Before the Friendship Games: Principal Cinch

by CapNTilfy

Cycle

Abacus Cinch opened her eyes to the static void once again. She braced herself for the gunshot, only to be greeted with the static noise. Several moments passed, and the Headmistress let her guard down cautiously.

"E..."

Abacus blinked in surprise at the new garbled voice just a few feet away from her. Was that the voice she heard off in the distance the last time?

"S... B... I... U..."

A moment of silence, then the sound of gunfire. Abacus screamed and cowered. Oh, how she hated that accursed noise!

"E..."

She wanted so desperately to solve this mystery so she wouldn't have this dream anymore, but she had nothing to go on!

"S... B... I... U..."

Just letters in an arbitrary order. It made no sense!

Another gunshot. The Headmistress grit her teeth in an effort not to scream, then began to hyperventilate.

"E..."

She tried to close her eyes to escape this nightmare, but to no avail.

"S... B... I... U..."

The cycle repeated and repeated over and over, slowly bringing Abacus to the brink of madness once again. Perhaps death would be preferable to this insanity!

"AnE..."

The sudden change caused the Headmistress' head to bolt upward.

"S... B... I... U..."

She plugged her ears with her fingers, yet the gunshot still caused her to scream.

"Any..."

Any. Any what? Any what?

"S... B... I... U..."

Abacus cringed again as another gunshot sounded. Why was she having this dream? She had done nothing but good things for Crystal Prep Academy! The Headmistress encouraged competition because it pushed everyone to their limits! The animosity between her students wasn't her problem, it was theirs!

On and on, the cycle raged. Abacus laid herself down on a surface... wait. A solid surface? This could be her chance to escape! Feeling a new sense of hope, she began to run. To where, she did not know or care, so long as it was away from here!

She ran as fast as she could, only to be startled by the gunshot. She yelped, then lost her balance and fell on the invisible surface with a grunt of pain. The Headmistress clenched her hands into fists, then got back up and resumed running. She'd be damned if let something as simple as a trip get to her! She had to escape!

Another gunshot rang out, and Abacus screamed. She resumed her running. She had to leave this hellhole!

Another gunshot. She nearly lost her footing, but steadied herself. She mustn't waver here. Not when she felt she had a chance at freedom!

"Any..."

Let the cycle repeat itself.

"S... B... I... U..."

Abacus Cinch would escape.

Another gunshot.

Her legacy would endure.

"Any..."

Her legacy had to endure!

"S... B... I... U..."

She had to survive!

Another gunshot.

...She didn't want to die.

"Any..."

The Headmistress began to feel weak in the knees, and her legs gave out.

"S... B... I... U..."

She toppled back onto the floor.

Another gunshot.

Fueled by desperation, Abacus got on all fours and began crawling away. It was rather undignified, but far better to be undignified than dead!

"Any..."

Oh please she didn't want to die.

"S... B... I... U..."

She kept on crawling, and crawling.

Another gunshot, and the cycle repeated anew. The Headmistress felt her will gradually drain as she began to tire. The volume of the cycle had not changed... She'd been running and crawling in place for who knows how long!

Tears began falling down Abacus' cheeks. How many more nights would she have to endure this torture? She was so scared. For the love of all things, she was so scared. She no longer felt any will to move, and laid down, sobbing on the invisible surface. She was going to die. Alone. And there was nothing she could do about it.

That knowledge led Abacus to scream into the void, where she knew nobody would hear.

Then she woke up.

Comments

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

She wanted so desperately to solve this mystery so she wouldn't have this dream any more, but she had nothing to go on!

anymore*