Project: Death for Classroom Zero

Chapter 59: Help

Tristan’s fingers were cold.

He was standing in front of a white-colored door, resembling the door that he have to his quarter. Well, every door of the quarters for the zero students were uniform. All are plain white, all were as if a portal towards a fortress of nightmare.

Tristan sighed. He cold not think of possibilities what might he discover soon, but he has decided he will courageously take it. He’s here for the truth. He’s here to know what had really happened; to reduce the confusion that has been bothering him since yesterday.

With courage, he knocked on the door.

He waited the door to open as he stood there, wishing that no one who knew him would see him doing it. The day was an early morning, and since the students are entitled for another student rest day, though the morning bell had rung up for them to wake up, most of them has still tucked their selves on their bed—either because they are still feeling tired from yesterday’s activity, or maybe they just want to suppress the traumatic thoughts that has been bothering them.

The door opened in a sudden. Tristan, not prepared, jumped in sudden shock.

“Tristan? What are you doing here?”

“Amara,” he called. “I need your help.”

“What do you mean?” From the looks of her uneasy eyes, puffy face, and disheveled hair, Amara has just woke up from his knock, and quickly opened it in alertness. However, she was still disoriented and still on the edge of sleeping.

“The thing you’ve told me about, yesterday,” Tristan answered quickly.

“About …?” Amara scratched here scalp in confusion.

Tristan shifted his gaze to the alley to check whether there were other students who might see them talking. However, there were none. He just wanted to make sure. He don’t want to sound suspicious to others.

He quickly looked back at Amara again, and the intense stare he was resonating has probably affected Amara, and made here widely awake.

“About where can we find Caspian; and the truth about Blaze Collins.”

Amara gulped. “Right, I was about to tell you that. I remember,” she said. “Just wait me at the cafeteria. I’ll prep myself first. You know I can’t go looking mess like this,” she said.

“No, not at the cafeteria,” Tristan said.

“Why not?”

“Others might find us there, and they might think suspiciously to us—that maybe we’re onto something. Especially Rain. And worse is Blaze.”

“Ah, yeah, I almost forgot, I’m sorry. I don’t even want us to be found talking to each other by those two monsters. Rain is bearable, but not Blaze.”

“But where shall we meet then?” Tristan asked.

“Okay, find your way towards the rooftop of this building. It’s not forbidden to go there, but just be careful not to try discovering places you’re not supposed to discover while on way there. You know what I mean. There is also little to no students who knew that place. Wait for me there,” she said.

“Alright,” Tristan said. He once again looked and check the alley, and lucky that there is no one who can see them. “I’m going now.”

“Be careful, Tristan. I’ll follow,” Amara said.

Now, when Tristan started to move towards his way on the building’s rooftop, and Amara already closed her quarter’s door, and when the alley was isolated back again, something in the dark started to move—a sound of ‘click!’ has lowly snapped in the dark corner, and a dim flash of light appeared. A camera. A photo. An evidence. Someone was secretly watching them and recording their moves by capturing photographs.

Seconds after, the creature on the darkness started to move. It sneaked, and went following Tristan.

****

The morning ray of the sunrise was supposed to be charismatic, had the sky was not being blocked by a peculiar pixelated glasses that was shaped like a dome—that pixelated glasses that made the sky vague and made them trapped inside, having scarce resources of finding a way to escape.

Tristan wanted to admire the gleam of the morning sun as he stood on the rooftop, but he could not, because of the pixelated glasses that serves them a terrifying reminder that they are inside a man-made hell.

There were chairs, benches, and tables with umbrellas found in the place, all set-up as if one would take a worthy stress-free vacation. He sat at one of the chair and there he waited for Amara.

Just like what she said, there wee no people found in here. Maybe because only few knew this place—even him, he didn’t know it, if not for Amara.

Tristan was shocked too that Amara knew a lot of things about the Zero building—and perhaps even about the Zero program. Maybe she too has knowledge more than what rain have about this place. He wasn’t sure. He could not tell.

As he wait, he let himself enjoy from the simmering silence that the rooftop gave. He somehow find it peaceful. But then, some noise echoed in the place when he was about to close his eyes. He heard it. He could not be mistaken.

A careful sound of footsteps has just erupted around the area. Though it was not loud and hard to listen to, he was able to hear it because of the silence from the rooftop. One small mistaken sound and he will surely be able to hear it.

Quickly, he stood up and became alerted. He purposefully made a loud sound of his moving chair as he stood, so that whoever was with him on the rooftop, would start to succumb in panic.

“Whoever you are,” Tristan said in a warning voice, “show yourself now.”

He waited for seconds, yet the only reply to his warning was a deafening silence.

“Whoever was there, show yourself up.’ He started to feel the presence of anything—or anyone—in the area, yet it has just easily concealed its presence from him. “Do not hide. You can show yourself to me,” he smirked, “not unless if you’re scared of me.”

He waited. But it did not reply. All that he heard was just the whistle of the dead wind, and the ever-alive silence.

The door of the metal rooftop cracked loudly. Because of it, Tristan jumped from shock. He quickly looked at the opening door. There he saw Amara that is as well shock because of Tristan’s shocked and pale face.

