21: HIDE!

June didn’t even get a chance to say a word, as he just stared at Aki’s back until she disappeared. It is his first time seeing her in that mood. Meanwhile, Raia was busily untucking his polo shirt. He had just arrived in his room and was about to change clothes. His necktie was still hanging on his neck when he walked towards the map that was attached to the wall.

He stared at it for almost 30 seconds before he shrugged his shoulders. "Arghh! No matter how many times I looked at it, I’m still missing another piece! What would it be?" he asked himself before he furiously sat on his bed, still looking at the map.

It’s been a week now since he started his research. For now, all he knows is the general structure of the island. It’s probably about a couple of miles, but even Raia wasn’t sure about it. It's just his wild guess. 

After a long thought, his mind suddenly felt tired. He let his body be pulled down by gravity and lay down on the bed. He felt his eyes getting heavy, so he slowly closed his eyes until he fell asleep.

Raia was unaware of a woman outside his room. Her ear was pressed against the door as if she was listening to every movement of the young man inside. The girl turned around when she heard footsteps and quickly hid, sensing the arrival of someone. After the two men had passed and entered their respective rooms, the woman immediately left the men's dormitory.

The next day, June immediately saw Raia carrying books that seemed to have been returned to the archives. He immediately approached to help and asked in a whisper, "How are you? Did you learn anything new about it?"

Raia looked around first before slowly arranging the books on the shelves. "For now, there's not much. But last night, I heard loud noises near the women's bathroom. I don't know who or what caused that sound, but when I went to the bathroom at night, I saw a human figure on the wall. I'm sure all the women were already asleep at that time, and I can't be wrong; that person was huge, no doubt. It could be a ghoul," he said flatly, without hesitation.

Even June was speechless. In fact, he was curious about what she was saying, but he couldn't help but worry. Now that their leads about it are piling up, they are hoping that no one will be eaten, just like Fletcher and Osamu. Well, that's what Raia has been thinking all the time. He wants to save everyone, but June was thinking the other way around.

As they walked toward the end of the archive shelves, a woman suddenly appeared in front of them. "Hello!" she cheerfully greeted them.

"Aki!"  June called out to her in surprise.

"What are you talking about? It seems so serious," Aki said, looking at June before glancing at Raia.

Raia didn't know how to act in front of Aki. He didn't have many friends, and he had never talked to girls like this before.

"Ah, we were just talking about the next test. We heard from Mr. Rayven earlier that there would be a new test tomorrow, so we're preparing for it together," he nervously said, avoiding eye contact.

Aki immediately suspected something but decided to play dumb. "Oh, okay, sure," she said, putting her hand behind her back. Raia was about to pass by her, but Aki blocked her way.

"Can we pass through?" Raia asked.

"Hmm, sure, but can I borrow that book first?" Aki asked, holding out her hand. Raia and June looked at the last book they had brought, the one from Mr. Rayven's office. They were about to return it, but they didn't expect Aki to see it.

"What do you mean? We don't have any books with us anymore. I already returned them all, sorry," Raia lied, but Aki slightly smiled at her.

"Oh, really?" she asked, slowly approaching Raia. Raia was about to step back, but Aki quickly hugged him to get the book hidden behind his back.

June was about to get it first, but Aki quickly ran away with it. 

"Thank you for this! Don't worry, I'll take care of it!" exclaimed the girl loudly before quickly running away. Raia was immediately alarmed and was about to chase after the girl when June stopped her.

"What do you mean, it's okay?" Raia couldn't believe what his companion had just said. He had been careful to hide the book and had been reading it for days without Mr. Rayven noticing that it was missing. If he finds out that Aki has the book, they will be in trouble. But June's words contradicted what Raia was thinking.

"It won't be our fault if Mr. Raven sees her reading that book; let her be," June said as he looked seriously in the direction the girl had run off to. So Raia just let Aki go until she disappeared from their sight.

Instead of chasing after Aki, they headed to their dormitory and talked there. They waited until everyone was asleep before they went to the girls' bathroom. Since the bathroom was on the right side of the building, they had to walk around to get to it.

June and Raia looked at each other and felt their surroundings. They stayed there for a few minutes until they noticed a small shadow of a person running very quickly. The two of them followed the shadow, trying not to make any noise.

But they were surprised when they realized where the shadow was headed. The two of them looked at each other and nodded. With a signal from Raia, they quietly walked into Mr. Rayven's office. This was where Raia first encountered the strange event where he saw a ghoul, causing him to remember Osamu's death.

They looked around and noticed that the room was as silent and dark as it had been on previous days. Raia glanced at the secret passage, but it was closed now. They exerted all their strength to open it and almost had to work together to do so. They were about to go down when they suddenly felt someone behind them.

"Who's that?!" June bravely turned to look behind them, but they didn't see anyone, not even Raia. Nonetheless, they both felt uneasy, as if someone was watching them.

They looked at each other before turning back to the basement, but suddenly, a woman greeted them.

"Yo!" she said while looking directly at them. Their eyes widened in surprise, especially since her eyes were the only thing shining in the dark.

"Aki! What are you doing here?" June asked his friend, and his voice was filled with annoyance.

"Huh? Nothing. I just saw you two walking in the hallway, so I followed you," she replied.

June placed her hand on his forehead in exasperation. Eventually, they had no choice but to take Aki with them. When they went down to the basement, they slowly closed the door, so Mr. Rayven wouldn't know that anyone had entered the basement once he returned back.

Once inside, they looked around the room.

"What the heck?" exclaimed Aki in disbelief upon seeing what was inside. They had just entered the basement and immediately saw blood splattered all around. They looked around, but there was nothing else to see except for the scattered blood and what appeared to be killing tools.

Raia covered her mouth and looked around, while June couldn't help but cringe upon seeing a piece of a finger on the floor. They continued walking and didn't even notice that Aki had gotten separated from them. Suddenly, they heard a loud scream from a distance.

"AHHHH!!! AHHHH!!!"  The scream was filled with terror.

June and Raia immediately ran in the direction of the scream.

"Aki!"  June called out loudly and hugged her tightly as she cried uncontrollably.

"Wh-what the hell is this place?! What are we even doing here?!!" Aki asked fearfully, but June couldn't answer him.

They slowly turned their heads to where Aki was looking and saw a head inside a tube. June couldn't bear to look at Osamu's face, while Raia immediately turned around and vomited.

As they tried to hold back their fear, they heard some rustling from the other end of the basement. They quickly hid behind the tube where Osamu's head was placed and crouched down with their eyes closed, praying that they wouldn't be seen by whoever or whatever was making the noise.

Even Aki, who was crying non-stop, tried to cover her mouth. Raia couldn't hold back his tears and tried to stay quiet as he looked toward the source of the noise. But instead of seeing anything, he was greeted by Osamu's floating face in the tube, causing him to bow his head in horror.

Out of the three of them, it seemed like only June was able to remain calm, although he was also afraid in his mind. Suddenly, the creatures came closer and closer to them.

With their mouths covered and their eyes fixed on the creatures, they were shocked to see a large creature approaching them. A few minutes later before they realized something.

They were doomed. It looks like the creature is going to take the tube where they are hiding from.