The hallways were much darker than they should've been, the overhead lights were off, but he didn't hear anybody shut them off. He could vaguely see where he was going, and that was enough.
Maybe the janitor shut them off, but the hallways were too quiet.
Soon he begins walking, each step making the lightest of sounds.
Each step echoed in the hollowness of the school, but it still felt like everyone was gone… maybe his old slightly burnt shoes caused those squeaks he heard.
Like everything was distant in a way.
Getting to the bottom of the stairwell, the doors were wide open. The doors led back to the old school.
Maybe someone forgot to close them? And by someone, the janitor forgot to shut the doors and lock them back.
Stepping back into the old abandoned school, the air shifts— colder… heavier.
Something else was on his mind also… maybe guilt?
Those papers he had in his backpack held a certain weight… not just physical weight but the mental weight too.
Not only that, but the teacher's words run back in his head, repeating over. "Some things are meant to be forgotten."
Maybe in this case, some things are meant to be left behind…
Going to the same room, he opens the door. Something was calling out to him, or more like he was moving to something.
Moving to the boxes. He puts them on the desk. Something was calling to him in that box.
Flipping through the papers, he soon finds a paper.
Holding it up, something dies inside— his name is on it.
The newspaper read—
Before he could read it…
SLAM!
Looking up, at the door, a human stood there.
The thing stepped fully into view.
It looked human… but wrong.
Blackened skin which was peeled and cracked. One side of the face was fully charred beyond recognition, and the other side still had its shape. For a second, he saw himself…
A melted version of him.
It stood there twitching… then it ran.
Mason bolted away from the desk.
Moving to the left, he quickly got away from the charred him.
As he gets to the hallway, he quickly runs down it. He then realizes— it's all closing in on him. Everything around him seemed like it was shifting, things were falling apart and falling near him as he ran from himself.
"I'm still here, you cannot run…"
Mason tripped, then fell at the end of the hallway.
Looking around him, the roof was caved in, and everything felt… hot?
"I'm still here…" The charred boy stood there… with slight tears… then he lay beside Mason.
"Accept it— your death, so we don't relive this day over and over."
Mason looks at his hands, and they're completely charred— his body falls apart… he realizes— he's been dead. He sits himself up and accepts his death.