Unable to comprehend what has just taken place right in front of me, I’m left staring at my classmate’s body in complete shock. (No… No this can’t be happening!) I internally scream as the robotic model advances towards the rest of us, stepping over Chloe’s body as if she means absolutely nothing. “You…!” I hear Max’s voice come from behind me, her tone furious. She suddenly grabs a book from nearby and hurls it at the moving skeleton in front of us. The model though, doesn’t even flinch as the book bounces off its shoulder as it blindly and slowly makes its way onwards. “Guys you need to run!” I hear Anette’s warning, and turn to see the rest of the group waiting beyond the classroom's threshold, as the anatomical model itches closer than ever. “Wait!” Max exclaims and throws yet another book from the shelf nearby, as I drag her out of the room and Anette closes the door behind her. “What now?!” Max says in a loud voice, her breathing heavy. “We need to stop it!” Anette replies, looking as if she has made up her mind. “Stop it? How?” April inquires as an idea flashes through my mind. “We’re gonna lead it in the room with the spikes!” I exclaim almost immediately. “Yes, exactly!” Anette agrees with me and as if on cue, the anatomical model punches a hole through the door. “We don’t have time! Let’s go!” Sarah cries out and we all make a run for it down the hallway just as our pursuer breaks through the door and bursts into the hall after us. “If the rooms keep shifting then how are we even going to find it?!” Chris’ rational argument has everybody in shock as we continue running. Everybody, except Anette. “I can guide us there, that experience stood out to me. I can sense its location by concentrating on the emotional residue…” Anette explains and Max interrupts, “Less explaining, more running, a full analysis is not needed right now!” She says while I look over my shoulder, and of course the model is still onto us. It’s not fast, but it never stops. “It’s one floor up!” Anette announces as we follow her through the halls of the school with our implacable enemy marching after us. (I hope she can still detect danger from other sources…) The thought of us running into another trap makes me feel sick. Anette leads us to the stairs and we start running them up. I can hear the automaton clanking its way down the hallway behind us. (We need to keep moving!) Just as the thought crosses my mind I turn in time to see April fall. “Ah!” She cries out sliding down a few steps, before managing to catch herself. “April!” I instinctively call out to her and stop ascending. “I’m okay! I just tripped…” She tries to brush it off and takes a step forward. “Ack!” She cries out one more time holding up her injured foot. “I think I twisted my ankle… Ack!” She explains letting out another pained groan. Behind us the automaton has just reached the base of the stairs. (Please, tell me it can’t climb…!) It stands there for a moment, but then it slowly lifts one foot onto the first step and begins to ascend. “Oh for fuck’s sake!” I exclaim irritated at our enemy’s capabilities. “Just keep going!” April hobbles up the stairs, although she winces and gasps each time her injured foot hits. I hesitate and remain still, my feet rooted in place (What do I do..?) That question flashes through my mind as I stare at her struggling on the staircase. “I… can handle… it.” She tries to convince me but it’s evident she needs help. (I couldn’t save Chloe and now I’m just staring at April… Maybe I’m just useless… But if I just-) My thinking is interrupted by Max who calls out to me. “Jack whatever it is you’re thinking, just do it!” She shouts and I immediately move, snapping out of my trance. I hurry down the few steps that still separate me and April and stand next to her. ‘What are you doing?” She looks at me quizzically. “We’re getting out of here!” Is all I say, as I bend my knees and scoop her up in my arms, with one hand on her legs and another behind her back. “Wait what?!” She exclaims surprised as I hurriedly ascend the staircase once again, before glancing back at our pursuer. (This thing just doesn’t give up, does it?) I think to myself as it continually clanks its way up the stairs after us. I’ve never carried another person before, let alone on stairs, but I turn with April in my arms and start hurrying up the steps towards the others. “Why?” She says in a low voice, her face tinted red. “If I could relive the past few seconds 100 times, I think I’d still come back in each and every one of them.” I blurt out as I continue ascending. “I can’t believe you’re this cheesy while an anatomical model is chasing us…” She says burying her face in my shoulder. “Am I heavy?” She asks and I chuckle. “Nope, you’re light as a feather.” I reply and she tightens her grip around my neck and shifts her weight so she can rest more easily in my arms.  “Flattery won’t get you anywhere mister… Especially if it gets us…” Her voice cracks, and I can feel her body stiffen. “Hey, as long as I’m here there’s nothing to worry about okay?” I blurt out yet another cheesy line without thinking. (Even I’m amazed with myself at this point…) I expect her to reply just like earlier but instead she just answers with a “Mhmm” as she presses her head deeper against my shoulder. (Do I really have the right to say that, especially after what happened to Chloe? Where did all that confidence come from?) I ponder as Max turns around to us. “We’re good, keep going!” I try to reassure her and she nods. “Don’t worry, once we take care of this thing we’ll head back to base and patch that leg up.” I come out and say, as she has gone all silent on me. “Will you carry me there?” She asks, her tone a lot softer than before. “Well, only if you want me to.” I reply in the same tone as her. “Then it’s settled…” She says “…Walking is a pain after all.” And then quickly corrects herself. We finally reach the upper floor and I see Anette stopping in front of a classroom and opening the door. “Do we all have to navigate this trap now?!” Sarah asks and we all get cold feet. (One wrong step and it’s over…) I remember our earlier encounter with the said trap. “No, we just have to get a row of spiked tiles between us and the entrance.” Anette explains as she steps inside the classroom and motions for us to follow her. She slowly walks forward, choosing her steps with care, and the rest of us follow her across the safe floor panels. We all stand at a safe floor panel as we anticipate our pursuer. A few seconds later, splintering wood and a skeletal hand bursting through the door signals the automaton punching its way into the classroom. Once inside, the automaton wastes no time, making its way towards us. (Please work, please work, please work…) I pray inside my head as the automaton steps onto the trapped floor panels. Immediately, huge spikes shoot out of the ground and impale it. A horrible screeching sound comes from the automaton and sparks fly. Slowly it grinds to a halt and stops moving, as still as the anatomical model it used to be. (Yes! It worked!) I internally celebrate. “We… did it?” Max inquires in between heavy breaths. Anette cautiously moves closer to our motionless pursuer. She examines the anatomical model and frowns as if deep in thought. At last, she reaches towards the spot that shows the human heart. A panel opens up when she pulls on it, and Anette reaches into the model’s heart. When she finally withdraws her hand, she’s holding another ornate key. We all look at it and smile for a moment, but then it hits us. (At what cost did we get the key?)

Back in the safety of our home base, Max helps April wrap her twisted ankle. (She seems to have calmed down some… She was pretty furious back there…) in the silence of our base, I recall everything that had just occurred. (I can’t believe that we lost Chloe… We had our differences, but still… It’s hard.) I think to myself as nobody speaks a word. We should all be celebrating since we're so close to escaping, but we just can't. Not while everything reminds us of Chloe. When we lost Liam it was just as shocking, but it was still pretty early on. Now that Chloe’s gone, her absence is evident inside the room. All her things are still lying around here, making us unable to forget even for a moment. The blankets she won’t need now, a dish she ate from earlier, a keychain she must have dropped or purposefully left behind. I vividly recall her calling out to me, her desperate expression as the anatomical model wraps its arm around her neck. The sound… The sound her neck made. Echoing through my mind in an endless loop. (I’m sorry… I’m so sorry Chloe…) I hold back the urge to cry, but still a tear rolls down my cheek. A tear that I quickly wipe away and grit my teeth. I’m currently sitting on the floor, my back resting on the wall, as Anette suddenly takes a seat next to me. She seems even quieter than usual, her gaze distant. “Are you… doing okay?” I ask, in between a small pause. “Was… was it my fault, Jack?” She asks me in a low voice. “What?” I instinctively exclaim. “I sensed danger but I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. Was there something I could have done to warn Chloe? Did... did I fail her?” Her voice finally breaks and she silently starts crying. “I should have realized sooner…” She grabs my blazer’s sleeve and continues “Why couldn’t I save her..? Why..?” She huddles against me, crying on my shoulder. (I’ve never seen her this upset before. When we faced that thing, she was so calm and collected…) without thinking I wrap my arm around her shoulder and she leans into my embrace. “Shhh…” I say in a low voice. “It’s not your fault. I promise it’s not.” I sincerely reply. “If someone tries to convince you otherwise, I’ll smack them across the face.” I say rubbing her back. Her crying intensifies, as she relaxes against me, her shoulders shaking as she sobs. “I always thought my powers were a curse… Now I can put them towards truly helping other people, but… it still wasn’t enough…” She says, her voice always shaky. “You did everything you could.” I reply and she objects “How can you say that? First Liam and now Chloe…” Her voice cracks once again. “We need you, Anette. Without you we’d all probably end up just like them.” I reply in all honesty. “But I failed her! I failed Chloe just like I failed Liam…” She buries her face in my chest as she says that. “Think about what happened after that. It was YOU who came up with the plan to defeat that thing, and it was also YOU who guided us through it. YOU saved us Anette.” I rub her back a second time. “You saved our lives…” I repeat