Chapter 8 Round & Round 1

The search for Gwen was fruitless, they didn't even catch a glimpse of her shadow. Elaine had a quiet suspicion that June already knew they wouldn't find her. Still, the two of them wandered through the school as June showed her all the places she needed to know.

Elaine found the school beautiful, very different from the world outside. The buildings stood antique, aged, and elegant, like something preserved out of time. She wondered what was the inspiration behind such architecture.

Yet, as they walked, certain parts of the school felt… wrong.

Not visibly. Not clearly.

But Elaine noticed how her steps slowed without meaning to, as though something unseen pressed faintly against her chest, urging her not to go further. The air in those places felt heavier, quieter, like sound itself had been softened.

June passed through them without hesitation, without even a glance.

Elaine said nothing, but the feeling stayed with her. She wondered if June was feeling the same way or it was just her.

------

"Ughhh, I'm exhausted," June groaned, collapsing lifelessly onto the bed.

It was already late afternoon. They were back in June and Gwen's room.

"It was your idea to show me around the school," Elaine said, settling onto the couch.

"It was worth it," June mumbled, stretching lazily, "but now I think I'm too tired for the evening games."

"I don't believe you're that tired. It was just a few hours of walking."

"I know," June said, dragging out her words, "but I'm a very lazy person."

Elaine shook her head slightly and returned to her room.

She lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Weird," she muttered.

Her gaze shifted when she heard something outside the window.

She stilled.

It came again.

A faint, dry crunch, like someone stepping on fallen leaves beneath the trees.

Elaine swallowed. For a moment, she considered ignoring it, pretending she hadn't heard anything at all.

"it is probably one of the students outside" she concluded. But the sound came again, deliberate this time. It was weird and beckoning.

She pushed herself up and walked toward the window, her movements slow, cautious. It was still bright outside. That gave her just enough courage.

Pulling the curtain aside, she looked down at the trees below.

Nothing.

No one.

No movement.

She stayed there longer than she meant to, scanning the ground, the shadows, the spaces between the trunks.

Still nothing.

And then, silence.

The sound stopped completely, leaving behind only the distant chatter of students somewhere far off.

Elaine lingered for a few seconds more before letting the curtain fall.

She had barely turned back when she felt it.

A sudden chill.

It spread through the room unnaturally fast, wrapping around her like something unseen. Elaine instinctively hugged herself, her brows knitting in confusion.

It hadn't been this cold before.

"Is this room haunted?" she thought as she had heard that whenever a ghost was around, temperature always fell.

Her skin prickled.

A shiver ran down her spine, sharp,deliberate.

Her breath caught.

Her body reacted before her thoughts could catch up.

Her skin dampened with sweat, yet something deeper, her bones, her chest felt frozen.

Elaine quickly climbed onto the bed, pulling the blanket over herself, covering herself completely as though that alone could keep whatever it was away.

Nothing happened.

There was no sound.

No movement.

Still—

Her heart refused to settle.

"Nothing happened," she whispered under the blanket. "There's no one here."

But even as she said it, a thought crept in,

It felt like something had been there…

…and had only just stepped away.

"No reason to be afraid," she added quietly.

Eventually, exhaustion overtook her.

And she fell asleep.

-------

"I thought you wouldn't make it," Elaine said when she saw June.

They stood in the open field, surrounded by students. It was Sunday night. The sky stretched wide and clear above them, the moon glowing softly while stars scattered across the darkness.

The atmosphere felt alive, almost too alive.

The unease from earlier had faded… or perhaps it had simply been pushed aside.

"I can't wait to find out what we'll be doing tonight!" June said, practically bouncing with excitement.

"Is it compulsory to participate?" Elaine asked.

"No, it isn't. But what fun is there in just watching others play?"

"But you also risk doing someone else's fieldwork."

"That was just one time!" June protested. "You'll be participating, right?"

"I'm not sure."

"You have to be."

"I said I'm not."

June pouted. "I'm not taking that. You just don't want to stand on the sidelines while everyone else has fun."

"Personally, I don't think it's bad to just watch."

"Oh, it is!"

"I don't think it is."

"Well, you will join. It's your first time, I promise it will be memorable."

Elaine gave her a look. "When is it starting?"

"Soon."

"Who's hosting it?"

"Students."

"Students?" Elaine frowned. "I haven't seen any teachers or staff around."

"You'll only see teachers during class hours. And in classrooms."

"Really?" Elaine ashes genuinely shocked.

"Yes," June said casually.

Elaine hesitated. "Is that right?"

"I don't know," June replied with a small shrug, "but to put it simply… Herbert Wilbur belongs to the students."

Something about the way she said it made Elaine uneasy.

It was too easy. Too natural. Like it was something everyone accepted without question.

Or something no one questioned at all.

"What if there are disputes or fights?" Elaine asked.

"As long as it's not during learning hours, they settle it themselves." June's reply was too casual that Elaine looked around. The students didn't look lawless to her. In fact, they seemed more polish than regular students. Probably that was why the staffs didn't see the need to interfere much. She decided.

"So where do the teachers stay?"

"The admin block."

"The…?"

"Administration building," June clarified.

Elaine frowned slightly. "Where is it? I don't remember passing it."

"We didn't."

June's tone shifted.

Subtle, but there.

"I don't like it there."

It was the first time her voice had lost its playfulness. To say, it was cold and hard, much similar to Gwen's.

Elaine opened her mouth. "So I—"

A sudden hush rippled through the crowd.

June's head snapped forward.

"Oh," she said, grabbing Elaine's hand, her excitement returning just as quickly, "I think it's time."

And before Elaine could say anything else, she was pulled into the crowd.