Hell University-Chapter 5 - 4: Bloody Night

Chapter 4: Bloody Night

Zein’s Point of View

I paid attention to our teacher and pushed away all of the things that were bothering me. I’ll go crazy if I keep on thinking about them.

The large wall clock hanging in the center was impossible to miss, and my classmates had been staring at it the whole time. With every passing minute, the atmosphere grew darker, and I could feel the tension in the air. Even our teacher could no longer teach properly and was constantly stealing glances at it every now and then.

"6 o’clock." Mia whispered while looking at the clock. We wouldn’t be dismissed until 6:30, so we still had 30 minutes before leaving, and definitely 30 minutes before Bloody Night would begin after that.

I glanced outside and noticed that it’s already dim. What’s going to happen this time? Will blood spill everywhere?

It’s so scary to even think that everything will happen in the darkness. Which innocent person is going to be dragged into this mess again?

"I’ll just go to the comfort room," I said.

Vanessa and Mia glared at me.

"You’re really an idiot! You know it’s dangerous outside and yet you’re still thinking about your bladder!" Mia scolded me.

"Do you really want to die, Zein? Just tell us, okay? I’ll stab you myself!" Vanessa joked as she rolled her eyes at me.

I clutched my lower abdomen since I really needed to pee and it was starting to hurt. There’s no CR inside the classroom, after all.

[ CR = comfort room, I will be using this from now on. Some schools in the Philippines have CRs inside the classroom, especially public schools.]

"I’ll go with you Zein. Let’s go?" Matt offered his hand in which I immediately accepted.

"Ugh! Do whatever you want!" Vanessa grunted.

"Just take care." Dave reminded us.

We only nodded and excused ourselves from the class.

"Just make it faster. It’s dangerous outside and as much as possible, don’t let your curiosity get ahead of you." Our teacher reminded us.

I nodded my head despite being confused. Matt’s grip on my hand tightens, and the lights from the posts are the only source of light.

"Matt... do you think we’ll ever get out of this place... alive?" I asked.

"Shh. Don’t talk like that. We can leave this place, okay?" he tried to convince me.

I went inside the CR and left Matt outside to keep watch. I entered the cubicle.

Silence dominated the whole place, broken only by the sound of a dripping water. A chill ran down my spine so I quickly finished what I was doing.

I quickly ran towards the door, but there was no Matt around to greet me. My knees were shaking as I looked around.

I heard rustling sounds all around the place, which only doubled the fear I was feeling.

"M-Matt?" I called out his name.

I covered my mouth when I saw people in the distance. There were so many of them.

Tears welled up in my eyes when Matt emerged from the darkness and drenched in sweat. He tightened his grip on my hand and pulled me away from there.

"Matt, where did you go?" I asked.

He didn’t answer me and I noticed that he was alert and kept on shifting his head around.

"Matt, this is not the right way." I said when we turned in the wrong direction.

"It’s already 6:40 p.m. Zein. I’m sure everyone is already in their dormitory. And for sure they’re already surrounding the whole HU, we need to avoid them."

I wanted to ask more of who he was referring to but nothing came out of my mouth. We walked without making a noise. We hid in the darkness where they couldn’t see us. He’s right, people wearing black masks are everywhere.

"We’re safe as long as the bell doesn’t ring–"

We stopped when he heard the sound of the bell, as if it was threatening us.

All the hairs on my body stood on end as I realized it was Bloody Night. Curse words were spilled nonstop from Matt’s mouth, and he gripped my hand even tighter.

"Hold on, Zein. I’ve got you..."

Somehow, the fear in my chest eased because of what Matt said. But that wasn’t enough to stop the shaking of my knees.

Matt pulled me behind a large trash can to hide, as a battalion of masked men approached, they were all holding sharp weapons just like before.

This time I could see them closer. Their masks covered only half of their faces to prevent us from recognizing them. The masks were black, their necklaces made out of nails stood out as well.

I covered my mouth. It’s them! They are the members of Black Blood Gang, like Nicky, because their symbol is a nail.

