Silent Tale

Silent Tale

There was a huge metal gate between him and his destination. Peeking through the bars he could already tell that something was off about this building.

'Do all schools have statues of violent warriors on their lawns? It does not seem very kid friendly...'

From outside of the gates he could make out various human shapes of the statues. Most were broken; remains scattered across the dead grass. Some were destroyed beyond recognition, plants and vines growing wildly around the marble.

There was only one statue that was not broken, unfortunately it was dangerously slanted backwards, just one push and it would most likely fall down. The figure was a rather chubby woman and her posture was similar to that of the lady of liberty. Except instead of a torch, she was holding a very pointy yet still a bit rusty iron sword. He pointedly walked around the statue, not even getting close to the large marble woman. It looked harmless enough, but the sword put him on edge...

Walking forward, Papyrus puts a delicate hand on the decaying bars and pushes it slightly, testing the strength. There was a thick chain tied together, fortunately, there was no lock. He uncoiled the rusty chains and let it fall to the ground with a loud CLANK!

The tall skeleton sneezed as he opened the entrance gate and dust floated around. He held still for a moment, afraid that the noise had attracted unwanted attention. When everything was still quiet he carefully opened the creaking gate until he could squeeze through.

Once he was inside he slammed the gate shut and looked around. The ground was muddy and damp, with a couple of grass growing in wild patches. The building itself looked nothing different than the rest of the town; empty and abandoned. If Serif didn't leave the map, Papyrus was certain that he would have never guessed that his friend would risk staying here; Just looking at it made his spine tingle.

Papyrus wiped the sweat off his skull and walked on the concrete steps leading to the front of the building. This place looked much too large for a children's school. At least that was his opinion, he hasn't seen enough schools to compare them by size.

Jogging towards the entrance, the tall monster smiled when he saw that it wasn't boarded shut. He opened the door slowly, careful not to make too much noise, and quickly went inside. Leaving the door open behind him he glanced around the empty halls for any potential danger but there was nothing but shadows. He crossed his arms when a gust of wind blew through the lobby. The whole building was cold and unnaturally dark, some of the fluorescent lights flickered at random moments before dying out. He stood there in the dusty hallway, surrounded by ancient lockers and various school supplies around the floor.

'What now...?'

Papyrus looked blankly at the broken tables and chairs. He had thought that Serif would at least reveal his presence by now.

'... Maybe he's hiding in one of the rooms..?'

As much as he didn't want to step any further inside the hauntingly broken school, he had to find Serif. Standing around wouldn't accomplish anything.

He checked each and every door he came across. Every room was empty. The walls were stained by water, blood, and yellow fluids. Grafitti littered about every flat surface he could see in the poor lighting. Some of the rooms had decaying corpses of animals and humans. The rest had been to dark to see.

One of the desolate halls had a demonic dog patrolling the area and he had to hide in an empty classroom until it wandered away. Another hallway had two hooked creatures standing guard. He passed them by throwing a book to the other side of the hallway, causing the mutants to get distracted by the noise.

The next hall split into two different paths. He decided to go to the right hallway first, since it looked more emptier than the one on the left. After walking for five minutes he came across red double doors. Since the entrance was different, he was curious as to what kind of classroom this room contained.

Opening the door he was met with a hundred books and bookshelves all lined up in neat lines. The lighting in this room was much better than any of the other ones he's been to so far. Stepping inside he thought it was safe enough to investigate and continued on. As he passed by aisles and aisles of books he couldn't help but appreciate the neatness of this classroom. So far, every room he went in were chaotic and dirty, as if a tornado had went through. But this library (what else could this room be?) was as neat and clean as if it was just built yesterday.

He looked at the shelf of red books in the science section of the aisle and one especially thick midnight blue cover immediately caught his attention. Not only was this particular book still wrapped in its clear bag, but it was also halfway out, as if someone didn't bother to properly put it in place.

He pulled the book out and looked at the cover. It didn't have a title, but the front was decorated in intricate golden patterns. Mesmorized by its beauty, Papyrus took the heavy book with him and sat on a nearby table. He carefully removed the bag and flipped to a random page, gasping softly in awe.

