Corpse Party: Alternation - B1C01: Charms

[ZOEY’S P.O.V]

I was the newest transfer student at Kisaragi Academy Senior High. I came from a school in that area and I was interested in the structure of the building. I walked into the academy and I headed to the office to find out the class I was in. As I was figuring which class to go to, I bumped into a girl who was walking in the other direction. I said sorry to the girl and we went our own ways. I realized I was in 2-9 since my name would be last, so I headed to 2-9 which was in the opposite direction of where I was walking, then I thought, was that girl from class 2-9, since the other classes were on the direction I was walking to. I turned around and headed to class 2-9 and I saw a surprise. She was a student of 2-9, and she seemed to be of a high rank, as her name tag was a bit different from the normal students. I looked around the class for a seat, but the only one I could find was beside the girl, as the rest were already taken by other students. I headed to the place and took my seat beside that girl, and she decided to hold a conversation with me out of boredom. She introduced herself as Ayumi Shinozaki, a 16-year-old, just like me, who was famous for her ghost stories, which explained why I saw an amount of candles inside her bag. Eventually, the bell rang, which meant that class was going to start. The other students of class 2-9 entered the class, eyeing the two of us, and then the assistant teacher entered, telling me to head to the front and introduce myself. I went in front and began to introduce myself. My name was Zoey Zeffrey, a 16-year-old just like Ayumi and some of the other students, and I was a little bit like Ayumi in my former school, famous, but for a different reason. I was well known throughout my former school for my positive aura and my motivational words. Everybody clapped their hands as I headed back to my place beside Ayumi.

My first day wasn't really eventful, except I was eventually known for my skill in mathematics and everybody started to ask me for the solutions when the teacher gave questions in mathematics class. I was really stressed, but Ayumi then ushered them all away. I really was thankful to Ayumi. If not for her, I would have been stressed for the whole day. Eventually, I found out that Ayumi lived in the same floor as me at my apartment. I always went to her house every night to have a chat with her about schoolwork and such. One day, after school, I started to feel a different emotion I have felt before. Love started taking over my head. I did like somebody from this school, who was Ayumi. She seemed different and unique from everybody else. She seemed more compatible to me than anybody. I then decided to talk to her that night. That night, I invited her to my house and I confessed my feelings towards her, to which she replied to, “I liked you too and I wanted to confess to you, but all the other girls confessed theirs to you and I never thought that you’d like me.” She went out of my apartment, and I celebrated in joy.

The next day, school went by like normal, and then I went back to my apartment, immediately going to my bedroom. I noticed a chess set that seemed out of place, and then I went to look at it, which was on my shelf. I removed the top layer of dust and I checked the names on it. I remember moving to this apartment 3 years ago, but this surprised me. Ayumi’s name was there and under it, there was a heart, then my name was there. When was this here? All of a sudden, I had a flashback. At my former house, when I was 12, I used to be very close friends with Ayumi. I knew that Ayumi could sense ghosts already since she told that secret to me that time. Then, I remembered Ayumi’s confession to me at that time. Then, I remembered Ayumi have a sleepover at my former house with me. I realized Ayumi used to like me back then, and I felt the same thing to her. I wanted to show her the chess set, the only thing that could prove the fact that I used to be friends with Ayumi. That night, I went to Ayumi’s house with the chess set and I showed it to her. She had the same flashback and she smiled to me, then unexpectedly hugged me, and said, “Thanks for staying beside me after 4 years of separation. I really forgot you in those four years. I promise I’ll make it up to you. The fun times we had are still memories in our head. We’re always friends as long as those memories exist.” I hugged her back, and smiled as a few tears came out from my eyes.

Two to three weeks later, Kisaragi Academy hosted its own Cultural Festival for the third year or so. Ayumi decided to stay and take care of 2-9’s stall, while the rest of us decided to go out and have some fun around the other stalls. As I was enjoying and having fun around, I got a text message from Mayu. She told me that this was her final day at Kisaragi Academy, and she asked me for advice. She was at the area where the drama club had their meetings, and she told me to be quick. I took 30 seconds to get to where she was, and we sat there, talking for a while, before I told her to enjoy her final day and to not feel that sad. I had something planned for her after the cultural festival. She smiled and said thanks as she went out to enjoy her final day at Kisaragi Academy. After the whole Cultural Festival was over, which was at around 6:30 PM, I was left behind with seven of my friends, Seiko, Naomi, Mayu, Ayumi, Morishige, Satoshi and Yoshiki to clean up the mess that was once 2-9’s stall. I was a little bit annoyed, like the rest of us, that the students left us to clean up the whole mess. They should at least have helped to clean up, even though it was a little bit. Ayumi went to her bag and took out one of her scented strong-lighting colored candles and put it in the middle of the class. All of us quickly gathered around the candle and we got ready to here one of the many stories that Ayumi has to offer.

“Long ago, a nurse fell down the steps and fell to her death. Nevertheless however, she never felt that her death existed and continued roaming the school where Kisaragi Academy now stands on, Heavenly Host Elementary. It is rumored that whenever the clock hits 7, which is about right now, she will roam the halls then events and events will occur. Her presence begins with a large blackout that will start to lurk around the whole school, and then the doors would creak loudly turning even the bravest of them afraid. Then, she will come out with her rotten hand and say the question that people would ask. Remember, it’s already 7, which means her rounds have begun.”

The surroundings around us were dark, and the only thing giving us light was the candle. Satoshi, obviously the coward one, decided to do what he does, which is to squeal like a girl, making all of us laugh, but then, suddenly, the candle went out and it was almost pitch black. We all screamed, and then Yoshiki asked Ayumi to quit with the playing. She told him that it wasn't her who did it. I told everyone to stay quiet, and then we heard talking, as if somebody was speaking to us. Satoshi was the most cowardly of us all, so one of us decided to tell Satoshi to go and open the door, after asking him to compare his condition to the girls’ condition. He sighed, knowing he had no choice, went to open the door, when he felt a hand go on the door. He fell behind and the lights were turned on. A familiar face then walked in with a familiar. We all knew who it was. It was our assistant teacher, Ms. Yui. She laughed then said, “It takes a student to know the Seven Wonders of Kisaragi. I’m one, so it wouldn't hurt to try one out. Just look at Satoshi,” as she pointed to Satoshi, who was on the floor, scared. We laughed a little bit and we packed up to go back home. Then, Ms. Yui announced the arrival of another visitor. I wondered who it was. I thought for a while until a young girl, dressed in the Kisaragi Academy Junior High uniform, entered, holding an umbrella, and then giving it to Satoshi. We all stared at him, and then he introduced the girl as Yuka Mochida, his 14-year-old sister. We were surprised, since Satoshi never really told us of her.

Then, Ayumi took out a paper doll and asked to do a charm which she named, “The Friends Forever Charm”. It involved a two-step process. First of all, we had to recite a sentence, one per person, and then we had to tear the doll into ten pieces, since there were ten people who did the charm. We kept the pieces and we took a class photo of the eight of us as a memory together. All of a sudden, the ground began to shake, causing the ten of us to tumble. What was happening? Why is an earthquake occurring? Did we fail the charm? If we did fail, how did we fail? Then a giant hole appeared beneath where we were standing. This was not going to turn out well. I told Ayumi and Naomi to hold on to my hands as we fell into the darkness.