With Damon gone , Mavis and her friends still remained chatting around the table in the lunchroom.
" Can I have your phone numbers?" Anna asked them.
" Sure" Setsuna agreed.
" Has it always been like that? I mean - for the seizure of electronics." Mavis asked Marwin.
" No. I has been installed this year. Looks like they put more pressure on security. Back then, vehicles were still allowed to penetrate into the school campus. I think the cause might be the last year's incident." Marwin explained, his last line coming out more like a whisper.
" You make me really curious - what happened the previous year?" Setsuna was now leaning on the table.
" I don't really know. But what I am sure of is that a few senior students were involved and they mysteriously disappeared after that. Some rumors said they had been dismissed but no one saw them leaving the school and others said they had been eaten by some sort of mysterious beast in the forest. But in my opinion, the matter is deeper than it appears to be." Anna explained.
" Some mysterious beast you say?" Mavis asked.
" Yes. Every year, a few students complain about hearing wolf howlings from the forest . It was first believed that there were wolves in the school forest. And one day, the students went around the forest to hunt down whatever creatures existed there . Unfortunately, they found nothing. Not even a trace of any wild animal was found. But people still continue earing the howlings. I personally have never heard about those." Explained Marwin.
" And you say the students involved were the the seniors?" Setsuna asked.
"Exactly. But we shouldn't speak about that. It's a taboo. If any staff member gets a student talking about that, they might end up in the detention room."Anna checked if anyone was eavesdropping in their discussion.
Mavis became more curious. The school was very strange . First, was the shadow pointing at her. And now this, the previous year's incident.
No one spoke again until Marwin broke the silence by clapping his hands." I think it's time for us to head back to our dorms." He said.
*******
Mavis stepped out of the bathroom with a towel on her head and a bathing robe covering her body.
She dried up her hair and looked at the time. It was still past nine PM so she decided to take a walk around the school.
She wore her jogging and took her torch and left her room then the dormitory. She decided to go to the river which was deep in the forest.
There were still students loitering in the school campus , some entered the forest while the others were entering into their respective dormitories.
She made her way into the forest. She did not clearly remember the path Anna took when they visited the river earlier in the afternoon.
After about thirty minutes of walking without finding her way, she decided to head back to her dorm.
But after another thirty minutes of walk, she did not see the end of the forest ." Am I lost?" She mumbled to herself.
"Awoooooo....!"She then heard a howling and froze. That was when she remembered what Marwin said about the animals in the forest.
She then heard footsteps nearing, and then another howling.
" Who's there?" She asked, her voice and hands shaky.
No one answered but she continued hearing footsteps slowly nearing her. She showed her torch to the direction of the footsteps but saw nothing. She suddenly saw someone's shadow behind her and that was when she lose it.
She started running and shouting for rescue " Help! Help me!" . Her direction was the least of her worries. All she wanted was to run as fast and far as possible.
She then hit her foot on a root which grew above the ground and crashed on the muddy ground.
She attempted to stand but she fell back. That was when she felt a massive pain on her ankle. She might have sprained her ankle.
She was not able to ear the footsteps anymore and felt relieved.
The next thing she saw was someone's feet just a few centimeters away from her face on the ground and froze.
Terrified, she slowly raised her head and when she saw the person's face, she turned as still as a statue.