The Phantom School - 94 The Melody

I could not remember which way I had to go in order to reach the facility. And after all, this was one of the purposes of this labyrinth. I kept looking both ways, and at some point, I even tought of walking back the way I came from.

“Well, I’m not going to get anywhere if I stand here for an eternity.” I said. Right or wrong, I had to make a choice. “What is the worst thing that could happen?”

I thought of what I had just said, and laughed. The anxiety kicked in. I was incredibly lucky the first time, but… What could happen if I chose the wrong way? Perhaps… Perhaps it was better not to go before making sure that I was going the right way. I could end up getting lost, trapped, injured, dead and so on. Unfortunately, I had no guidance whatsoever. If only I had the book, or Cansu could talk to me, it would be a lot easier.

“Bring us peace!” said a faint, deep voice behind me. “Set us free!”

This ‘mass grave’ was sending shivers down my spine. If I stood there for a few more minutes, I would probably go crazy.

Then, I began hearing something else. It was… music? The sound got clearer in a moment. I recognised the timbre of a piano. Someone -or possibly something- was playing a melody in the distance.

As the sound echoed through the hallways, I couldn’t understand where exactly it was coming from. But after a minute of listening, I decided that it was coming from the hallway on my left.

I slowly walked that way, towards the music. As I got further, the blue light faded away. The walls here were not rough, they were well constructed and painted. On the sides, there were a few doors. One of the doors on my right had a label.

‘Conference Hall’

I have never been here before. No one ever knew about this place. Maybe there was a change of plans during the building’s internal redesigning, and people just wanted to completely seal this segment off instead of trying to deal with the hazards and difficulties of this area. It probably had a purpose during the prison years, but now, this was just a part of the school that was never really finished. At least that was what I thought…

I found a light switch and turned the hallway’s lights on. Luckily, they were operational; at least most of them. A lot of the sockets were never installed in the first place, but there was enough light for me to see everything I needed.

“I don’t remember this place.” I said. “Damn it! This might be the wrong way. But let’s see what lies ahead…”

As I kept walking, the music got clearer and a bit louder. Following the sound, I approached a door on my right. It had the label ‘Music Room’ on it. Obviously, this was the old planned location of the music room, but there was no excuse to leave an expensive asset like a piano down here. Anyway, the budget of the school or the price of a piano were definitely not one of my primary concerns right now.

I slowly pushed the door open and got inside. As soon as the door opened, the music stopped. Most of the room was empty. There was a piano and a small chair near one of the corners. I walked up to the piano. It was very old,and it was covered with layers of dust.

Defeated by the silent, magical invitation of the piano, I sat in front of it. I had the chance to mess around with pianos a few times in my life, but never actually learned how to properly play it. I got my hands on the keys and pressed a random one down. Nothing happened. There was no sound. Perhaps I hit the key too slowly, I thought. I hit another one. An ominous, low note howled in the room.

“What am I doing?” I said to myself, loudly. I had to keep going, and here I was, playing with a piano.

I got up from the chair and walked backt to the door. I pulled the door open. But, just behind the door, there was a wall. A straight, white wall.

“Oh, come on! I’m sure I didn’t walk into this room through a wall.” I said. “That! I think that’s the sort of thing that happens when you go the wrong way…” I sighed. I couldn’t lose now, I had to find some way out of the room.

I closed the door and opened it again, hoping things could change. But unfortunately, the wall was still there. Maybe it required some time for the change to happen… I closed the door once again and sat next to the door.

Minutes passed in silence…

I got up and hesitantly opened the door again. No change. The wall was still there. This time, I tried to push the wall all around, but I couldn’t do anything. I slammed the door shut in frusturation and disappointment.

I looked all around the room. It was very minimalistic at this state; just a piano, a chair, a door and four walls… and, of course, a lot of dust. There was nothing I could do here… except maybe playing with the piano.

“Sure.” I said. I was still talking loudly to myself. “Since there is nothing to do…”

I sat on the chair again, and looked at the keys of the piano. Pushing random keys, I tried catching a slow rythm and getting used to the difference between adjacent notes. My playing wasn’t pleasant to listen to, but I was sure I would learn a bit, slowly.

Just then, the room started shaking and vibrating. Could it be another earthquake-like effect? Was The Community back?

“Hey, I have the information you are looking for!” I yelled. “Listen to me, belive me!”

No one responded to my cries. Suddenly, I jumped from the chair. The piano had begun playing notes by itself! This… this was the same melody I have heard in the hallway, the melody that lead me here.

“If you are there, please talk to me.” I said, trembling. Again, no one replied, as I expected.

In my slightly scared state, I ran to the door and opened it again, hoping things may have changed. Behind the door, there was that wall again; but this time, it was moving upwards.

“What in the world!?” I said. What was I supposed to do?

At last, the wall was gone, and my way out of the room was unblocked. At the same time, the melody had also stopped again. It was silent. But there was something else out of place… This hallway just outside the music room… It was not where I had come from.