Hide and Seek with Death

Chapter 1: Room Number 13

October 1, 20XX

It feels surreal that seeing the poster feels like a dream. Eva is blinking her eyes multiple of times as she stands before the Bulletin board. The poster for the special event is already taken away. It is probably because the event is already closed for the 30 participants that successfully registered.

The song Top of the World is playing on her ears as she feels lighter than usual as the tension of participating soon in the event is making her excited. She pounds her chest a few times as she is tries to contain her feelings in participating at the event soon.

It feels like looking at the top where all good things are finally happening in her life. She cannot imagine that a poor student like her who you can see anywhere else in this school is getting a chance of a lifetime like this.

She looks at the cloud and the skies above as she walks through the cracked courtyard that has seen the old times. The courtyard is nothing but an open space that is made of concrete and bricks that has lamp posts at every corner as well as benches that is made of concrete near the only tree in the middle of it. Each step is toward her back as she carefully embraces this open space as if she is flying with her new wings.

The Old and New Building

The Evergame Academy is a prestigious school. By prestigious, it does not mean that it is a place where rich people are the ones with the privilege to enter it. It is actually the opposite. It is a place where only poor students who are incapable of supporting their education are allowed to enter. The requirements are hard enough for rich people to gain access given how much money the school can allot to investigate each student's background thoroughly.

The school has a policy of providing free education to all of its qualified students under one condition. It is something that a person in a wealthy family cannot undertake nor will the government allow them to. It is an exclusive school only for the people living in poverty. To the people who no one will notice if they were suddenly gone in this world.

In that regard, the old and new building holds a great deal of meaning to the students.

The new building is a multi-structure that can accommodate 100 rooms and it has a rectangular shape with an open area at the middle. It is a field exclusively for physical education at the middle as well as the place where the Bulletin board is being posted. It is also the place where classes are being conducted. ALL of it where held here.

On the other hand, the old building is a structure made up of 3 stories that has seen the old times given that it is already 100 years old and is still standing. Students who goes to this place always has fear in their hearts that it may suddenly collapse without their knowing. The material it is made of already has a lot of cracks and other signs of deterioration such as broken walls and broken doors that are so brittle to the touch that it breaks easily upon contact. It is a place where students will never want to be but can never be demolished. It may be destroyed one day but the school does not plan to do so yet in hopes of preserving a mysterious and ancient relic of the past of this school.

In that regard, a gloomy student silently stands before this very structure. Every other student passes by him as if his existence is not there at all.

It is currently breaktime so a lot of students are passing by and forth as they look for places to eat at or to meet up with their friends. A loner like him cannot be expected to socialize with anyone so after finishing his food at the cafeteria, he immediately heads here to look for the room number 13 without a care in the world.

Truth to be told, the students who are participating in this special event of hide and seek, which is most likely a halloween event organized by the school, is doubting their sanity after hearing of where it will be held. The old building is the place where the game will take place but the room number in this building is practically non-existent. There are four rooms per story in this place including the faculty room and the storage room but no one has yet seen where the thirteenth room is to be found.

Mint finds himself looking at the abyss of the artifact where the supposedly room number 13 is found. He is oblivious to the words of the people around him as he becomes engrossed in his thoughts. He contemplates on the existence of this mysterious room that is only a legend in this school. In fact, the timing that Halloween is coming seems to align with their ploy of the game being held in a non-existent room. It is quite ridiculous, actually.

As if to stop him in this thought flow, a fellow student calls out to him.

"Hey Mint!"

He turns around and see his classmate who happens to be a female and is the only human of the opposite s*x who finds him entertaining to talk with him. It also just happens that she was also one of the participants in this special event of hide and seek which does not make him feel good at the thought of it.

He waves in return and approaches her to help her in carrying the mountain of boxes on her arms.

Arianne Waimarie. Student Number 110077.

The buddy type of person. She is one of the most accomodating type of person in this place as she is always seen with other people. She is an empathetic woman who finds it not doing anything a bother. Mint knows that she has about ten jobs done every week before going in this school to support his older siblings finish their studies. Now that there is no one else to support, she takes the chance to study for free in Evergame Academy after hearing that it is an exclusive school for the poor.

She is actually a warm type of person. Mint can feel his heartbeat go fast each time he is near her presence. It could be because she is the only one who does not care about the negative vibe he unknowingly releases. That was when they first met but now, he understands that it is because he is glad that there is a possibility of him socializing with other people such as her.

The boxes they are carrying are for Ms. Anderson's art class. It would seem that Arianne volunteers to help as she has nothing else to do. Mints understands this much considering how she usually is but doing the heavy lifting alone seems too tough to leave to a lady.

"Hey, Mint"

"..."

"I heard you are going to join the Hide and Seek event.", she starts the conversation with a smile on her face.

"..A.. Yeah." Mint immediately thought how awkward it is of him to speak. He doesn't usually interact with other people, even back when he is at home, there is basically nobody that he talks to. If anything, it seems like a miracle that he is speaking with someone like her who has a great chance of being popular. Chestnut hair and eyes along with a pretty face like those of women found in commercials. A beautiful girl like her is most likely to be popular.

"You know what?"

"...What?"

"Oh, come on. You can guess."

"Are you perhaps joining the event as well?"

There is a look of surprise in her face. It would seem that he did hit the mark as Arianne pause a bit in her steps. After noticing that he stop as well, she immediately resume in walking while carrying a box of supplies.

This is Arianne Waimarie. She is a blessed woman who is as humble as she get. Even having all the talents and beauty anyone will envy of, she never let it get ahead of her. And as he expected, he was right that she is lucky enough to join the game even if he already expects it to be the case. Come on, who would not be tempted to claim that 5 million? Or there is...

As Mint is about to swim deeper in his contemplation of what is Arianne's reason for joining the special event, the door to the faculty had suddenly opened. They had already arrive at their destination it seems.

"Actually, a friend asks me to join. I just thought why don't I try it? Then you know what happened next, how about you?"

"Is that so", he replies. "Me, I just think that having that five million pesos may be worth the try."

As soon as they bid their goodbyes after the bell rings and classes resume once more, Mint finds himself alone again.

**************************************************

Tik. Tok. Tik. Tok.

As the hands of the old grandfather clock continues thinking, the hand pointing to 12 midnight is slowly getting near.

Tik. Tak. Tik. Tok.

Then, Ding!

At that moment, the date had finally changed.

It is a moment where the impossible happens. In the old building of the Evergame Academy, a thirteenth room appears out of nowhere. An ordinary closed room with a door made up of oak wood suddenly comes into existence as the start of the game comes near.

In the history of the Evergame Academy, it is the first time that a thirteenth room had appeared in the halls of the old dilapidated building whose destruction seems to loom at every moment.

All the teachers and the students in this school do not know that the legend is actually true. What is considered as a non-existent room just comes around from nowhere and nobody will doubt that it was not there in the first place.

To those that are reading this will surely think what is the WIC Company exactly? What sort of witchcraft can be involved in this?

As if to answer those questions that is starting to linger in your minds, a man without shape begins to talk. In this dark space where not a soul is supposed to be present, this man makes his presence known as if it is the most natural thing in this world.

"This event is sponsored by WIC Company. One of the leading industries in this world. Please sit back and relax as we are about to start the spectacle we prepared for each and every one of you."

The man with no shape disappears. As soon as he says the words above, he silently goes away like a ghost only leaving words of what is about to come.