They looked terrifying as they glanced around, as if searching for something. I felt Matt squeeze my hand, so I looked at him.

I only smiled at him to tell him I’m okay.

I noticed that they’re only walking in the same direction. If I counted correctly, there were more than 25 of them.

Matt and I stood up when there were no BBG (Black Blood Gang) members left.

Matt was just about to pull me with him when I removed my hands from his grip. He frowned at me.

"You go ahead Matt, I’ll just confirm something." I said and jogged to the same path the guys were walking on earlier.

I hadn’t gone far when someone grabbed my arm.

"You’ll be in danger! If they see you, you could end up like Rouge Silvenia, or worse. Zein, please," I could feel the worry in his tone."

I couldn’t help but to feel guilty that I made him worry. He would not be in this situation if he hadn’t gone with me.

"Sorry," the only thing that came out of my mouth.

He gently stroked my hair before taking my hand, "We need to go back, the deeper the night gets, the more dangerous it becomes," he said, pulling me away from that place.

While we were running, I could sense that someone was watching us. It wasn’t just two or three of them, but it felt like there were around ten.

"If you’re looking for information, Zein, I’m ready to give you all I know. Just don’t do what you did earlier again."

I couldn’t help but wonder why Matt knew so much. Where did he get all this information? Who told him?

"Ahhh!" I suddenly stopped walking when Matt collapsed into the ground.

"Matt!" I kneeled in front of him to check what was hurting him. That’s when I realized there was a nail stuck in his leg.

"Matt, are you okay?! Can you walk?!" I asked worriedly.

"My legs are going numb. I can’t walk anymore. Run, Zein! Save yourself!" he screamed while holding his legs.

"No, Matt! I won’t leave you! This is all my fault!"

"Zein! Please! Leave me! You’ll be in danger too!"

I wiped the tears in my cheeks before shaking my head. My body is shaking due to fear and worry. But what puzzled me is that, why is it having much effect if it was only a nail?

I gripped on Matt’s hand tightly when I saw a guy in a half black mask approaching us.

"Zein, run now!"

It was like I’d gone deaf and numb to everything around me. I couldn’t think straight, but only one thing was clear: I would never, ever leave Matt here.

The guys in half black masks stopped when someone blocked their way. It was a man wearing a mask that covered his entire face, and it was red."

I could feel the fear in the men as they saw him, it was as if the red-masked man was Death itself, someone they were meant to flee from.

"One...two..." He counted, and before he even reached three, the black-masked men were already gone from in front of him.

The three of us are now left alone in the dark part of HU. His presence is so heavy. Shit. Who is he? Why are those men scared of him? What’s with him?

He turned at us and I almost stumbled backwards when I saw one of his eyes was red. I couldn’t tell if he was smiling or serious, since only one of his eyes was visible.

He walked straight toward us and lifted Matt, who was now unconscious. I followed him, and I couldn’t bring myself to say something, and my tongue seems to back away from fear.

His walk was so gentle, as if the entire HU was completely safe, even during Bloody Night. I was tailing him and remained behind him.

My mind was completely dazed, and I didn’t even realize we were already in front of the dormitory. He gently placed the unconscious Matt on the floor before turning away.

"Make his wound bleed, rinse it with warm water to remove the poison."

I blinked three times, and he was gone from my sight.

Jerome and Dave helped me carry Matt inside. While Vanessa and Mia flooded me with a lot of questions that I couldn’t answer.

We did everything the mysterious man who saved us had said.

But who is he?

•••

I could only give limited answers to their questions, as everything that happened last night was still sinking in. I spent the whole night thinking about who the mysterious man behind the red mask could be.

"It wasn’t just any ordinary nail that was used on Matt. It carried a combination of poison and tetanus. We should just be thankful that someone helped you," Jerome said, wiping the spot where Matt had been pierced by the nail.

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the man who helped us. He isn’t a member of the Black Blood Gang, since his mask wasn’t black, it was red."

"Lesson learned, Zein. It’s better to hold your pee than risk your life," Vanessa advised.

