Sufian and Snagglix walked toward the music room, the echo of piano notes faintly calling them closer.

  "Man… there are too many webs on this door," Sufian muttered, trying the handle. "I doubt we’ll be able to open it. Still, that piano is definitely coming from inside. Someone has to be in there. Hmm, what do you think we should do, Loudboots?"

  Slaaash—Snagglix swiped at the sticky webs with his dagger.

  "Aww... sorry-sorry, Sufian. Boblin’s dagger no work here…"

  "I see… that’s a problem." Sufian stared at the door. "Should I just go ahead and try to call out to them?"

  He knocked heavily.

  The music stopped.

  "Hey! Is anybody there?! If there is, please respond!" he called out.

  ...

  "...No response," he whispered. "In fact, it’s dead silent in there."

  (What’s going on in there… don’t tell me it’s actually a ghost?!)

  "Uh, at any rate, it doesn’t look like we can get in here. Let’s go someplace else, Boots."

  They turned and made their way downstairs. Pimi was standing near the gym door when they spotted her.

  "Malak is in there! I can feel it!" she exclaimed the moment she saw Sufian.

  "Really?" Sufian asked.

  "No doubt about it! I’d never mistake her aether for someone else!" Pimi said, clenching her fists.

  (She’s using weird words again...)

  "Okay, so we know she’s in there at least!" Sufian cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Hold on, Malak, we’re coming to save you!"

  Sufian kicked and pounded on the door. "...Damn, the door won’t budge! I don’t see a lock anywhere. Is it those spiderwebs?!"

  "What we do, Sufian?!" Snagglix asked, anxious.

  "What do I do... what do I do?!" Pimi paced. "She’s just on the other side of this, and yet... I have to protect her... Why can’t I protect her...?!"

  (Poor Pimi… her precious person is so close, and she can’t do anything about it.)

  "It’ll be okay, Pimi. If we work together, we’ll definitely rescue her," Sufian reassured.

  "B-but how? We can’t get past this door..." Pimi said, voice shaking.

  "That’s... hmm. Well, the enemy has to get out of there, so maybe there’s another path," Sufian reasoned.

  "Oh! Yeah, that makes sense! There must be another way in! I’ll try and sniff it out!" Pimi said quickly, spinning to leave.

  "Ah, wait, Pimi!" Sufian called after her.

  A chime interrupted him. Sufian flinched, hand darting to his pocket to retrieve his smartphone.

  (Huh? I got a message? But how? I thought the camera was the only thing working...)

  He checked the screen. Lines of random symbols filled the message.

  "You okay-okay, Sufian? Look funny-funny..." Snagglix asked.

  "Uh, nope! Just forget about it," Sufian replied.

  (Who’d send a message like this? I’d better put it on the back burner for now.)

  "Let’s go look too, Loudboots."

  They walked into the faculty room. A soft noise came from near the farthest desk.

  "Huh? I hear a noise up ahead. Is someone there?" Sufian said.

  He dashed toward the sound. "Wait, is it the enemy?!"

  "No worry-worry, just Pimi!" Snagglix grinned, stepping forward from behind the desk.

  Pimi peeked out from behind the desk, her voice weak. "Sufian, Boots..."

  "Pimi! So that’s where you were," Sufian said with relief.

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  "Sorry, Sufian... I thought I’d find some kind of clue, but no luck..." she admitted.

  Sufian clenched his fist and suggested with resolve, "If we can't find a door, why don’t we make one? In the wall, or the floor, or ceiling..."

  "We can’t break window... how break other stuff?!" Snagglix pointed out.

  "Ah, you’re right… hmmm..."

  "Oh! The ceiling! We heard a sound from the ceiling before Malak was taken, right?!" Pimi exclaimed.

  Sufian's eyes lit up. "That means the one who took her must’ve been moving up in the crawl space..."

  "I’ll take a look!" Pimi said confidently.

  "Hey, wait, Pimi!" Sufian called after her.

  As she ran to the hallway, Pimi stopped abruptly. "Hmm? Who's that child…?"

  Sufian stepped beside her. "What are you talking about?"

  Pimi pointed down the hallway, her eyes wide. "There’s a child walking in that hallway over there."

  "Hold on, is that the ghost from before?! There’s a dead end up there! Let’s go!" Sufian exclaimed.

  "I’ll go ahead!" Pimi said, spinning toward the corridor.

  But as she turned, she twisted her ankle. "Augh! Owww…"

  "Don’t push yourself with that injury! The two of us will go!" Sufian said firmly.

  "Yeah yeah!!" Snagglix chimed in.

  They ran to the girls’ bathroom at the hallway’s end.

  "No one here… but this is the only place they could’ve gone," Sufian said, scanning the space.

  "Nobody here, Sufian! Just dust-dust and air-air!" Snagglix added.

  (There’s just gotta be a clue around here…)

  Sufian looked up and spotted a loose ceiling board. He dragged a stool underneath.

  "Oh! Look, we did it, Boots! Now we can get into the crawl space!" he exclaimed.

  "Woohoo! That’s greaty-great, Sufian!!"

  They climbed up into the crawl space and crawled forward through sticky webs.

  "Ewww! No more sticky-stick, bleh!!" Snagglix groaned.

  "This could get bad… We won’t be able to defend ourselves if we’re attacked here," Sufian muttered.

  "Look-look, Sufian! Shine-shine ahead!!"

  "You're right! Let's go!"