It appeared to be a book detailing the incredible knowledge of the heavens above. Every page had information and facts on each beautifully and detailed pictures of various planets, galaxies, stars, and nebulas. He idly turned pages, as each drawing seemed to grow more gorgeous than the last.

'Sans would LOVE to have a book like this...'

He was flipping so fast he almost passed by a small red envelope in the middle of a page. Curious, he took the parchment out and was about to open it when he hears a muffled sob.

He straightens up and quickly puts the envelope back, rewraps the book, and stuffs it in his bookbag. He silently walks towards the noise and sees the source of the crying. He sees a little blonde girl with braided pigtails tied together by pink bows. Her dress was equally pink and was torn on some places; she wasn't wearing any shoes.

Papyrus didn't want to frighten the child so he tried to speak in a soft, comforting voice. "U-um... Excuse me? A-are you okay? Do you need help...?"

The little girl jumps at his voice and looks at him with wary black eyes. Now that he could see her face clearly, he could guess that she was probably five or six years old.

When she didn't respond, the tall skeleton repeats his question.

She looks at him, face pinched in concentration. "No." She finally says. "I don't need your help... And even if I did, I wouldn't accept any help from someone like you." She sneers at him in a disgusted way.

Papyrus blinks, surprised by her reply. "O-oh. That's quite alright." He feels his soul flare; but not in a good way. "I-I just thought I w-would offer. Just i-in case... Y-you needed it-"

"Well I don't need your help. So you can just leave now. I'll find my own way home, I don't need you!" The little girl glares at him in a challenging way, as if daring him to do something about it, before turning away.

Papyrus paused. He admitted that he didn't know much about human children, but he knew this place wasn't safe for most adults, let alone kids. Despite all this, the tall monster found himself walking away from the young girl and out of the library. In any other circumstances, he would've at least tried better to convince the girl to accept his help. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough time to persuade her. Besides he couldn't force her to do anything, if she didn't want his assistance he was sure she could take care of herself. All that mattered was finding Serif.

Once he was out of the library he retraced his steps and went back to the divided hallways, going left instead. It was hard to tell where he was going since the lack of light and windows made it almost impossible to see. He would've used his flashlight but the lights overhead would flicker and help guide his way on his journey (He would also see strange figures in menacing positions in the corner of his eyes. He could also hear the faint footsteps shadowing him).

He continued walking and came across another set of grey double doors. The major difference between this one and the one that lead to the library was mainly because these doors had bloody numbers written on them. The writing was barely readable but Papyrus was persistant in figuring out the shapes.

'06661'

The tall skeleton pushed the door but found it locked. He stood there for a while, debating whether the room was worth being broken into and nearly screamed when a voice broke out behind him.

Whirling around he placed a hand where his heart would be and warily eyed the little girl from the library. She looked at him with the same distrustful look from before, and he realized that she had asked him a question and was expecting a response.

"E-excuse me? I-I didn't quite c-catch that." He quietly stammered.

The little girl rolled her eyes. "I said that I'm sorry. I should've let you help me." She looked sad now, blood flowing freely out of her eyes. "But it's too late for me now."

"W-wha-"

That was all Papyrus could say before a giant hammer slammed onto the human child. He didn't even have time to close his mouth before blood, guts, and all manner of body fluids splattered messily onto the walls and floors. He didn't bother to shield himself from the wave of gore, too stunned by her death to do anything.

He quickly stepped back when a light flickered and he saw the huge shape of the girl's killer. Like most of the demons he encountered, the mutant had decaying ash skin and putrid flesh. It also wore a porcelain mask similar to the hooked creatures' but this one had a mad expression drawn on it instead. The creature had the upper body of a obese human male and the rest of the body of a giant four legged spider. Despite it being obviously overweight, it still possessed the strength of a body builder, as it casually raised the massive hammer back onto its meaty arms, leaving behind a bloody crater.

Papyrus took a step back, and quickly pulled out his knife. Other than the alpha demon dog this was the biggest foe he had to face. Looking at the fat muscles clenching around the hammer he felt his confidence waver. How exactly was he suppose to win against this beast?!

Strategy after strategy flew through his skull, too fast to actually make sense but enough to make his head spin. This was bad. He was beginning to panic and he knew it. He couldn't afford to make mistakes.

