The first emotion Dan felt right away was panic.

The second was… well, still panic.

Dan had completely forgotten he had his phone on him. He had been too engrossed by the fact that he was trapped in a room with a mysterious occultist to even consider putting his phone back on silent.

Fumbling in his pockets, Dan searched his person for the object that just sent him to his death. If he ever made it out of this alive, he swore, he’s putting his phone on Do Not Disturb forever.

Unfortunately for him, his uniform was rather large and full of frilly folds, making the quest for his phone rather difficult. The rustling sound coming from his clothes made Dan extremely nervous.

Sure, it probably couldn’t be heard over the ritual, but at the same time, he still had the urge to hide his presence as much as possible. Even though his phone did just the opposite.

After what took a good minute, he found his cell and hid the bright screen away from the direction of the man. Glancing down at the familiar face on his screen, Dan internally sighed.

Apparently his sister decided to call him back. A photo of her face from his contacts page filled his screen, and his ringtone blared loud enough for the whole country to hear, including the man summoning something with a pile of blood nearby.

Numbly, Dan answered the phone.

“Where the HELL are you?” His sister’s voice shouted louder than the wailing moans from the summoner’s circle.

“...Uh sis, now’s not the time…” Dan tried to keep his voice down to no avail. He had already been discovered, he was sure of it.

“No, don’t you DARE ghost me, kiddo. I’ve been waiting forever for you to get home. Just got out of the shower and I find that you’re still not back. Do you know how worried I was? Get your ass back here now!”

“Shh, sis! I’m serious, I can’tー”

The man’s voice cuts in: “WHO’S THERE?”

Dammit.

“What was that? Who are you with? Dan! Tell me where you are.”

“Sis, I really can’t talk right now. I’m prolly with a murderer, and I’m still at school.”

“Hey! What do you meanー”

“Bye, Miko!”

Dan slammed his thumb on the end call button, and gasped for air. He never felt more petrified in his life. It was as though he was being pulled apart and reformed back together again.

His sister really had a knack for timing

Dan made another silent promise that if he got out of this situation, he will never leave his bed ever again. Apparently, nothing good ever came out of getting up in the morning and going outside. He’d rather stay inside for the rest of his life.

“COME OUT!”

Dan nearly jumped from fright. The man’s voice was furious and seemed as if it wanted to tear Dan limb from limb. Yet, Dan still couldn’t face the man, he didn’t want to feel the full force of his wrath.

So Dan did what any self-preserving person would do in his situation (if that was even possible). He stayed hidden and didn’t reveal himself no matter what.

As he tucked his good foot even further under himself, he stayed rooted at the ground. And when that wasn’t enough for him, he closed his eyes shut and did all he could to retreat more into himself mentally.

To him, nothing was going right tonight, and the thought of possibly dying was right around the corner. Thus Dan tried to shut himself down and not think about all the threats that loomed over him.

Outside, the man kept screaming after him to show himself. The wailing had grown much louder and at an alarming rate. The voices sounded shrill, as if they were getting frustrated and more impatient.

The man who once thought he was going to succeed grew even more nervous.

Were the voices upset by the intruder? Or are they upset with me?

The shadowy figure became confused at what he should do, he was never disturbed in his practices before. Even then, he had total concentration and calculated his attempts very well. He had no backup protocol for this kind of thing, he only followed whatever he did by the book.

Yet, the book never had anything for this particular scenario.

The man did not know what was going to happen, but he sensed that something dreadful would arrive if he stayed. He couldn’t risk getting himself harmed by his own misjudgements, he should leave the place now while he still can.

And the intruder?

Who could care less about them, it’s their own damn fault for coming in here. Let them get blamed for this.

With that thought in mind, the man bent low and picked up a few of the talismans he drew out, not covered in blood, and stuffed them in his outer coat. He’ll save those for when he’ll need them later.

He didn’t bother with destroying the circle, he thought that maybe it won’t get traced back to him as long as there was a scapegoat crouching somewhere in the room. So instead, he just picked up his candle and his cane, ignored the moans of the hellish creatures, and fled the room.

The door slammed shut behind him, jolting Dan awake once again.

Did he leave ?

Dan didn’t want to look, what if the man pretended to leave just to lure him out? He could still just be inside the room waiting for Dan to appear. That’d certainly be one cruel trick to play, and Dan didn’t want to fall for it.

So he decided to sit still again. Nothing could ever get to him now, he reasoned, he wouldn’t budge, even if the world decided to move him. He’d be safe just by sitting in place.

Or so he thought.

The howling outside grew more inconsistent. There was no one chanting a spell to keep the voices contained, so they ended up running over themselves and tripping.

They sounded upset, to Dan’s ears, and so things started to fly around the room.

Like the desk that was protecting poor Dan.

When the table fell, it tumbled with a large *clack!* and exposed Dan to the outside world. A slight wind caused by the angry spirits blew hard against the walls, spilling all the chalk from the blackboard and a pile of papers nearby to the ground.

It whipped violently at Dan, and his blood ran cold as goosebumps filled him arms. He shivered heavily, trying to cover up his limbs with more fabric of his uniform.

The voices never ceased, they kept whining and hissing. As they did so, the wind kept coming without an end as well, irritating Dan’s hair and all the loose objects in the room.

Dan wanted to run away so bad, but due to his injury, it was difficult for him to move. He wished with all his heart that he could get up, but even if he was able to, he had lost sight of the keys.

The man before was able to leave without them, but Dan did not know what exit he took. By the time he probably found it, it would be too late. He should just go out the only way he knew how to: the main entrance.

But those doors needed to be unlocked.

Fate was too cruel.

PLEASE JUST LET ME GET OUT OF HERE! This is too unfair. (˚ ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅ )

He felt a sting of frustration well up inside of him. He was really going to die, huh? And at a school he’s only attended for a day no less.

He would never see his sister again or tell her he was sorry. He felt bad for wanting to lie to her earlier. Secretly, he was now glad she didn’t pick up the first time. He’d rather not let that be the last thing he said to her.

More moments of Dan’s life flashed before his eyes. Most of the memories that surfaced were mostly either that of his sister or of just him. He had no memories of spending time with anyone else, which made him feel even more pathetic than he already was.

If he were to die now, he’d never make a proper friend. Sure he didn’t really mind being alone at times, but he would have hoped that one day, he could meet someone he could connect with that wasn’t his family.

Was my life really that sad? I don’t want to go away yet! There’s still so much I want to do…

“I don’t want to die.”

Dan felt the tears he'd been holding for so long cascade down his face. There was no use in trying to cover them now. So he didn't bother to wipe them away, and instead he just allowed them to fall. 

The wailing seemed distant to him now. Actually, it was his own thoughts that were the loudest in the room.

“Someone save me.”

He crumpled down, and sobbed. He no longer felt the wind, no longer heard the voices. He just heard his own despair, and felt it consume him whole.

Unknowingly, his voice mixed with the others in the room, but his wails were much different. Everyone else sounded full of hate and malice, but his weeps were ones of pain and longing.

Dan continued to cry, and so did the voices. His lower sobs and their high pitched screeches blurred together in a cacophony. It was a hellish choir, singing two songs at the same time and at different paces.

If any human were to listen in, they would just run away from the noise before their ears started to bleed.

However, the one ear that did decide to listen to this awful music was not of this earth.

“Would you QUIT that racket?”