Chapter 3

I smiled and sat on the floor with my hand on my chest. I feel like we survived the second disaster. I know there's more but the little joy I feel is what gave me hope.

If we can get in here, we can get out of it, alive, nothing more and nothing less.

Mitch, wait for me. I'll save you. Don't lose hope. I will find you as long as I live.

"France, it's 7:30 pm. Hussien will pick us up here in 30 minutes"

I nodded to Ellice and stood up. I prepared myself and my katana. "We need to get ready"

"I'm scared, France"

"Sshh, you don't have to. I'm here for you Ella"

I smiled when I saw Ellice hug Ella for the first time. Since then, I have always been the four of them running. It's new to me to see Ella and Ellice get along, and this is the first time.

"Get ready girls. Hussien will be here in a few minutes" I said to them as I kept looking at my cell phone. 20 minutes only.

I was about to peek the whole to hopefully see Hussien's arrival, and just then someone knocked on the door. I saw Hussien standing while knocking on the door so I quickly opened it.

"Are you ready?" he opened to us. He was just peeking at the door.

I turned the three and looked at Hussien again. "It's really necessary, right? We're ready"

"Follow me," he said and motioned to us.

We followed him. We don't know where he will take us but I still hope that we will be safe where we are going. I trusted Hussien because if he was a bad person, we would have been dead from the start.

I put Ellice, Ella and Amanda first. I'm the last one but I'm also constantly looking at each side of the road. Like what I saw earlier, there are many students who are disguised and make killing people a toy. They wouldn't notice us because we passed through the very corner, it was very dark here. We are just groping while Hussien is carrying a red light that matches the light that the students here are carrying.

I heard Ella's sobs so I signaled Ellice. He got what I meant so he covered Ella's eyes while he supported her as she walked.

Ella is the brave one among us, but in this case, I know she can't handle it even with her eyes.

Hussien entered a tall building. He was still looking at me like he was watching. We did nothing but follow him. When we got inside, there was an elevator that we could see right away.

Hussien rushed in there and beckoned us. "Hurry up"

The three rushed inside the elevator and caught me. I haven't even entered the elevator when I see three old men cleaning up the blood.

I think they are janitors here.

"France hurry up"

I managed to run to the elevator when I heard Ellice's scream. The elevator was about to close so I doubled my pace to reach it. When I finally got inside, I felt a shock. I was the last to enter so I was in the front, I was so shocked when I saw a man standing in front of the elevator.

His eyes were glinting as he looked at me. He's carrying a knife and he's wearing a hood, but I can clearly see him glaring at me.

"Your curiosity will kill you"

My breathing stopped for a moment because of what Hussien was saying. He was standing next to me and just looking straight at the elevator door, but I knew he was talking about me.

I also felt Ellice rubbing my back.

We stood in the elevator for about ten minutes. We were both silent. I thought maybe the elevator is broken, why haven't we arrived yet, my legs are shaking from standing up.

The questions in my mind were answered when the door finally opened. Hussien went out first, as usual, we followed. He went to a wide wall so the four of us looked at each other with surprise registered on our faces.

We just watched Hussien in his movements. He slightly pushed the wall and the surprised faces of the three of them changed to amazement. Suddenly, the wall pushed by Hussien opened and a vast battle ground opened up to us.

There were men who were sitting one by one while looking at us. Some have glazed eyes and others I can see pity in the way they look at us. They also have their own weapons and I think they are from the battle.

"Who are they, Hussien?" The voice of a man standing smoking a cigarette echoed.

"They are a newbie. Prime already knows about them" Hussien responded to the man who was so scary before.

"But Prime master's didn't see them, am I right?" he asked Hussien with a smile before walking towards where we were. "You guys will die. You can't survive every death class"

Death class?

"D-Death class?" Ella asked stammering. It retreated a little to get away from the scary man in front of us.

Laughing, the man turned to Hussien. "You didn't tell them?"

"Not yet, but if you want, you have my permission to tell everything they need to know" said Hussien. He sat in front of us next to the arrogant man.

"Okay" the man grinned and looked at us scary. "So you still don't know what the class method is here?"

"Can we find out?" I asked directly. I was so proud of him that the fear I felt earlier disappeared.

"Alternate"

"W-What do you mean by the alternate?" Amanda asked the question.

Napaismid naman ang lalaki. "Monday, regular class. Tuesday, death class. Wednesday, regular class. Thursday, death class. Friday, regular class"

"A-And what about Saturday and Sunday?" Ella also asked curiously even though her voice was shaking.

I felt hopeful because even though they were scared, I could not see in their faces that they had lost hope.

"Killer's freedom. Killers day" Hussien answered Amanda's question.

"What's that?" like them, I am also curious to know their methods here.

"When it's Saturday and weekdays, every student has a permission to kill. These are the days when more people get killed, so if you want to live until you're the only one left, it's death class, you'll kill" he grinned like a crazy promise that arrogant man.

Killer's freedom? Killers day?

I felt like I was out of breath when I remembered what day it was today.

today is sunday Does that mean that when we entered the university last night, it was killer's freedom? So did someone pull Mitch?

And now, Sunday.

That's why many students scattered earlier. That's why the three janitors I saw earlier are cleaning because it's Killer's freedom now. That's why there were many masked students who wandered around carrying samurai swords, some with knives. This day is a killer's freedom, and we are still thankful because we survived the first and second disaster.

Pero may death class.

"Who are the killers?" Ellice asked.

"They, me, and you. All people who want to live, killers. And we all want to live, so we are a killers"

Damn it, shit! This isn't funny.

"A-And what does death class mean?" I asked again. He doesn't seem to be overwhelmed by the number of questions I ask, instead he likes to answer.