“What happened to you, Tristan?” Amara immediately asked.

Tristan shook his head to remove the tension that was enveloping him. “Nothing,” he said, “I … I just … I am pretty sure that there was someone—or something—that is also here, awhile ago. I feel like I am not just alone earlier.”

“Really?” Amara walked near him.

“But it’s gone now. I don’t feel its presence anymore.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Tristan nodded to reassure Amara that everything is right.

“Everything is okay, don’t worry.”

Amara nodded too—a sign of trusting and believing him. “Quick, let’s get out of here,” she said.

“Huh? But I thought we’re going to talk?”

“We will. But since you find yourself uncomfortable in this place, then I think I’ll just tell you all of what I know as I guide you towards where Caspian is,” Amara said, “Just don’t expect something big. You’ll know why, soon as you meet him. Let’s go.”

Tristan blew a hard breath. Whatever discovery he was about to make, he have to prepare himself. He was not sure what Amara is going to show him, but he trust her, and so he prepared.

****

“What is that?” Tristan pinpointed the thing that Amara was holding. He knew, and obvious, that it was a remote control. But to press it while they are walking on another alley, that is what he wanted to know.

“A remote control. To shut down CCTV cameras around.”

Tristan was surprised after hearing what Amara said. A remote control that can shutdown the CCTV cameras around. He never thought that Amara could possess that kind of useful thing. All the time, she has been presenting herself as someone who knew nothing but act dumb and always clueless. But this time, she was showing a very different personality of her. A kind of Amara that can be always trusted and counted on to, more than him.

“Who really are you?” Tristan asked.

“Well, I figure that would be what you’re going to ask me first,” Amara said. Still, she was busy pressing the buttons on the remote control as she fixes her stares above, looking for where the cameras were placed.

“I am still Amara Gomez. I did not change my name, but what I did change was my personality. Nothing. I just want to see whether someone will accept me in a group if I am all into being dumb and i***t and just carefree.”

“If that so, then what kind of Amara is the real one?” Tristan asked. they stopped when they reached a dead end of the alley they were walking. Yet, when Amara touched the wall, it quickly disintegrated. Out of nowhere, a new alley has just opened.

“I don’t know if I have some interesting facts about my personality, but, well, I the winner of the third batch of Project Zero.”

Tristan stopped walking, and then he looked at her with disbelief. “What?”

“You see, we’re the fifth batch of the project Zero, isn’t it?” Amara asked which Tristan has nodded to, as an answer. “And I am the last remaining student of class zero, batch three.”

“Hold on, I … I don’t get it,” Tristan was flustered and confused. He has a lot of question.

From that, Amara laughed. “Okay, allow me to explain everything: Originally, I first discover the project zero when it was running its third batch of game. I was a participant of it. To cut the story short, I became the winner of it, and since because I am the winner, I was given the privilege to remain alive. However, there is one condition in exchange for my life: I will be part of the research team of the Project Zero.”

“Research team of the project Zero,” Tristan repeated.

They stopped walking once again. Tristan noticed a closed door on his front. Amara grabbed something on her pocket, and there she swiped it on a slot card.

What revealed inside was a headquarter. A fascinating, futuristic room filled with different screens, holographic keyboards floating on the air, a table filled with experimenting paraphernalia, and scattered papers with complexly written formulas.

“Welcome to my headquarters,” Amara said.

“This is yours?” Tristan asked.

“I know, I know, everything that I am filling you right now is hard to swallow. But at least I am showing you a thing that could make me vulnerable. I am exposing myself to you. The real me.”

“I was just here for the truth about Blaze and Caspian. But I never know I’ll be this interested to you.”

“Wow, that’s flattering.”

“Care to spill more teas?”

Amara smiled. “As I work here, I have discovered a lot of things—the goal of the project, the organization running the project, and so on.”

“You know about that?” Tristan interestedly asked.

“I’m sorry though, I could not answer it for you. It is an extremely dire information that if I spill, I could die right here, right now. You better learn it the other way, but not me. Sorry, I could not help you with that.”

Tristan’s shoulders fell down after hearing Amara’s sorry.

“Instead, you can ask me of other things. I will try to answer it.”

“About the reason why on the fifth batch.”

“This is a piteous reason, but … being part of the research team means also being imprisoned inside this building. Inside this headquarter. Everything that we need was here, but it sucks being imprisoned inside. So instead, I hacked through the system, and included myself as a student player.”

“You’re crazy.”

“I am, I know.”

“I have another question,” Tristan said.

“Go on, spill.”

“Why are you helping me?”

Amara think for a while. “Well, I know that you are into something. That’s why I could not help myself but to contribute some knowledge to you. At least, I have helped you. You see, I grew fond of you because even though how crazy and i***t I am on the group, you accepted me and still treated me nice. That’s why you deserve it.” She smiled. “I bet you’re about to cry, Tristan.”

Tristan laughed. “That’s crazy. But I am not crying.”

Amara then giggled. “Okay, then, if you say so. Still have questions? Ask me before I show you where Caspian was.”

“I still have a lot of question. But … are you, perhaps, the one who has been helping me since the first day of this project? Are you …’See You’?”