"Sorry," the only thing that came out of my mind.

"Oh, alright! Come on, we’ll go ahead or we might be late. Are you really sure you’re not going to class?" Mia asked.

"I’ll just watch over Matt, since it’s my fault that he’s in this situation." I muttered sadly.

"We’ll head first. There’s already food on the table," Dave reminded.

I closed the door before approaching Matt again, who was still a bit warm, though not as hot as last night.

"Sorry Matt. I wish you wouldn’t be in this state if you hadn’t come with me," I said." If only I hadn’t insisted on following the men in black masks, this wouldn’t have happened to Matt.

Curiosity was the one who almost put us in danger. But I only just wanted to confirm my suspicion.

Based on the direction they were heading, it seemed like they had all been summoned. It looked like they were going to hold a meeting. That’s what I wanted to confirm last night, but it got interrupted."

"Z-Zein?"

"Matt! Are you feeling well? Are you hungry?"

I helped him sit up. His body was still obviously weak.

"Are you hungry?" I asked again.

We ate together on the floor in silence. My eyes widened when I saw him grab three red chili peppers and shove them into his mouth.

"Matt!" I shouted in worry.

His face turned red and he seemed to be on the edge of vomiting but he’s still persistent on gulping down the chilli. I looked at him. It was weird.

"Why did you eat the chili?! Are you out of your mind?" he chuckled.

I just watched him gulp down all the water in our two glasses before spitting it out forcefully in front of me. I smacked him on the arm because he was acting like a dragon.

"Chili kills the remaining poison in my body. Man, that was spicy!" he joked, making me laugh.

His strength finally returned so we went to the park and sat on a swing. I suddenly remembered the first guy I encountered and the first one who threatened me.

He was wearing a black mask. Could he be a member of the Black Blood Gang? UGH!

"Zein, thank you." He started. Though he was only looking at the ground. "Thank you for not leaving me. Sorry if I almost put you in danger." He asked for forgiveness.

"Don’t think about it. And it was my fault that you were put in that kind of situation in the first place."

He smiled at me before returning his gaze to the distance.

"Before I lost consciousness , I saw the man in a mask," he uttered, now looking at me seriously.

I stopped pushing myself on the swing and stared back at him.

"Red mask. Part of the Devil God Warrior," he added.

Now I realize it. The black mask is for the Black Blood Gang, and the red mask is for the Devil God Warrior. But the only thing that confuses me is why did he help us?

"He’s not just any ordinary member. Based on the fear I saw in the eyes of the big guy who tried to kill us, how their knees shook, and how quickly they scattered, he could very well be Raze Silvenia."

I remained silent. Raze Silvenia? The leader of Devil God Warrior? But why? Why do sense something different from him? I couldn’t explain it.

"But I wonder why he helped us?" Matt asked, just like what I had asked to myself earlier.

Is that man planning something? Are they?

"Also, last night, when we were running, someone was watching us," I said in an almost whispery tone.

His brows knitted because of what I’ve said. But I couldn’t be wrong, someone was really watching us, as if they were observing our actions and what we’re going to do.

"They might be one of the Black Blood Gang," he said.

I shook my head before shifting my gaze to the distance. It’s impossible that it’s one of the BGG, and if it’s indeed them then we would’ve been killed right then, just like what they intended to do, but no, they just kept on watching.

"Could they be the Devil God Warrior?" I asked.

"Possible. Raze is there, so his group might be there too," he agreed.

Our attention shifted to the students who are spilling out of the classrooms for break time. They look like just ordinary students on the outside, but inside, all of them are filled with intense fear.

"Let’s go. Let’s return to our room so we can change our clothes for the next class." Matt offered his hand so I accepted it with a smile on my face.

We were walking toward the dormitory when we bumped into a girl in a hurry. She dropped her books so we helped her pick them up.

"Thank y–" she stopped when she saw us. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Then she stumbled backwards as if she was really scared. "D-Don’t please." Then she ran away from us.

Both Matt and I looked at each other and shrugged at the same time. Weird.