"When death class will start, you have to defeat every student you bump into. It is based on the number of your tag. Each death class has a different tag that each student will receive, and what is the number of your tag, that's the same number of students that you will paralyze, cut off their arms, legs, and give them little breath, but it's easier if you kill them"

"W-What?" Ellice asked sadly. It slowly sat down on the floor.

"Remember, always follow the rule to remain your precious breath"

Rules? I don't remember the rule that Hussien was talking about.

"What rule?"

"It's for you to find out" he chuckled before turning his back on us.

My knees gave out but I still stood. I looked at Hussien with a blank expression as he watched us.

"How many days is the training?" I asked Hussien.

He stood up and handed his samurai to me. "10 minutes"

I frowned as I looked at him. "Are you kidding me?"

"I don't think so"

When Hussien said that, I lost my trust in him. My hunch was right, that at this point the only hope should be myself.

If he only gives 10 minutes to train us, we don't need that. We will only get tired but will not learn.

"In that case, we don't need the ten minutes you will teach us. We can learn by ourselves" I said to Hussien annoyed.

I thought we could count on him? It's not. Damn it!

"Good" he clapped together and came close to me. "That's how it is, France. You must learn by yourself. Because of this, each has his own strategy, just live"

"But France-"

I didn't let Ella speak anymore because I blocked her mouth with my hand even though I was staring at Hussien.

"Tell us about the rule" I said again.

"Rule number 1: You have to find out What is rule number two"

Damn it! "I'm not joking with you Hussien" I shouted at him. I don't know where I got the strength to yell at him even though many students were looking at us.

"Rule number 2: caps lock. Find out by yourself. By the way, here's your uniform" he handed us the paper bags. We each have two paper bags.

Even though I was annoyed, I was able to accept the paper bags that he presented to me.

We took out its contents one by one. The contents of one paper bag are school uniforms and the contents of the other are five leather jeans and five leather jackets and two black masks?

Other than the uniform, what are these for?

"That's uniform for death class, and one more thing, don't leave your room on Saturdays and Sundays, remember, it's killers day"

Our jaws dropped as we stared at the contents of a paper bag. I thought there was only one uniform? The death class also has a uniform.

Damn it, it's horrible. Even if it's not killers day, you still have to be careful. Because there is a death class.

I look FIXED at my reflection in the mirror. This is the day we will be officially introduced to the higher ups and the students. Today is Monday, which means regular class today. We are wearing our regular class uniform because after the introduction we will start our first class.

The skirt here is very short but the top is long-sleeved. I kept thinking to myself that I was in Korea.

"Nakz, our France is beautiful. The uniform suits you," Amanda teased me. Like me, they are also wearing the uniform.

I sighed and looked back at the mirror.

"You too" I said back to him. He thought he was the only one who knew how to be silly.

"Your white legs are so exposed, you're attractive, Emerald France Meller" he sobbed while saying those unbelievable words.

"Why are you acting like that?" I arranged my things and faced him. "Aren't you scared?"

"For what? No matter what we do, there's nothing we can do, right? Why don't we use our beauty to knock out the killers?"

I just shook my head at his brilliant idea. "Crazy. Remember, it won't last long, we will belong to them"

"Amanda is right, France. Why don't we try?" Ella was satisfied. He even posed like a model.

It's amazing what they do. Does that mean they have accepted our fate? They've managed to make a joke.

"Stop it girls, we have to go to the headmaster that Hussien is talking about"

We nodded together and agreed with what Ellice was saying. We left our room with our foreheads high. I don't know what the three of them are feeling but I know that just like me, they are also hoping that there might be a miracle and we can get out of here unharmed.

It's not like last night that with every step we took, we were like animals in the forest that were afraid of the hunters. There are still many students who look scary but at least it's morning. We will see if there is any danger near us.

Every student we pass is staring at us. Some people's eyes glaze over when they look, some are also surprised and some wonder. I started to get nervous again, because I couldn't forget that we were at TLU. The school of demons.

We arrived outside a room where Hussien was standing outside and waiting for us. He was with the man who was so arrogant yesterday.

"Tsk tsk tsk, do you know that there is no beauty here? The women here don't care about their appearance. They use the blade of a samurai" the arrogant man immediately told us.

I was annoyed by what he asked so I approached him. "No one cares"

He suddenly laughed accompanied by her holding his stomach. "I like you, France. You fight"

I smirked. I even purposely raised the corner of my lips. "Well, I don't like you"

"That's enough! Let's go in" Hussien disobeyed us. He even pulled my arm and brought me inside the room.

When we entered we saw an old man sitting in his swivel chair. This woman was talking to someone and if the woman could look at us it would be like eating us alive.

"Mr. Kek, these girls is the newbies i told you last night" pagsisimula ni Hussien.

The one Hussien called Mr. looked at us smiling like a mad dog. Cake. He looked at us one by one.

"The uniform suits you girls" said Mr. His scary smile never goes away. "Well then, you girls are now officially belong in this university. I think you know the only rule here, am I right?"

The four of us looked at each other before looking at Hussien at the same time. His expression was blank when he looked back at us.

"We don't know" I answered indifferently. How do we know if they don't tell us?

Damn!

"Hmp" he nodded at the same time. He opened a folder and read it. "Emerald France Meller, stay here for awhile. Amannia Dahlia Suarez, Ella joy Pementel and Ellice Jan Pementel, you can proceed to your class"

I was wondering why I was left behind while the three of them were being sent to their classes.

What are their plans?

I could hear Ella's breathing after she heard what Mr. Cake. "N-No, we can't have separate classes"

"Uulitin ko, you can proceed to your class, now"

Their shoulders slumped as they left this room. I can feel their concern for me because they keep looking at me even when they are walking. The arrogant man accompanied them to their class.