The Witching Hour

As the next hour passed by without incident, John felt himself become increasingly more anxious as the time approached 11:00 P.M. However, he did his best to not show it and kept his nervousness to himself. 

With only a couple minutes left until eleven, John opened his character sheet and inventory just to be sure that he had everything that he needed. When he did so, he saw the kitchen knife he had put in but forgotten about. As he realized that he could've just used that instead of his scythe to open the packages, he couldn't help but smile a little.

When he looked over his character sheet, he felt that some of his unease had dissipated. His mana and mana regeneration had gone up extraordinarily since this morning, and his physical stats were high enough that he could safely be considered somewhere around peak human in terms of Agility and Endurance. And his Strength wasn't all too shabby either. John hoped that no matter what Wentworth had in store for him, he would be able to handle it the way he was now.

He was interrupted from his thoughts as his phone vibrated due to the alarm he had set earlier. The time for him to go was now. He looked at Blair, who had already snoozed off on the couch. Ganzac had gone outside for a smoke after they had finished their card game earlier.

He closed his character sheet, and stood up. He had already told Blair earlier that he would leave and that he would come back to stay the night afterward. However, he felt that it might be a good idea anyway to leave her a note, just in case. After writing a reminder on a sheet from one of his notebooks, he left it on the table where she should easily find it. Now done with that, John stretched his arms, and then called for a Bluber.

Some time later…

John watched through the window how a car pulled up to Blair’s home. After one last glance behind his shoulder, he opened the front door and went outside. There, almost right next to the door, Ganzac was leaning against the wall, a lit cigar in his hand. He looked at John, then to the car, and then simply shrugged as he took another puff from his cigar. With that, John walked to the car, opened the door, and got in. When he looked at the driver, he half expected it to be the same one from the last two times. But it was not, and so the car drove off and made its way toward his destination: Ashcroft Academy.

As Ganzac watched John and the car drive away, he put out the cigar. He cracked his neck, and went back inside as he pulled a flip phone out of his breast pocket.

With the driver paid and the car gone, John stood alone in the cold night, the locked front gate of the school looming over him. He checked the time on his phone. Right now it was 11:56 P.M. Which meant it would be another four minutes until midnight struck.

I don’t see Miss Wentworth anywhere. I doubt she’s the type to just forget an appointment she set. So… I’m guessing she might just be really punctual and appear at exactly midnight, John thought to himself as he scratched the back of his neck. Aside from that, this was the first time John had been at the school this late. And he had to admit that, even though he was only at the gate, it still felt a bit creepy.

When the clock ticked to 12:00 A.M., John looked around to see whether Wentworth would suddenly appear in front of him in a cloud of smoke. However, no such thing happened, and she was still nowhere to be seen. As he continued to glance around, John heard the screeching of rusty metal as the gate slowly swung open, seemingly on its own.

”Come forward, Mr. Newman.” Just like yesterday, John heard the voice of Miss Wentworth inside his head.

Well, shit. If I didn’t know any better, I would say that I’m walking right into the setting of a horror movie. But if this is part of what Miss Wentworth wants, then I guess I really don’t have a choice in the matter, he thought as he walked through the now fully opened gate.

After John entered the actual school itself, he began to wander through its halls. He expected Wentworth to give him more instructions, but none came. With no better ideas what to do, he made his way towards her classroom. 

You have been forcibly pulled into a Trap Barrier!
Owner: Victoria Wentworth
Population: three
You must either receive the owner’s permission or defeat all occupants before you can leave. But if you want my opinion, I wouldn’t try the latter unless you’re feeling suicidal today.

As he read the popup in front of him, his nose began to pick up a faint smell. He couldn’t tell what it was, but it reminded him of spoiled meat that was somehow mixed with cigarette smoke. He scrunched his nose as the odor seemed to become stronger and more potent with each passing second. It eventually became so fetid that John had to cover his nose with his hand as he pressed forward. If Wentworth had pulled him into this barrier, then it clearly meant that there was something she wanted him to do.

When he turned the next corner, John felt his dinner threaten to come up as the smell suddenly was a thousand times worse. That was when his eyes fell on the figure at the end of the hall. It was an amorphous, slime-like creature. Its red, gel-like flesh seemed to constantly move and morph. Its body filled up the hall almost entirely, with only a small gap available on each side that could allow someone to squeeze through.

John immediately switched his equipment back to his plate armor and amulet as he cast Soul Weapon. The goal was obvious: if he wanted to get past this thing, then he would have to defeat it first.