That night, 19 students thought they were reborn again. After Mr. Isaac was killed and Katie was removed, they were joined by dozens of figures that called themselves Section U Backup Personnel. They told the students that everything would be fine. That they have been placed in hell and that they have survived. That from this moment on, all the torment would be put behind them.

With this in mind, these students went home with huge smiles on their cheeks. Many of them drank and drank until they couldn’t drink anymore. Others emptied their bank accounts, celebrating their rebirth and salvation with shopping sprees. Even more students turned to the sweet comfort of sex. Only a handful of them set their eyes on the future, hoping to return to their normal lives soon.

That night, Katie and Caitlin called for an Uber to take them back home. On the road, the two were silent. Caitlin was staring out of the window with a stoic look as Katie examined her bloody hands.

It turned out the Agent...yes, Katie just decided to call him the Agent although he definitely had a real name. Either way, while the Agent couldn’t do much to actively help the girls, he was able to cast what he called a spell. Apparently, it could fool the senses of the Spiers, essentially taking Mr. Isaac’s eyes and ears off of the girls without him even knowing it.

Caitlin was a little confused as to how that spell worked technically, but the Agent was confident, and she saw no reason for the Agent to lie about this after putting some much work in the two girls.

“Well...who knew sawing off heads would take this long?” Katie suddenly shrugged and complained. In front of them, the driver didn't move, just like he wasn’t concerned when he stopped in front of a girl with blood on her hands. He wasn’t a puppet of the Dark Pantheon. His lack of action only meant one thing: the curse around the students was getting stronger.

At the beginning of the games, outsiders could still see and hear things that the students did out of ordinary. It was just that they would forget it afterward. Now, they would ignore the students altogether.

Caitlin sighed at Katie’s attempt to be sarcastic. Slowly, she turned back to Katie and gave her a small kiss on the forehead.

“You are not stupid, Katie. Yes...a lot of times you just don’t like to use your brain, but even you can see this…”

Katie turned to the side, not able to bear looking Caitlin in the eyes. “Nope. I can’t. I’m blind. I can make that statement literally true if you want...”

“Katie!” The blonde called out. Katie didn't answer her, so Caitlin raised her voice. “Listen to me! Katie! Look at me!”

Finally, Katie turned back to face Caitlin.

“What do you do best, Katie?” Caitlin was almost hissing. “Tell me, Katie Lockwood! What do you do best?”

“I…” Katie couldn’t help but look down at her hands. Her bloody hands.

What the Agent was telling her to do to defeat Mr. Isaac was obvious. It was simple, really. Simple and straightforward.

Mr. Isaac wanted to sacrifice the souls of every student in the class. Katie couldn’t exactly stop him from that, but the final sacrifice of his, the most important one, required him to make live sacrifices.

So would the Will of the Chaos Domain still grant Mr. Isaac the same favor if all he had to offer was a pile of corpses?

Killing. Killing was what Katie did best.

Would disrupting the sacrifice ritual guarantee Mr. Isaac’s death? Not really. But what it could do was save a lot of students from the worst fate possible. It would rescue them from a destiny worse than death. And more importantly, it would seriously fuck up Mr. Isaac’s day.

In most cases, Katie would gladly take some time for a good old massacre, but not this time. This time, she despised the very thought of it. This time, she would rather die a thousand times, or not die a thousand times, than take part in the slaughter.

For one simple reason.

Caitlin knew it. Katie knew it. But neither girl could bring it up. All Caitlin did was lean over and hug Katie tightly for the rest of the trip back.

“There has to be another way.” Katie couldn’t help but whisper. She was never one with hope, but this time, she clung to hope like it was a lifejacket and she was about to drown soon.

All Caitlin did was hug Katie even tighter, as if she wanted to become one with her girlfriend.

Next morning.

