Chapter Text
The incessant trill of the clock, speaking its monotone, mournful song, echoed dully in the hall, like the soft and steady drip of a tap left on. Most of the students in the exam hall looked as if they were in a near-comatose state, the blaring silence driving them to a state of oblivion. But Crystal’s eyes were locked onto the paper with an unwavering focus, her hands gliding across the page with a surreal prowess.
“One minute left,” the invigilator’s harsh voice snapped, jolting a few students awake.
Little did Kris know, that very day, her life would change. And certainly not in the way she would expect it to. And it all started in that exam hall, on a bleak Friday afternoon.
The assertive screech of an alarm resonated around the room. Students looked up from their papers, bewildered, as the invigilators and teachers scurried around, whispering. Students and teachers were exchanging confused looks, and the silence was broken in a matter of seconds. What was happening? She could already sense something wrong. Was it the fire alarm?
“Please put your pens down and exit the exam hall in an orderly manner,” Miss Smith’s normally assertive and sharp voice trembled. “Leave all your belongings behind.”
The scraping of chairs being pulled filled the room, and the hurried footsteps of all the students. No, this was not a drill. Everybody could sense the terrifying urgency and tension hanging stiffly in the atmosphere, as the ominous alarm rang on.
The door burst open, and the figure of the headmaster was framed dramatically in the doorway. His face was pallid, as if drained of all colour and emotion, his eyes glassy, as if they had witnessed horrors more traumatising than anything anybody could imagine.
“Lockdown!?” a teacher gasped suddenly, catching everybody’s attention.
There were a few stifled gasps from students. Nothing like this had ever happened in the history of Hazelwood High.
“Wait, but it’s 4 o’clock now! We should be going home!” a student complained.
“Your parents will be contacted.”
Kris laughed hollowly to herself. As if that miserable couple that called themselves my guardians would care, she thought grimly.
As chaos ensued for another minute, Kris became aware of how much she needed the toilet. She had been holding it in the whole exam. Before anyone could see or stop her, she squeezed past the crowd and hurried out of one of the open exits, the sounds coming from the hall slowly fading as she ran through the empty corridors, her footsteps echoing loudly.
Just then, Kris became aware of another pair of footsteps behind her. She turned around. It was Genevieve, a student in her class, who would only answer to ‘Gen’. Gen was short with a wild mess of orange hair, and glasses, a student in her class. Kris didn’t like her very much.
“Where are you going?” Gen asked.
“I need the bathroom,” Kris replied sheepishly. “Can you do me a favour and not tell the teacher?”
“Maybe not a good idea during a lockdown?” Gen suggested wearily.
“I’ll be quick. It’ll be another drill, anyway,” Kris muttered.
Shrugging, Gen returned to the exam hall.
A few minutes later, as Kris came out of the cubicle and bent over the sink, washing her hands, she heard it.
A scream.
A shout.
A bang.
A roar.
A door slamming—
Rushing footsteps—
More screams…
The bathroom door opened. To Kris’s relief, it was just Gen. Panic stricken, Gen began to mumble incoherently, her voice frantic.
“What’s going on? Gen? Gen!” Kris hissed, shaking her.
“W-w-we have to hide,” Gen stammered urgently, her voice weak. “I- I heard a— a…” her voice trailed off.
“Ah, uh, ok,” Kris responded nervously, trying and failing to remain calm, and cursing under her breath.
“We can’t stay here,” Gen whispered. “It’s the first place that… they’ll… look,” the word was teetering on the tip of both of their tongues, but they didn’t dare to say it. “We have to get to a classroom, or… a storage cupboard!”
Kris ran faster than she had ever run before, adrenaline coursing through her veins, hyperaware of her surroundings as she heard more screams.
And then, she saw one.
Her breath hitched in her throat, and she stumbled backwards, eyes wide with terror.
The zombie’s decayed flesh hung loosely from its skeletal frame, eyes white, lifeless and inhuman, haemorrhaging.
Kris wanted to scream, to run, to escape this horrifying nightmare. It was only minutes ago that she was sitting in an exam room, back when her life was normal. But even as she tried to move, her legs felt like lead, her body paralysed by the sheer terror of the moment. Kris watched in horror as the creature advanced towards them, its arms outstretched, its rotten teeth barred in a menacing snarl.
Gen too, seemed unable to move, standing beside Kris like a deer in headlights, eyes staring into the face of death.
The zombie froze, twitching. And then, its mouth opened.
“WE ARE THE PSYKONS. YOUR MINDS AND BEINGS SHALL NOW BE CLAIMED BY THE OMNIPRESENT ALL VOICE. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE AS WE EXTEND OUR CONTROL ACROSS THE UNIVERSE. YOUR SPECIES SHALL JOIN THE HARMONIOUS CHORUS OF THE MIND-CONTROLLED, FOREVER BOUND BY THE WILL OF THE ALL VOICE,” it spoke, without moving its mouth, as if it was controlled by some unseen force. The voice that came out of its mouth was scratchy, glitching, robotic. No, this voice was not human.