Bridging the Distance

"WOAH! Party party" Ella screamed as she waved her phone with the light on. He was still standing in Ellice's car, his twin.

"Is it possible, Ella? We are in the middle of this unknown abandoned building, so please lower your voice, will you?" Ellice disobeyed Ella. Ella only made him suffer but he followed what Ellice said.

"So girls, what would we do now? It's already freaking midnight! What should we do?"

"Can you Mitch, stop your overreacting skill? Being an OA is not going to help you!"

"It's OA when you're scared, huh? Amanda?"

"Girls stop it, please. Let's think of a way to get out of this place" I disobeyed Amanda and Mitch. They have been fighting for a while now. What they are doing is not helping. "Try calling Mandy again"

"I've done France a few times, but there's absolutely no signal here," Ellice said as she kept holding up the phone to find a signal.

I washed my face and kept looking at the phone, knowing what time it was. I tried to think of what to do. Ellice's car, which was the only one we used, was also broken. There is also no signal in this area so we cannot ask for help.

If you guys are confused, we are here right now in front of the big University. It's all grass outside so we immediately knew it was abandoned. We don't know why we ended up here, we just followed the location Mandy gave us. But why did this place come to us?

"It's really Mandy's wedding! I told you that girl is a bitch. Why did you trust me?"

"You're also a bitch, but we are still trusting you, Mitchelle. There is no difference between you," Amanda warned Mitch. They've been like that for a while now, never getting along and always arguing.

"What are you doing? Isn't your fight really over? Just fight if you want" Ellice teased the two of them. Like me, it looks like Ellice is also cringing at the childishness of the two of them.

"Girls wait, the gate is open, I'll just check" Ella got out of the car and walked to the gate of the university in front of us.

We just followed him with our eyes. Not far from the abandoned university, Ellice's car was parked that we were hanging out with. It only takes a few steps to reach the gate, so we see Ella's every move as she slowly opens the gate.

"Girls, it's open. Come on, let's take a look inside" Ella yelled at us.

We got out of the car one by one and went to see Ella. When we arrived at the gate we found that it was indeed open. After all, no one is surprised by an abandoned person.

"What are we going to do? Don't tell me we're going in there?" Mitch asked cleverly. He just followed us and kept his hand on his mosquito-bitten leg.

"Let's go inside. Let's find a place to sleep. We can't just spend the night in the car," I told them. Maybe some bad person passed by where we parked the car, we might be tripped up, we're still girls. We have nothing against you.

"France is right. We have to get inside to find a place to rest" Ellice agreed with what I was saying and went inside first.

"But guys-"

"Could you, Mitchelle, even just now, put off your tact!"

Mitch gave Amanda a hard time. "Whatever" followed Ellice and so did Ella.

"Leave him alone. It's like you don't know Mitch" I smiled at Amanda and took her hand and squeezed it.

"You know, France, I've had too much patience with that girl. It's good to kill her"

"Haha, come on. You're too brutal" I pulled him inside. It's too cold outside. Because it's midnight. It's scary outside.

When we entered inside, we walked together in the long hallway here inside the university. It's just surprising that it's so clean and it seems like there are people here every day, while it looks abandoned and dirty outside.

There are also large lights on each side that illuminate the entire hallway. There are also lights in each classroom. I started to get nervous. My legs are also stiff and every step I take seems to be very heavy.

"G-Guys, something seems wrong" I could feel the fear in Ella's voice. He is also clinging to my arm.

"W-What if, let's go back" Amanda whispered and pulled the hem of my dress.

"Why doesn't it seem abandoned in here?" Ellice said with a smile. Only now did he show interest in what we were talking about.

I also thought about what Ellice was saying. Why is it different inside compared to outside? What is this? I took quick steps back to the gate and checked to see if it was still open but it wasn't, it was already locked inside.

"Shit! Guys, the gate is locked" I shouted to them. I slowly retreated back to their place. "I-I think, there's something wrong about this school"

"How come it's locked? We left it open, and I didn't see a lock before?" Ella said full of surprise and the fear was also evident in her voice.

"What are you? Are you the ones who want this? We're already inside, My God, you want more lu- aahhh" Mitch couldn't finish what he was going to say because it was replaced by a loud shout.

I covered my mouth when suddenly two people in ninjas stood behind Mitch and they pulled Mitch towards the dark place.

At the same time, we backed away and were about to run, but there were also four men standing behind us who simultaneously pulled us to run in an unknown direction. I don't know how many minutes we've been running but I feel like time is very, very slow. We breathlessly entered a large room and the man who pulled me quickly closed the door.

I slowly backed away as he faced me. "W-Who are you?" my voice was shaking because of fear so I couldn't manage my speech. I also wondered why there were only two of us in this room. where are my friends

"You don't have to be here. You don't know what you're getting yourself into" apart from his cold voice, I can also see his muscular body. I couldn't see his face because it was dark where he was standing.

"We're lost, that's why we thought of going in here. A-What's in here?"

