

Words couldn't describe what was happening in the next few moments Shinobu helplessly stared at the monster, which name by the way she still did not know, as it had its way with Audrey. Was it the gore? The ecstatic shrieks of pain that were in rhythm with the play? The thought of her being the next? Shinobu did not know, but she was feared, even shaking, and if not for the fact of deeply believing this was just a lucid dre- nightmare, who knows what else might have happened to her. Shocked, she didn't bring out a single word after this, meaningful words spoken merely passed her by, the otaku's mind was blank. Dream or not, this just felt too real.

Before Aito could say more smartass remarks, his feeling and emotional anchor were taken away from him, as Akane pushed him into the classroom. "Even you Akane? What do peo-" Before he could end his whining, he let out a gasp at the horrific sight that was standing behind Akane and the other girl. It held both girls up by their neck. Aito was paralyzed, he couldn't move a muscle. Was all of this for real? That thing seemed to have come straight from the mind of someone like Stephen King or any other veteran Creepypasta writer. Aito watched as Akane struggled to free herself, which she accomplished, but then she turned... odd. A blood rage filled her eyes. He was too busy watching her that he didn't notice the little monsters coming out from the big one, and he didn't really care. The calm and gentle Akane he had known until now had changed, and he didn't like it.

He gritted his teeth and his body moved before his mind and he stood up. He shouted. "Give her back!" He said and started running towards the Friagne, his fist help up high. But before even getting near to it, he was slammed into the ground. He was such a fool, this was the obvious result. Now, he'd most probably would be killed. It seemed to be his lucky day, though. The monster set sights on someone else and hurried towards her. In a gruesome display, he killed her. Aito watched everything unfold in shock, while still lying. Akane came to him and shook him to make sure he was okay. He didn't respond, though, the shock was still lingering within him. How the girl's guts were now on the floor and the whole air now had a stench similar to her guts made Aito gag when he got up.

He was terrified, he couldn't stop shaking. Even so, wasn't this the perfect closure to his investigation? Supernatural things are real, and as disgusting as he pictured them. He was now intrigued. A new investigation was about to unfold, about this creatures and this world. This wasn't the time to be scared. He quickly had an idea to improvise something that could at least make the darkness stay away from his path. He turned on the flashlight of his phone and put it in his breast pocket. "Silly me, something like this should have ocurred to me a while ago." No matter, though. Now what was important was to gather information. The fear of death was still there, strong as ever, but Aito did his best to control himself, though he wasn't sure if he would be able to if the monster ever appeared in front of them again. For now, he'd have to keep at bay, if he wasnted to survive.

He went to where Yoshida was. "All right. I am scared shitless and to be honest, I myself would suggest something like separating and keeping contact through our phones, but..." He glanced in the direction of Audrey's remains. Poor girl. "After seeing that, I think we should really stick together, though I think what we need here first is some info on what's going on. Well, most specifically, on what the hell are those things? How can we avoid them? I am pretty sure we can know when that 'Friagne' is coming due to the music, but what about the little things? Give me every last bit of info you can, please, Yoshida." He said as he held a notebook in one hand and a pen in the other. In the notebook, Aito had already written the words 'Friagn' and 'World of Wasted Dreams', information was power, after all. Even so, he was glad they would stick together. More 'noble sacrifices' like Audrey's could be made and the others would escape. He glance to where Akane was and a sad smile drew itself in his face. He would try to prioritize everyone's safety, but his was priority, maybe also Akane's...

Reiko bent down and picked up her shinai. At least it wasn't broken. Just carrying it was helping her nerves. The rest of the group...well, those whose insides were still inside them at least, still looked anywhere from shaken to paralyzed with fear. The girl who claimed to have been here before - what was her name again? - said they would have a long journey ahead of them. Putting her shinai over her back and through her shirt to hold it in place without needing one of her hands, Reiko said "If we've got a long journey ahead, let's get going. Sitting here scared won't do us any good." She was still kind of scared herself, but she was at least carrying her shinai now. She figured, as long as she had this, she could at least try to fight. Knowing that alone at least did a good number on her fear.

Then there was another girl. Smaller than herself, and clearly younger. The one who had called out to Reiko by name when she'd been tossed by that Friagne thing. She knew the girl's face, but not her name. She'd seen the girl at practice for the kendo club, so Reiko at least knew she was a club member. She seemed locked in place, no doubt from what she'd just witnessed. No point in moving on if they left a living person behind. At least, that was how Reiko saw it. If this girl had been the one to die, that would be one thing. But it wasn't that thing. This girl Reiko was vaguely familiar with was alive, and to her, that was what mattered. At the very least, she could try to train her to help out defending the group if it came down to it.

Reiko made her way to the girl in question. She was pretty sure she'd heard the girl's name mentioned at least once before, but couldn't remember. Admittedly, she was a bit of a slacker as far as club presidents went, so it would kind of make sense if she forgot another club member even existed if she didn't personally know them. Making sure her shinai was in a position where it wouldn't fall through her shirt, Reiko picked up the club member she couldn't quite recall. If this girl wasn't going to move, Reiko would simply move her. "It's time to move on," the kendo club president said, partially to her fellow club member and partially to the one who had all the knowledge about this place. "You said it yourself; this won't be quick. Let's get started."

Shizune looked up at the new arrival, ready to fight or flee from the approaching figure only to sigh in relief as it turned out to only be Hazama Tsubasa. "Tsubasa-san. It's good to see you." She glanced back at the still resting group. "Long story short. We've been placed in this dimension, the World of Wasted Dreams, festering with creatures that want to consume us. It's just our group." Her thoughts automatically flew to Audrey's remains still lying dormant in the other room. Shrugging the memory off, she said, "No one else. Stick together and don't get killed."

