Staying rooted with door behind for what felt like forever, his feet started walking on their own and then sat at the small wet and broken desk
Wiping the tears that formed and trickled from his eyes cleared the once obscured vision in the process
'Calm down. Calm down'
Those thoughts were constantly repeated to reassure-no to hypnotize himself into believing that he'd be fine if he simply thought rationally
'For some unknown reason they aren't attacking me, maybe it's that they can't? Or maybe they see me as one of their own and don't see any reason to attack me?'
Whatever it was, it meant that Cale still had a way to survive, hope that he might survive this ridiculous situation
'But, What's the point? If I'm stuck here then there is no use in prolonging my life is there? No hold on, it's not 100% certain that I can't get out of here and return to my World'
Conflicting negative thoughts on what to do kept clashing with positive thoughts filled with hope for a while when suddenly
BANG
The sliding door which had been opened closed with such strength that it made Cale flinch involuntarily due to the loud noise it produced
Looking to his right, he saw the closed sliding door but no one came through it
He then looked to his left, a giant moon hung over and covered the entire sky, conquering and making it its own
[Do not look at the fake moon. Look. At. Only. Me]
"!"
A chilling voice filled the entire room in an instant, heads snapped at the direction of the arrogant one who demanded everyone's attention
The floors creaked slightly under the light, elegant and long legs of the figure
While Cale couldn't exactly tell what its true form was since its body was invisible, However It was certain that the being was a humanoid Invisible Creature, With only It's neat suit and Glasses being the only visible thing on its clear body
This 'creature' if Cale can even call it that suddenly appeared on the podium and then spoke in a soft voice, completely different from the chilling and demanding tone that made one's fingers feel cold when hearing it
[Hello there my students. Do forgive my sudden appearance as I'm sure I startled a few]
Though the invisible being didn't have any eyes, Cale could tell that it was looking directly at him when uttering those words
'I really, really hope that's my imagination'
He knew it wasn't just some imagination, it really was staring at him only
[My name is Carlos Ashen and I am the teacher in charge of class A3]
Cale's eyes widened slightly in surprise
'Hm? In charge? Was he the one that brought me here or invited me here then?'
He quickly shook that astonishment and focused on his theories, his thoughts were the only thing he could count on right now after all
'It's a plausible theory, after all the Envelope I have could just be an invitation...'
Cale reached and tried to check what was inside the Envelope, when-
"!!!"
His face crumbled and twisted, paling more and more by the second
'I-I don't have the Envelope?! How?! I was confident I put it in my pocket-'
He scrambled his pockets but then realized
'Wait, did I put it in my pocket? No I'm sure I did I remember putting it in-'
"..."
Cale couldn't remember where he had put the Envelope no matter how hard he tried to recall
'Did it. Disappear? After all, The moment I took the Envelope and came into this old school I didn't have it on me at all as if I had never found an Envelope in the first place'
Carlos tapped on the old and ruined lectern in front of him that seemed as if it would fall apart any second and called out
[Cale Dice did you perhaps say something?]
"?!"
Momentarily, Cale stayed stunned before excessively shaking his head and denying of saying anything out loud
'The moment I entered this classroom no one has said a word in fact I can't even hear anyone breathing. Though I don't know if what I am doing right now is the correct choice, I believe keeping my silence like every one else is the correct answer'
This behaviour could be called conformity or social imitation, Cale had observed that the other monsters were not doing anything, not moving or even breathing in that regard
He simply imitated what the other monsters were doing with the only difference being that he had a reason why he should imitate them
[I see...Well then please forgive me for doubting you]
"?"
'Doubting me? What does he mean by that? What was he doubting?'
Cale was perplexed by what Carlos said to him, his question would remain unanswered for a long time
Drip
"..."
Blood dripped and fell on the wet and broken desk, the blood mixed with the small puddle that was already on the desk
[What is wrong?]
