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Kyle shivered as he slumped over the wrinkled, fetal pig on his tray and his lab partner sliced open its stomach. He could barely handle the pig's rancid odor, but he faced forward and pretended to look only mildly displeased.

                          
He watched as the opening running from the stomach up to the throat uncovered the pigs' unsavory innards, wet with stomach fluid. He winced and pushed his chair back a few inches with his foot. Kyle's lab partner looked to his side as Kyle's guard was slipping away.
                          
"Dude, you are going to do the rest, right?" He asked Kyle fearfully.
                          
"O-of course, of course. Just...adjusting my seat." Kyle stuttered, nodding. However, his hands were latched to the bottom of his chair and didn't want to pick up a forceps.
                          
"Um, you ok?"
                          
"Oh, haha, sorry! Forgot where the forceps was." Kyle lied, knowing that his scalpel was just under the tray. He took a slow, deep breath through his mouth, released his hands from his seat, and picked up the forceps. He read the assignment sheet, instructing him to locate the organs in the neck, listing the larynx, trachea, and thyroid. He dropped the forceps back on the table, slightly relieved.
                          
Not too bad, I suppose. Kyle thought to himself. He found the larynx, which looked like a slightly deflated light bulb, and ran his gloved finger down to the trachea, a thin ribbed tube in the middle of the neck, and down to the thyroid, a smaller, bulbous organ similar to the larynx.
                          
After moving past the awful stench, it seemed like Kyle could coast through the assignment, identifying each of the different organs and organ systems. However, Kyle froze up when he read that he now had to cut open the heart. He turned to his lab partner.
                          
"Matt, do you...want to take over?" Kyle slid the forceps on the table over to Matt.
                          
"You're the science buff." Matt shrugged and slid the forceps back.
                          
Kyle sighed and steeled his nerves once more for the next step.
                          
He pulled the lungs away from the heart and with forceps in hand carefully cut through the heart's outer tissue.
                          
But, before he could open the heart, stray fluid from the pig squirted into his face. He yelped and wildly threw his hands behind him, accidentally slapping Matt in the face, fell backward in his chair, slammed the back of his head into the desk behind him, and fell down on the floor.
                          
The rest of the classroom gathered around him, and they all appeared to Kyle like tall, looming shadows. Kyle shut his eyes and turned away as one of them tried to grab him, but nothing happened. He opened his eyes and found that everyone in front of him was gone. He got back on his feet and found that, in fact, everyone had disappeared.
                          
There was an eerie silence. Kyle looked around as he walked to the door, anticipating someone to come out and attack him. Just as he was about to turn the door handle, he felt another presence in the room.
                          
He turned around and saw that a young girl was standing on the other side of the room. She had long, auburn hair and a pink hoodie that obscured half of her face. She seemed to be looking expectantly at Kyle.
                          
"Um, hi?" Kyle said, walking up to her. She didn't reply. "Hello? W-who are you, and do you know where everyone is?" The girl still didn't reply. "Do you...go to this school?" She said nothing, but slowly shook her head. Kyle, trembling, took a few steps back from her. "So um...why are you here?"
                          
The girl's head hung down. He said in an exasperated whisper, "Please, say something." She trembled, as if close to crying, as she slowly pulled down the collar of her hoodie, revealing a bruised, scarlet gash across her neck.