Vivian stretched her arms. For a moment, as she opened her eyes and saw light, she was horrified. She was late! And Mr. Isaac wasn’t the type of teacher who would just send her to detention for being late! In this class, late meant dead! But her fear only lasted for a brief moment before logic returned to her.

She was fine. She was alive. Mr. Isaac, on the other hand, wasn’t. He wouldn’t terrify them ever again, thanks to the brave intervention of Section U.

And then Mr. Isaac started talking. The entity that she thought was no more than a headless rotting corpse started talking.

“It’s so good to see you again, my students.”

Vivian sat up from the floor so quickly she swore she heard her neck snap. It didn't take too long before Vivian saw Mr. Isaac standing right in front of her. How...how could it be? She was back in that classroom again! And as she looked around, Vivian was terrified to realize the rest of the class was lying around her! Even Katie and Caitlin!

But the students weren’t the issue. The issue was the undead teacher standing in front of the class the same way he has been for the past three weeks! The head that the Section U Agents blew up was back. In fact, it has healed so well that it was nearly impossible to tell there was nothing neck up for the man just yesterday.

“How?” Beside Vivian, one of the students was practically screaming at the top of his lungs. “How? You are dead! You were killed! Those Section U Agents fucked you up! This...this is a dream! I’m dreaming!”

With that declaration, he reached to his side for his weapon but found nothing. In fact, as the students calmed themselves, they realized Mr. Isaac must’ve pulled them into the classroom right from their homes. Most of them were still in their pajamas, and they were the lucky ones...Either way, he was completely unarmed.

After all, who would keep weapons in their pajamas? Anyone that did so wanted to be shot or cut in their sleep.

And then the students watched as Katie casually pulled her Knife out of her thigh. Ok, she doesn’t count…

Mr. Isaac simply stood there and watched as the students, one by one, realized this was hardly a dream. No...instead, this was the harshest of the realities. Once that became clear, most of them crumbled. Even Vivian was practically down on her knees screaming. The higher their hopes were yesterday, the more desperate they were now.

The thing was, that was exactly what Mr. Isaac wanted. Caitlin noted darkly as she observed the sickening grin on the teacher’s face as he watched countless break down. The more agony the students feel, the more worthy their souls become, and the more power Mr. Isaac could receive with their sacrifice. No wonder he was going through all this trouble to kill the defenseless students.

Beside her, Katie quietly pulled on her black bra, making sure it covered more of her skin to create something resembling modesty. “Well, it’s a good thing we were tired last night, or this would’ve been really awkward.”

Caitlin grinned at the comment. Just a little.

When the students finally came to accept the cruel reality, many of them were completely broken. Mr. Isaac took this opportunity to give them one last blow. Something appeared in his hand. It was a severed head, and it didn't take the students too long to recognize it as the head of one of the Section U Agents that saved them just yesterday.

Yesterday, he stood proud and tall, a savior. Now, all that was left of him was a decapitated head. Considering how he killed Mr. Isaac yesterday, it was rather ironic.

“I hope you have enjoyed your rest.” The teacher spoke up, casually tossing the head to the side. “But make no mistake. I cannot be beaten. I cannot be killed. And whenever you think you are saved, whenever you believe the light is near, it will just be a matter of time before you realize one simple thing. The light is no more than a facade, and the thing you call hope...is merely a lie!”

“With that said, let’s go back to the games! I think you’ll realize the game today is a little simple, but it is also a classic…” He pointed at the window. “Three of you will jump out of the window...”

“Fuck you!” One of the boys raised his voice and screamed, cutting off the teacher’s instructions. He has had enough of this! “I’m not playing these games! Not anymore! Kill me if you want. Just quit toying with us!”

“Oh…” Mr. Isaac grinned sadistically. “In that case...as you wish!”

Most of the class quietly stepped away from that particular student, expecting him to suddenly burst out into a ball of flames or collapse into a pile of severed flesh and bone. None of that happened. Instead, Mr. Isaac just lifted his hand, and the boy suddenly started screaming at the top of his lungs.