Carlos seemed to have noticed the pale and twitching Cale, his lips quivered, it had been like that from the start, Carlos simply had not noticed till now
[Ah, do not worry about that, that is simply the blood of the filthy]
Carlos said this with the intention of comforting and calming the shaken Cale but it only made him quiver even more than before
Sweat trickled, His eyes turned teary but his expression stayed oddly stoic
"..."
'A-Aren't I filth?'
He was the only one who was different, so from a twisted perspective he could be considered as 'filth'
[Well then since none of you seem to have any questions let's start with the introductions and what you will need to look out for going forward]
Carlos ignored the scared and frightened Cale and proceeded
Bang!
Carlos slammed a textbook with a green cover on the old and wrecked podium. The moment he had done that. Everything had been engulfed by the dark.
A darkness that swirled and engulfed all of my surroundings, my vision, my body and my very own sense of self
It was a strange sensation, Cale could only describe it like this, no better words were suited for the feeling he felt right now
I wasn't a fan of the dark. Whenever I was in a dark isolated room I'd always be on edge and feel a tinge of fear. However this darkness felt....gentle. eerily gentle
This darkness persisted longer and a gentle and warm voice kept whispering in his ear to take deep breaths and calm himself down
He surrendered to the gentle and warm voice and did exactly as it had told him and calmed down as if his fear from before had been a lie
As he did that the darkness surrounding his entire being had long since retreated as if It was all a hallucination and he found himself sitting down In an all too familiar chair with the desk and backpack and.....the Envelope as if it had never disappeared sat on the clean and modern desk with a long white hair strand that seemed to belong to a girl on top of it
"!?"
Looking at the surroundings again and laying his eyes upon a modern classroom and seeing the human students and human teacher it had finally dawned on him that he returned back from that strange world with little to no problem
No had he even been there in 'Gardenia' in the first place?
"...."
Locking his eyes on the Envelope again, he reached his hand out and was about to grab and tear open the Envelope to see what was written on it, but quickly dismissed the thought
'If touching the Envelope is the reason for my transportation then I shouldn't touch it'
It was a thought that was made based on the fact that he had been transported to Gardenia because of the Envelope
A classic 'learn by experiencing it firsthand' situation
'Wait, then how will I bring this home?'
Pondering about it for a little while, he came to a swift conclusion
'I don't need to do this do I? I mean no one is visibly forcing me is there? Of course if someone comes across the Envelope they'll be in danger, but so am I. I won't risk my survival for someone else when they don't even know they are being saved and I am no hero, I am just an ordinary guy going to high school'
Who would try to be the hero and try to face something like that so other don't? It wasn't him, was there some sort of medicine that could only be found there to cure his illness? No, Cale was a healthy boy with a loving family that cared about him deeply
Why would anyone risk their lives for a simple heroic reason?
'Even if I did have a sense of justice and tried to destroy Gardenia'
He considered it at the very least
'How am I supposed to even do that?'
But shot it down just as quickly
'I don't know how to handle this kind of situation and I'm confident that I'd make too many mistakes trying to do this'
He was right, how could he, of all people handle a situation like this with no information under his belt whatsoever
If he had a manual? then he would be more confident, but even that would still make it reckless,
'Overall this is too reckless for me to do' Thinking hard about what to do next, he took notice of the long white hair strand on his desk above the Envelope.
"..?"
"What?"
The hair strand that he thought was for a very long time white turned out to be blonde, No it had turned from white to blonde
"How did-"
"Hey are you okay?"
"?"
"You seem a little pale today Cale"
A familiar figure entered his vision and it was girl with a petite figure with black hair and brown eyes
It was Catrina
Catrina Rouge
And she stood before him, a perplexed expression decorated on her face, hair strands clung to her cheek
Surprise instantly filled Cale's face, but almost just as fast, he immediately pulled a poker face and answered her
"You look short as always, Catrina"
He looked intently at her, his face held no fear, his voice confident and upright as if he didn't just face a life threatening situation a few moments prior, molding an 'Acting Tough' exterior