She was about to push ahead and maybe scout the area when a familar face rudely stepped in front of her. Stifling a frustrated sigh, she listened closely as Aito questioned her for information on this world. Shrugging, she began to speak all that she knew to the curious boy.

"From what I can understand, the World of Wasted Dreams is simply a method to trap prey for consumption. I have reason to believe that this entire dimension is simply a feeding ground for some kind of apex predator. And we are the prey. However, there's been nothing to verify any of this. As for the Friagne, I have enough knowledge to know that it appears in locations that build up a high amount of negative emotion and energy. That would explain why it appeared before as I can assume we were all startled by the sudden transition from our world into this one."

"Still, why so early?"

"As for the other creatures inhabiting this hell hole, I can only provide information on ones I've personally encountered when the time arises. I'm not omniscient." When she saw Aito glance over at Akane, Shizune followed his gaze and frowned, taking a good guess of what he was planning. Something within her snapped just a little and she leaned forward to gently grab Aito by the front of his shirt.

"Don't," she hissed. "Don't you dare even consider using any of us just to make sure you can get away. I am not letting anyone else die on my hands, especially because of some coward who only cares for himself. Is that understood, Shiba-san?" Her red eyes were burning with held back rage and experience. Waiting a few seconds, she finally released him and walked to the front of the group. "I know you better than you think, Shiba-san. We are going to escape. All of us."

With that said, Shizune checked everyone else for final injuries before pressing onward. It didn't take long before they were met with a single door in the hallway. A dead end. Nowhere to go now but through it. "Come on. We might as well make a shelter for now." Entering the classroom, Shizune was mildly surprised to see that it was exactly the same as the other one. Even Audrey's shredded remains lay in the same spot as before. The only real difference was the fact that several black chairs now stood in a circle facing each other. One for each of them. Furthermore, there was no room number to identify the classroom.

Frowning, Shizune led the group inside. There were no other doors present, so this would have to make do. "We'll rest here for now everyone. I'll keep watch at the entrance for the remainder of our time here so there's no need to worry." She took one last glance at Audrey's left overs only to suppress a deep shudder."Please...try to get some rest." Easier said than done.

Without another word, the dark haired girl dragged her own chair to sit in front of the now closed door and stare. She would remain there as a first line of defense for the others. Things were at a standstill now. One person had been lost forever today, but the rest had survived. Exhaustion finally engulfing her, Shizune waited patiently at her post for time to carry ownward.

Just how long could they keep this up?

---

Day 1
"Onee-chan! Onii-chan! Save me! It hurts....big brother! Big sister! Save me!"

Shizune jerked out of her own thoughts and whirled around as the sudden intrusion of voices began to increase in pitch and volume. One second the room was silent with the sounds of peaceful snoring and forced rest when the voices exploded in the unknown classroom.

"Where...where is it coming from?" Her red eyes began scanning every which way to pinpoint the origin but it was useless. The voices eventually became erratic sobs and screams now, as if in torture. Or they were being murdered. Something new? It was certainly something she had never experienced before.

Shizune got up from her chair and looked over at the group. She opened her mouth to order them to move out and leave this place only for her to choke on a gasp. The voices....by now they were so loud and violent that it was impossible to mistake the words and tones for something else. What she heard next only made Shizune's blood turn ice cold.

"Onii-chan! Onee-chan! Please...save us! It hurts...it hurts so much! Make it stop! Please, make it stop! Kabetake! Hazama! Make it stop! Save us! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts so bad..he's....he's coming closer....please...On....chan..."

The first thought on Tsubasa’s mind upon entering the room was that maybe he should have just locked himself in the club room, if what Shizune said was true. He could have easily barricaded that door and locked himself inside. Then the only entrance would have been the small window, which he doubted anything could really fit through. And given how they seemed to be just walking in circles, something told him that he wasn’t going to be getting back there on purpose any time soon. Well, regretting wouldn’t do him anything now, so Tsubasa pushed the thoughts of holing up in the club room to the back of his mind.

Unfortunately the pile of blood and guts wasn’t quite as easy to dismiss, but sleep did come eventually. Tsubasa gripped the baseball bat tight to his chest the entire time.

---

Tsubasa dreamed everything was normal, that the previous day had never happened. He went home after helping the baseball team clean-up, helped his younger sister make dinner, did his homework, got a bath, and went to bed. He even dreamt about sleeping in his own bed with one of his younger brothers in the bed across the room.

Maybe that was why his first reaction, while still half asleep, upon hearing the cries was to go “yeah, yeah. I’ll be there in a minute” and let out a yawn. That was when it hit him. He wasn’t at home. His little brothers and sisters wouldn’t be calling for him, because he was trapped in whatever hell this was. That couldn’t be them.

But what if they’d gotten trapped here too? Tsubasa shook his head. They couldn’t have. After all, they weren’t at the school when everything happened. Even his next oldest sibling, who was only a year younger than he was, had stayed home sick that day. But still, what if? He shook his head again. No, they weren’t here. This was all just this twisted place trying to get him to mess up and do something stupid.

The fear that is was his younger siblings on the other side of that door wouldn’t go away though. no matter how many times he told himself to keep his cool and think rationally. (Then again, this place seemed to defy all forms of rationality) He edged closer to the door, baseball held tight in his left hand. He stopped when he reached the place Shizune was sitting. “They’re not real right? I mean, they’ve got to be just monsters. There’s no way,” his voice was trembling, giving away how unsure he was of the words that were coming out of his mouth. Every passing second made him less and less sure. Even though Tsubasa was fantastic at keeping his cool, it just wouldn't hold in a situation like this.