Slowly, a blurry white fog left his body and gradually made its way into Mr. Isaac’s grip. It was his soul, and while he was totally capable of collecting it covertly, this time, Mr. Isaac chose to make everyone know what he did.

Death wasn’t the end. It was just the very beginning.

“Now…” As the boy’s body collapsed, still with his soul in his grip, Mr. Isaac turned to the rest of the class with a wicked smile. “any volunteers?”

“Hmmm…” Katie said quietly as she ventured to the window and looked out. The classroom itself was on the third floor, with concrete covering the ground below. For most people, jumping out meant certain death. She opened her mouth, ready to say something snarky.

Except Mr. Isaac was having none of that. Before Katie could say a word, he lifted his hand again, and the next second, Katie’s head was turned by 180 degrees by telekinesis. The sound of bones cracking could be heard across the classroom Katie’s head was facing her back.

“Oh shit!” A few students called out in fear. Just looking at that felt painful...

Katie growled before literally grabbing onto her head with her own hands and twisting it by another 180 degrees, making a full circle to bring it back to its normal place. It was really difficult to say if Mr. Isaac’s initial assault did more damage to her than what she did to herself.

“Ouch.” She whispered. Someone’s getting cranky...of course, she knew why Mr. Isaac was doing this. The more students he has sacrificed, the more powerful he has become. At this point, even if she wanted, she couldn’t really derail his plan anymore...or so he thought. No need to play nice then.

Mr. Isaac wasn’t paying any attention to her. Instead, he turned around and picked three students. Screw volunteering… “You. You. And you. Out of the windows, now!”

The three unfortunate students froze in fear, unsure of what to do next. This was the third floor! As a matter of fact, going out of the window was how Mr. Isaac first died! This was certain death with no way out! Mr. Isaac might as well straight up kill them now!

As a matter of fact, killing them was what Mr. Isaac wanted to do. The three students he picked were all students who were close to giving up. Their minds and souls couldn’t take any more suffering. In other words, they were no longer worth his attention. Might as well cash in on their souls now.

Before the three students could say anything else, Mr. Isaac simply pushed them out of the window with his mind. Following three chilling screams and three cracking sounds, the room was silent once again.

Mr. Isaac has marked his return with four victims, bringing the size of the class down to a measly 17.

With the kills completed, Mr. Isaac gave the class one last mocking glance before simply disappearing into thin air.

As soon as he was gone, many students collapsed in their seats, still trying to recover from the shock. Others simply started screaming, having practically lost their sanity altogether. Except they wouldn’t be allowed to vent in peace.

After all, just yesterday, the same students stabbed Katie in the back and condemned her to what they thought was certain death. And today, this girl was back, and she was in need of some good old vengeance to get her mind off the troubling matters she had at hand.

With Knife in hand and a typical sickening grin on her face, she started approaching her fellow students. Even as she moved, Caitlin took a few steps back. She made no effort to stop Katie from doing what she was going to do. After all, whether Mr. Isaac won or lost, they would have to die anyway.

Might as well give them a quick end right now.

The first student Katie approached was Aaron, the boy who she saved from having to face the zombies. When her life was seemingly at stake, Aaron turned away and remained silent.

Did Katie need his help to survive? Not at all. But did she take kindly to his betrayal? Again, not at all. Perhaps Aaron had his reasons, but the facts remained, and Katie was never one to see both sides of the issue.

The boy realized Katie’s intentions as soon as she started moving. This brought fear onto his face and his knees to the floor. Right there, he knelt down in front of Katie and begged for his life. “Look, Katie! I’m sorry! I had no choice! It was the most logical thing to do…”

He never finished as Katie’s Knife slid across his throat, sending him collapsing onto the ground and choking to death. It was a quick death...relatively speaking considering the context.

Katie tilted her head before looking up at one particularly unfortunate individual.

Kyle.