"Slaughter, massacre, bloodshed, different terms of slaughter"

I almost fell because of what he was going to say. He didn't look like he was joking because his voice was very serious. What I felt now is what I am trying to fight against. What he said was scary. Not even in your dreams do you want to enter this university.

"W-What do you mean?" even though what he is saying is clear to me, I still want to be sure. "W-how do we get out of here?" I didn't wait for him to answer my first question because it was more important for me to know how we could get out of here.

"There's no other way to escape. If you want to survive, you have to face your death. If you want to still alive, you have to fight"

Suddenly my tears flowed. How can we get out of here? How can we get home alive? What did we get ourselves into? We just want to celebrate because we just finished our gradations earlier, but why is this? Why did we end up in this place?

"How can we survive?" I asked in a raspy voice. I don't want to be discouraged. I have to find a way for us to escape from here.

"Fight for your life, that is the only way how to still alive"

"In what way?"

"You have to be strong. You have to attend every task that the superiors will do"

"I-I don't get it" I shook my head in front of him. I didn't understand even one of the things he said.

"All your questions will be answered"

My knees were weak as I sat on the floor. How are my friends? How can I fight if I can't ensure the safety of my friends? I have lost hope of escaping this place as I do not yet know their condition.

"Don't worry about your friends, they're safe except for your one friend"

I immediately looked up at him. "Mitch? What happened to him?"

"It was the Ukkanawas who got him. They are the group that increases the number of those killed"

Suddenly, the tears that wanted to fall down my cheeks poured down. We wanted nothing more than to have fun on this day, how did it happen that the day we wanted to be memorable for us was the day that would make us suffer.

"Jusko" I said. I buried my face in my knees and let myself cry.

"You have to rest, I will get back to you tomorrow, and prefer yourself because tomorrow will be your beginning. There's one thing you have to keep in mind, you have to follow the prime master's rules"

I didn't ask any more questions even though I wanted to ask him a lot. I didn't even look at the door where he came out because I heard his every step. I just kept my head down as I let my tears continue to fall.

Tomorrow is my beginning and I have to follow the prime master's rule? Sino ang prime master?

I couldn't imagine that in this case we would be in danger. Danger, danger is this place we've been to. I don't know how long our lives will last so our lives here are uncertain. If only I had known that this would happen, I wish I wouldn't have fought with my parents just to be with my friends.

My tears started flowing again because of the fear I was feeling. Fear not only for myself, but also for the lives of my friends.

Jusko, you take care of us.

I didn't realize that I fell asleep even though my face was buried in my knees. I reached for my phone in my pocket and checked the time. It's four o'clock in the morning. It's almost morning but I feel like time isn't running. I don't know what will happen to us. Why did we enter this place? We only saw those people last night but why is it so scary?

I quickly adjusted my seat when I heard the door ring, as if someone was coming in. I slowly moved and hid in the seat. I also searched for something that can be used against any person who enters here.

"It's me, you don't have to scared"

I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard the familiar voice of the man I was talking to last night. I slowly stood up and my eyes searched for the man.

He was standing near the door. He is wearing different clothes now, and I can see his face clearly. He is handsome, tall and young. It's surprising that at his age, he lived in this hellish place.

"S-Thank you and come back" I said happily, even though I was feeling so scared somehow it was relieved a little because he was here.

"I'm with your friends" he moved a little so I could see the door.

Amanda, Ella, and Ellice were standing outside of it with the three men who I think were the ones who dragged them last night. I feel so happy because somehow I still see my friends. They ran to my place at the same time and were the first to hug me.

"France, I'm scared. It's scary here" Ella cried while hugging me tightly. I also couldn't hold back my tears because this is how I am, emotional when it comes to my friends.

"France, let's go home. It's so scary here, we saw how people can be killed here, France, I can't live here"

I sighed and rubbed Amanda's back. "I want too, but we can't. We can't get out of here Amanda. We're going to die here"

"What? France we have to find ways. We can't stay here for long" Ellice didn't cry but I could see that her eyes were puffy. The fear was also evident in his voice.

"There is no way out. You can't get out of here anymore"

The three of them turned to the man with us now. "What do you mean?" Ellice asked the man.

"There's no other way to escape. Once we entered this fvcking university, we will never be free. Those are the words that cannot be removed from my mind since last night, Ellice" I myself answered Ellice's question. This man might even be crippled, we might be killed in no time.

"N-No way" Ella shook her head as if I was just joking.

"You have to take heart, Ella. This is not just a dream, this is a fvcking reality. We have to survive or else, this is where we will rot" I reminded them, I had to strengthen not only my heart, but also they They need to stand up for themselves.

"So what are we going to do?" Ella seems to be losing hope. The way she talked, she lost her courage.

I turned to the man in front of us. "What are we going to do?" I ask here.

"I informed Prime Master, and he offered you guys a room. I will bring you all there to make sure you're safe" he said seriously. "So let's go, maybe the Ukkanawa people will wake up and see you. We'll go through the back"