Unfortunately, his opponent didn't seem to need to plan its attacks. It lazily swung its huge hammer horizontally, making Papyrus yelp as he hurriedly ducked to avoid it. The beast expertly spun its weapon like a baton before slamming it on the spot the tall skeleton was seconds ago

The poor monster couldn't help but whimper a bit when he saw how deep the crater was. 'One hit...' He thought hopelessly. 'One hit from that hammer is all it would take to k-kill me...'

After a few more swings the spider mutant seemed to have figure out that its attacks were not having any real affect. It took a few steps back, both hands on the hammer before crouching a bit.

'W-wha-?!'

Papyrus quickly cartwheeled out of the way as the demon barged forward in a sudden burst of unusual speed. The obese mutant crashed into the locked double doors like it was made of paper. Not even bothering to glance at the mystery room, Papyrus quickly turned around and ran. It wasn't long before he heard the thundering footsteps of his foe hot on his heels.

Three of the hooked creatures patrolling the hallways tried to swipe and chase after the skeleton, only for him to dodge out of the way and them getting bulldozed by the human spider. The demonic man seemed to have no concerns whatsoever about killing its allies.

Every once in a while the slim monster would sharply turn in a random direction and watch as the demon crashed clumsily into whatever was in front of it. Though it was unnaturally fast for its size, it fortunately seemed to have trouble stopping and changing directions once it starts charging.

Papyrus purposely changed directions whenever the moment presented itself. Various cuts and bruises now littered the mutants grotesque form and it grunted in pain for every step it took. There had to be a way to use its own speed against it...

After a while of running, the lobby that led to the front of the school building came into view. The tall monster sprinted ahead, thankful that he hadn't closed the door earlier. He squeezed through the open door and was about to pass the female statue when he suddenly had an idea. Hearing the beast crash through the door behind him gave him only a few precious seconds to work on. He couldn't run forever so he needed to be smart and quick about this.

He skidded to a halt to the front of the statue and placed both hands on the marble figure. He made sure that the arachnid demon was still charging straight toward his direction.

'... And... Now!'

Papyrus pushed the statue and watched as it slowly descended backwards. Just as it was about to hit the ground, it stayed slightly slanted, tip of the sword almost leveled horizontally. Already too late to stop, the charging behemoth impaled itself by the humans sharp weapon.

Not one for wasting an opportunity, Papyrus pocketed his knife and pulled out the axe at the same time as he ran towards the trapped beast. Seeing the small skeleton about to attack, the mutated hybrid swung its large hammer at him, a last ditch effort to save itself. The young monster used the hammer to give himself an extra boost up and leaped into the air, axe swinging downward.

Everthing felt like it was happening in slow motion as the axe buried itself deep into the mutants skull. The groan of pain was immediately silenced when Papyrus pulled out his knife and sank it to the hilt into the creature's thick throat.

When he was certain that the creature was dead, he carefully took out both weapons from the beasts' corpse. He had to fight the urge to gag as all kinds of fluid and brain matter spilled messily from the wounds. Climbing down was a bit harder than he had anticipated, but he managed it rather easily without falling.

He uses the only dry and clean part of his pink sleeve to wipe the blood and gore off his weapons. At this point his clothing was more red than anything else. He reminded himself to keep an eye out for any cloth or rags laying around so he would have something to clean his weapons.

'Now what...?'

The tall skeleton looked blankly at the school, having no desire to step foot into that place again. The fog was now stronger than ever, obscurring the building until he could barely see the front entrance. Serif wasn't in there, that much was certain. He would've seen or heard him by now.

Sighing deeply he sat on the dry grass, hugging his knees tightly. He was exhausted. He had been attacked and almost killed; and the fact that he still hadn't found Serif made his experience all the more disheartening. He did all of this for nothing...

He stood up straighter when he suddenly remembered something. The red envelope! He hasn't had a chance to read it yet!

Opening his soiled bookbag he pulled out the gorgeous space book and unwrapped it. Careful to keep his bloody hands from staining it, he flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for.

He wasted no time in opening the letter:

ROSEBLOOM PARK

It was written in faded blood.

Nevertheless, after carefully putting everything away, Papyrus stood up and dusted himself -a hard habit to break, even now- before pulling out his map and walking toward his new destination. Serif was waiting for him; The letter told him so.