Before the Friendship Games: Principal Cinch

by CapNTilfy

Voices and Noises

Abacus opened her eyes to the void with a shiver. She may never get used to this, but she didn't have much of a choice in the matter. She floated down to a solid foundation, which she was grateful to have.

First things first, she thought. The Headmistress would focus on the voices. Perhaps in doing so, she may be able to uncover what this madness was all about!

"Any..."

Abacus cupped her chin. The voice was far too garbled to identify its owner, and one word was not enough to go on.

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

There had been something oddly familiar about the second voice, but she could not put her finger on it...

The gunshot sounded off, causing the Headmistress to jump and yelp. She grit her teeth and growled, then listened intently to the voices.

"Any... zz?"

Abacus blinked in surprise. Progress!

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

Some progress was better than no progress.

The gunshot sounded off again. Damn that accursed noise! The sooner she figured out this mess the better!

"Any... zz?"

Abacus closed her eyes and focused.

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

The Headmistress' eyes shot open as another gunshot was fired, and she hyperventilated until a thought occurred to her; What if it wasn't the letter u, but the word "you"?

"Any... zz?"

Abacus steadied her breathing, then sighed. With a shake of her head, she listened intently again. She wanted to make as much progress as possible!

"S... B... I... You..."

The Headmistress braced herself for the gunfire, but still suffered a pang of anxiety upon the noise. With a grimace, she mentally prepared herself for a long, long night.

---

How long had Abacus been here? There had been no changes for who knows how long and she had began to lose her patience!

Another gunshot startled her, and the Headmistress put her hand on her chest. She doubted she would ever get used to the noise!

Suddenly, a loud and high-pitched shriek resounded throughout the void, causing Abacus to cower. She shivered as the cycle repeated itself.

"W... What in the name of the universe?" This sudden and unexpected turn threw the Headmistress for a loop. Shaken, she tried to regain focus only for the gunshot to startle her. Just when she thought she was finally starting to make some headway!

The void screamed again as Abacus curled up into a ball and covered her ears. The gunshot was bad enough, but now this?

"Stop... please," the Headmistress whimpered. Normally any sort of scream would have no effect on her, but there was something so... disturbingly familiar about it.

Abacus slowly got up and stood up. She had to focus if she wanted to pull through.

"Any... zz?"

A sense of dread began to fill her, as though her instincts were telling her not to pursue the matter any further than she already had. The Headmistress scoffed. She may have been born into a privileged life, but even she knew that discomfort was sometimes necessary for progress.

"S... B... I... You..."

However, this wasn't discomfort. It was pure terror. For a moment, Abacus began to question if all of the trouble she had experienced and went through to uncover this mystery was worth it.

The gunshot interrupted that thought process, and the scream assaulted her ears.

The Headmistress' body experienced chills as a tear of fear fell down from her cheek. She had to fight this!

"Any... zz?"

As terrified as she was, she knew she was in no real danger.

"S... Bee... I... You..."

She had to hold on. Even if the gunshot and scream brought her closer to madness like this dream always had, she had to hold on!

"Any... zz?"

She may be afraid, but this was not real. This was her mind. Her domain!

"S... Abby... I... You..."

"A... Abby," the Headmistress echoed. Her jaw dropped and she felt a lump in her throat. She now knew whose voice that was. With a sniffle, she covered her eyes with a hand as the gunshot and scream rang out. Only one person could have possibly called her that, even in her dreams.

"M-Mother..."

Abacus Cinch woke up.

Comments

[Frankie2]

Is she reliving the night her mama died?

[CapNTilfy]

9939917

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

However, this wasn't discomfort. It was pure terror. For a moment, Abacus began to question if all of the trouble she had experienced and went to to uncover this mystery was worth it.

and went to uncover this*

"M-Mother..."

https://m.