  Light poured through a ceiling opening. They dropped into the music room. Instruments lined the walls.

  "Whew, we finally made it. You doing okay, Loudboots?" Sufian asked.

  "Awww... Boblin all ooey-gooey..."

  Sufian glanced around the room, taking in the instruments and decor. "Uh… well, at least you're not hurt," he said to Snagglix. "So then, where are we? A piano, sheet music… is this a music room?"

  "Someone here, Sufian!!" Snagglix's voice rang out suddenly.

  Two children stood at the room’s far end—pale-skinned, emotionless. A boy in black shorts and suspenders, a girl in a white dress.

  Sufian froze. "Whoa! Is it… the ghost?"

  "Guess you found us," the boy said.

  The girl remained silent.

  "Are you… human?" Sufian asked.

  The boy’s voice was calm. "You should leave this school quickly."

  "Huh?" Sufian asked, still trying to make sense of it.

  "You must not provoke them," the boy said with quiet urgency.

  "Are you talking about the monster?" Sufian looked at the boy, his voice tense.

  The boy nodded gravely. "Yeah. If it hunts you down, you guys won’t even be able to resist."

  "But we can’t just leave. Our friends have been taken. I have to save them. If you know anything, please tell us." Sufian looked into the boy's eyes.

  The girl tugged on the boy’s sleeve. He sighed.

  Sufian thought, (That girl is… gesturing to the boy?)

  "Sigh… fine. I’ll tell you about them," the boy said.

  "Really?!" Sufian leaned forward with hope.

  "My sister told me to, so…" the boy added.

  Sufian thought, (Sister… so these two are siblings? She seems more cooperative than the younger brother.)

  "You’re being preyed on by a giant spider. It suddenly took over this place a while back. Its den is in the gym, but the whole place is gummed up with webs," the boy explained.

  "Yeah, we couldn’t get in there," Sufian replied.

  "It moves in the crawl space under the floor to get around the school," the boy continued.

  Sufian thought, (We were right. The sound we heard up in the crawl space was that thing.)

  The boy explained, "There is a secret passage to the routes it uses under the cafeteria. Go look for it."

  "Oh! The cafeteria, huh? Thanks so much for telling us!" Sufian said.

  "That thing doesn’t kill its prey right after abducting them. But it sucks the life from its prey for sustenance, so over time they weaken and die," the boy warned.

  Sufian thought, (Die… hearing someone else say it really makes it hit home.)

  "If you want to save them, I wouldn’t waste time," the boy said.

  "Okay, got it!" Sufian nodded.

  "Be careful. It won’t give up its prey without a fight," the boy added.

  Sufian thought, (Is he… worried about us? I should be fine. I have Boots with me. Still…)

  "Are you two going to be okay on your own?" Sufian asked.

  The boy made a kind face. "We’ll be fine. We’ve been in this school long before it came, so we know where to hide."

  "Is that right? Then you two stay here," Sufian replied.

  Sufian thought, (Wait… 'long before'? That doesn’t sound very recent at all… Ah, but I need to focus on the rescue!)

  "We’re gonna go. Thanks again for the help!" Sufian said.

  He looked at Snagglix. "Let’s head over to the cafeteria!"

  "Locked in! Boblin on it!!" Snagglix cheered.

  Sufian and Snagglix gathered everyone in the cafeteria and explained what was going on.

  "There should be a secret passage to the gym here, right?" Pimi asked.

  "Yeah, that’s what they said…" Sufian replied.

  Everyone started hitting on the wooden floor and kicking around.

  Not long after, a small area of the floor gave way.

  "Oh, here it is! There really was a passage!" Sufian exclaimed.

  "We did it, Sufian!!" Snagglix cheered.

  Ali, who was at the other end of the room, shouted, "Hey, Sufian, any luck over there? Did you find anything?!"

  He began making his way over.

  Matt, next to Ali, yelped, "Yeee-heeep! Don’t leave me by myself, you friggin’ jerks!"

  "You’re the one holed up over there by yourself, man. Feel like joining us?" Ali teased.

  "Ah, shut up! There’s just more spiderwebs around, and… th-things change, all right?!" Matt grumbled.

  "Kewww, kewwwn…" the Gnath murmured.

  "You two get a hold of yourselves. Even the Gnath is showing more composure than you," Thoren scolded.

  Ali placed his hands on his hips. "… Is that what composure looks like?"

  Once everyone gathered near Sufian and Snagglix, Sufian called out, "Ali! Matt! Look at this! Now we can go save Malak! Once we go through here, we’ll have to fight a monster. Is everybody ready?"

  "Of coursey-course, yes yes!!" Snagglix cheered.

  "Heh, does a bear poop in the woods?" Ali smirked.

  "Onward, to battle!" Thoren declared.

  "Hey, I’m going too! You ain’t gonna leave me here by my lonesome, are ya?!" Matt shouted.

  "Kewwwwy!" the Gnath agreed.

  "Hold on, Malak, we’re coming!" Pimi yelled and ran into the passage.

  "Ah. Don’t run on ahead, Pimi! It's too dangerous! We'll all go together!" Sufian shouted.

  "Yeah!!" Snagglix echoed.

  ?????

  no excuses that we bring you this latest installment. Our dear writer, Suso, has been heroically battling the most fearsome of beasts: real life. Yes, they were busy with things like responsibilities, obligations, and certainly not just lying in bed watching the ceiling for inspiration.

  perish the thought! Definitely not. Nope. Not even once.