Eternal Rain

“Alright everyone! Are you ready for the senior trip?!” The teacher’s voice rang out across the sea of faces.

The group of kids yelled in response, and they all then boarded the school buses and headed to the school’s sister school, which was in the middle of a forest. When they got there, it was raining extremely hard. The students and teachers got their stuff and ran to the school. When they entered, they saw absolutely no one. That was, until a female voice spoke at the top of a staircase.

“One of my friends went to grab the principal. Because of the rain, they did not think you would get here so quickly. They will be here soon.”

One of the teachers smiled and responded. “Thank you.”

“You are very welcome.” Her voice faded away, which meant she was leaving.

“Hello everyone!” A loud and excited male voice sounded, and they saw a man, along with a black- haired girl, standing in front of them. “I am the principal of this school. Call me Mr. Colt.” He smiled.

“It’s nice to see you again. Now, do you mind helping us find the dorms?” The head teacher, Ms. Quintine, asked.

“Of course. Please follow the student body president, Kiki.” He then turned around and went back the way he came.

“Follow me.” Kiki smiled.

One of the students, a boy named Mason, walked up to the front with his friends. “Were you the one who got the principal?” He questioned.

“Yeah, I was. Why?” Kiki questioned.

“So, do you know the girl who talked to us on the stairs?” Mason’s twin, Macy, asked.

“All of the students should be in the dorms by now. I’m not because I was tasked with waiting for you all to get to the school. No one else should have been here though.” Kiki told them and they all looked at each other.

They eventually got to the dorms, and Kiki left. Not long after, it was time to go to sleep. Some of the students stayed in the common area and hung out. They were watching a horror movie when there was a knock on the door, and it scared them all. They opened the door to see a girl with white hair around their age. She had unreasonably pale skin and dark grey eyes. It was still raining outside, and her standing there was like a ghost appearing at their front door. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a badge, and they realized it was a student council one.

“Sorry if I scared you. Because your teachers are in the building next door, they wanted a student council member to stay here and keep an eye on you all. I guess coming at midnight wasn’t an excellent choice though.”

“No, it’s alright,” A guy named Jackson said. “Wanna watch the movie with us?”

The girl smiled. “Sure.”

They all had relaxed there the rest of the night. When they woke up, however, the girl was gone. A note was on the table, which they thought was from her, but from their teachers instead. It told them to get ready and go to the cafeteria. When they got there, the cafeteria was empty except for their teachers.

“Where are all of the students?” Macy asked.

“They are already in class.” The school’s principal walked over to them with a smile. “Anyway, do you all want to go on our walking tour around the campus forest?”

Some of the students’ heads perked up. “That sounds like a great idea!” One of the teachers said excitedly.

With that decided, they started down the path after breakfast. Some students weren’t happy that they couldn’t use their phones, while others enjoyed it. Eventually, they got to a fenced off area, but the entrance to it was open.

“What is this place?” One of the girls in the crowd asked.

“Ah. This is a graveyard. Sadly, we have had some students pass away during their time here. Even if they weren’t buried here, we make a spot for all our dead students.” The principal grabbed the gate and closed it. “You can go in there if you want. We have the gate to keep animals from getting in.”

That night, Mason, Macy, Jackson, and their friend Amanda went to the graveyard. The gate was open again, though the principal had closed it when they were there about six hours earlier. They went in and saw the figure of a girl sitting and reading a book next to a gravestone. They went over to her and realized it was Kiki.

Kiki looked over with a questioning face. “What are you guys doing here? Shouldn’t you be asleep in your dorm?”

“Sorry to bother you. We didn’t get to go in here when we were on our tour and were curious.” Macy responded to the girl.

Jackson motioned to the grave. “Whose grave is that?” He asked.

Kiki looked at it with a sad smile. “My best friend. She died freshman year.”

“How?” Mason questioned. “If you want to say.” He quickly added.

“It’s fine. You see that mountain behind the school?” She motioned in a direction, though they didn’t bother looking. Knowing they wouldn’t be able to see because of how dark it was. “During the winter, in their free time, students go up there to ski, snowboard, and some other stuff. One day, when we went up, there was an avalanche. She was buried under the snow for hours. By the time they found her, she was already gone.”

“I’m sorry that happened.” Mason looked at the grave.

Kiki smiled. “She was the best. We would watch movies all night, come to the graveyard every new year and chill.”

They looked at her with a confused look.

“What? Did I say something wrong?” She asked.

“Don’t the students go home for new year?” Amanda questioned.

A flash of nervousness showed on Kiki’s face, but it disappeared quickly. “Some students decide not to leave. My dad is the principal, so I don’t really have a need to. Anyway, you guys should head back. Being in the forest at night isn’t really the safest.”

“Have a good night!” Macy said happily, and the group left.

When they returned, Amanda went to her room and laid down, but she couldn’t sleep. One thing kept plaguing her mind. If she died freshman year, why did Kiki say every new year?

Morning came soon enough. Amanda didn’t know what to do with her thoughts, so she kept them to herself. Everything went fine, until they heard music in the hallway. A small group of students followed the sound. When they looked in, they saw a girl hugging a stuffed animal and looking at a picture.

“Hello?” One of the boys asked.

The girl looked up. “People?” She said in a questioning voice. “I’ve been here alone for a while. I didn’t think I would see people.” They all heard a thump in the hallway and the girl squeaked. “Bye!”

Surprisingly, that wasn’t the only time these events had happened. Finding random people who talk like there was no one in this school. All the older people they talked to seemed a bit scared when someone brought up a specific part of what they said. Then, one day, a note was on Mason’s door. He grabbed it and read it.

The note read,

“To the boy with black hair,

Sorry about calling you the boy with black hair. I don’t know your name. Have you heard about a girl named Kina? She is very pretty. Black hair and blue eyes. She was Kiki’s twin. Find her grave tonight. I left you something there. They don’t want to make you upset, I know that, but this is something you need to know. I can’t write it on here. They will try to stop me. Don’t forget, it’s Kina’s grave. Also, be wary of going at night. A black cat can always be found at its master’s grave.

Sincerely,

The Ghost of the graveyard”

Mason stared at the note for a good five minutes and still didn’t understand what he read. Then, he decided that the only way to get answers was to go to that grave. He gathered his friends.

“We are going to the graveyard.” Mason looked at them all.

“And why would we do that? Doesn’t Mr. Cane have something planed for us to do?” Jackson asked.

Mason sighed. “Look at this note I got on my door this morning.” He put it in front of them.

They read it and the looks on their faces said it all. They didn’t believe him.

“I mean,” Macy hesitated. “We can go if you want.”

“Alright then!” Mason was excited. He always wanted to be a detective like this.

When they went to the grave, they saw a note behind it. He grabbed it and it only said one word. “Dead.” He looked at the grave and threw down the piece of paper.

“What did it say?” Amanda asked.

“It said dead. Of all things. Dragging us into a graveyard where dead people are buried, while it is raining, and writing the word dead on a note.” Mason was angry.

He stormed off, Macy close behind. Jackson waited at the gate, while Amanda continued to stand in the rain, looking at the grave. She saw something in the corner of her eye. A girl with a sad face, staring at them. The girl was shaking. She was wearing a bright blue necklace. When Amanda turned to face her, however, the girl wasn’t there. Something blue glowed from on the ground. She went over, and it was the necklace of the girl. It had a piece of paper tied to it.

“You’re the one. Stop the rain. Let them all sleep,” Was what it read.