"Write one word. The word should match how you will fight in the upcoming battle. Only one word that you believe you will... need."That is what their teacher had asked them. There was a piece of paper in front of every one of them. Everyone had picked their word and Daisy had picked hers.
OnomatophobiaNot really taking the request seriously Daisy picked a word which literally meant a fear of words. It was erudite yet contrarian, just the way she liked it. Little did she realize the gravity of her decision was far greater than initially perceived as the papers they wrote upon crumpled up before vanishing on their own accord. It was that which first brought to mind the concern that she might of been way in over her head.
Strange symbols formed on the skins of every student, herself included. She didn't notice of course since she was wearing clothes, obscuring what was going on on her body. She probably wasn't going to notice for a while unless someone pointed it out.
"Don't be afraid to die."Okay?"As long as we wish it, you cannot leave."Okay?As the teacher described the curse and that they were fight things called Blights with the words they chose Daisy's internal objections grew. Still, the disappearance of the paper they wrote on stuck with her. Her mind was quite open to mystery but she was being dropped in the deep end quite quickly for her liking.
Then the shadow descended. Like a cloak the darkness draped itself across the land, enveloping the school. The feeling swept over her no less than the shadow did, completely filling her with a supernatural dread. The colors seemed less lustrous, the people around her slightly out of focus like objects outside the center of a camera lens. Overall everything amounted to something Daisy would describe as Definitely like Silent Hill.
"First one is always monsters. No surprise there." The teacher seemed rather callous given the topic she spoke of.
"What? If you just sit there, you're going to die, you know. They'll be here soon."Like so everyone began straight up panicking. While everyone else seemed to flee the classroom Daisy was one of the few who calmly stood up, quite unamused by the teacher's attitude, and walked out from the classroom.
She looked about the hall, everyone else having had a head start on her. The sounds of panic disseminated through the halls. Her tired eyes looked back and forth as she dwelt on what was going on.
"Words to fight the monsters... How the hell is Onomatophobia-" She was quietly talking to herself but was quickly cut off as a strange viscous feeling filled her mouth all of a sudden. She opened her mouth to cough from the sudden surprise of having something in her mouth and instead a black liquid escaped her lips, spilling out onto the front of her uniform and the floor. It looked like ink and while she didn't know what ink tasted like it certainly didn't taste like a carbonated beverage.
She coughed and hacked, the last dredges of the substance leaving her mouth. The amount she seemed to have spat up only amounted to a small puddle around her shoes and a number of ink black stains on her vest. Her eyes were wide with shock at the sudden intrusive element as she struggled to purge every last bit of this unknown fluid from her mouth.
What the hell!? Was the main thought to come across her mind as this happened. At this point the mild phenomena had escalated into a full blown paranormal eruption. She panted, regaining her breath after having it cut off by the sudden conjuring of fluids within her mouth. Bracing herself against the wall as her breath quickened she started coming to terms with what just happened.
I... I spoke the word and it just started coming out. Now with a moment she was able to start thinking.
The word... A word is... A series of symbols etched in... In ink. It clicked in her head just what exactly the black substance was.
I spoke the word and... It literally left my lips. Dear god what the fuck is happening!?She had little time to dwell on the word she was given however. Her heart rate spiked as the adrenaline hit her bloodstream. Her eyes were noticeably dilated now as the fear started to sink in. She could fear a pulsating sense of dread coming from the hall to her left, this concern punctuated by a sharp high pitched cry as a female student was grabbed, the voice suddenly snuffed out as though buried. On that note she ran.
Cold sweat beaded down her forehead as she just picked a direction and kept running. On a number of junctions she'd stop briefly, that same creeping dread emanating from one of the halls. This sense of fear she held was unconsciously guiding her away from the dangers, spiking her feeling of danger whenever she was unknowingly going towards these unknown threats. The downside to this was that the fear was also driving her away from other students in possession of words. She was being guided away from words.
Of course she couldn't evade trouble forever. Just as she was nearing the library she felt a tremendous fear ahead of her. She turned to go off in the opposite direction but got a sense of danger from there too. The only other thing in the hall was a door to the janitor's closet.
She rushed inside before anything could see her, not even bothering to turn on the lights. She wanted it to be dark, she needed to hide. There were all sorts of supplies and janitorial tools in this closet as expected. Fumbling in the dark she managed to worm her way behind some boxes on the bottom shelf. She could almost feel their presence drawing near. Whatever it was she was definitely sure it was right outside the door.
Her breath caught in her chest for that very moment when the door handle turned.