those words so they can register with her. “But… but Chloe was counting on me to tell her where the danger was!” She slightly raises her voice. “It all happened so fast, how could have anyone predicted that?” I give her the benefit of the doubt and she falls silent. “You did everything you could, and even more, your rational and quick thinking saved the rest of us.” I try to reassure her as I soften my grip on her and she relaxes. She stays silent and sighs. “It makes it even worse that it was her too…” She finally speaks up, in a low voice. “You mean because of all that happened between you two?” I ask and I can feel her nod. “You think people will blame you?” I inquire as she nods a second time. “…In a way yes… But I wonder if deep down I didn’t try as hard as I could because it was her. If I subconsciously ignored the danger…” She lays bare her thoughts and I squeeze her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. “I know you’d never do such a thing. You’ve done everything in your power to help us after all. You wanted to prove yourself to Chloe, not hurt her.” This time, I try to reassure her with words as well. “Throughout my life, people have seen me as… a monster… because of my powers. Sometimes it’s easy to wonder if they’re actually right.” She voices and I immediately protest. “They’re wrong. They know nothing about you. They know NOTHING about who Anette is.” I reply without hesitation as she sighs a second time and I feel that she has calmed down some. “No more of this, you hear? It’s not your fault Chloe died, and it definitely wasn’t intentional.” I repeat my sincere thoughts to her and she slowly raises her head. “So you still want me as your guide?” She asks, looking a lot better than before and I chuckle. “Of course. There’s no one I’d trust more to keep us safe from the school’s dangers.” I wholeheartedly reply. “Thank you so much, Jack. Truly.” She thanks me as a small smile forms on her lips. “Hey, you know the rule. No sorry and no thank you between friends.” I repeat something that Max used to tell me all the time. “Friends.” Anette repeats after me with a sincere and innocent smile plastered on her face. (Seeing her like this, it hits home that we’re all human after all. I feel bad that she has to hear all those people calling her “creepy” all the time. It must have been hard for you, Anette…) I lose myself inside my thoughts, as I protectively squeeze her shoulder. 

After a short time passes, we decide to have dinner and call it a day. I look at my phone as I lay down in my set of blankets. “It’s already 10? I’m exhausted…” I sigh as I lay deeper inside my makeshift bed. (44 hours left…) I think as suddenly, Max sits next to me. (I’m getting Anette flashbacks from this…) I recall as I sit up. “You good?” I ask with a smile. (It’s been some time since I talked to her one on one….) “Yep. Just dandy.” She says turning to face me. “Everything’s good with Anette?” She asks and I nod recalling our conversation. “Yep, at least I hope so.” I reply and she nudges me. “Oh you playboy!” She jokingly teases me with a smirk. “Hey, I told you, we’re friends!” I reply trying to defend myself. “Haha I know I know!” She giggles and goes back to serious-mode. “Still, I’m proud of you. It’s the first time I saw you acting like the real Jack since you came back.” She smiles at me sincerely. (Max is the only person that knows some stuff about what happened to me before I came back to Kirkwalle… Maybe I'm ready to leave all that behind?) Before I notice, a smile forms on my lips as well. “Thanks Max. I think I’mm heading the right way…” I reply, my voice trailing off. “Oh they grow up so fast!” She says ruffling my hair. “Hey stop that!” I protest and we both laugh. “You better not forget about little ole me with all those friends you’re making!” She voices, her smile still stuck on her face. “Never.” I reply firmly maintaining eye-contact. “Never.” I repeat once again with a wink and she winks back. “So…” She says shifting closer to me, lowering her voice. “…What’s the deal with the school idol?” She whispers into my ear as she looks at April. “Huh-wait what?” I reflexively exclaim as my gaze follows Max’s. “Oh he’s acting flustered! There’s definitely something going on!” She raises her voice slightly and I shush her. “Stop shouting or she’ll get the wrong idea!” I reply with a whisper. “THE WRONG idea?” She smirks at me, teasingly repeating those words. “Even after carrying her all princess-style back there?” Her unrelenting teasing makes me recall all those things I said to her just a few hours ago, and I immediately shiver. “Killing blow.” Max exclaims as I run my hands through my hair and look down. “Look, a school filled with deadly traps is barely a place for romance to blossom, especially since we’re talking about me. So can we skip this conversation, please?” I give her the best excuse I can muster and she shrugs. “Got it got it, I’ll let you rest then. Goodnight!” She smiles at me as she gets up and skips her way to her set of blankets. (I’m glad to see her feeling better though…) "Goodnight." I say as I lay back down and shift inside my own blankets. Before I know it, it’s already lights out time and we all exchange good nights. Soon I drift off to sleep, as not even my heavy thoughts can keep me awake for long.