For a long, breathless moment, no one moved.
The voice had vanished, but its echo still hung in the air — deep and heavy, like the memory of thunder.
Then, without warning, a wave of air rushed through the hallway.
Cold. Violent. Full of dust.
Everyone turned away instinctively, eyes squeezed shut, hands raised against the sudden storm. The wind howled like a living thing, whispering through the cracks and corners of the walls. When it finally died, the silence that followed was worse.
Samy blinked first.
Her voice trembled. "Guys… the lights—"
There were no more lanterns.
No soft glow. No blue shimmer.
Just blackness — thick, endless black swallowing everything in front of them.
The hallway was gone.
Or maybe it was still there, hidden under the dark.
Jet fumbled through her backpack. "I've got a torch," she muttered, her voice shaky but determined. Tony followed her lead, pulling out another flashlight. The beams flickered weakly to life — narrow cones of pale light that barely cut through the gloom.
"It's not enough," Tin whispered. "It's like the dark is… eating it."
But there was no other choice.
Step by cautious step, they moved forward, the only sound their shoes scraping against the cracked tiles. The world around them seemed to twist, stretching farther, colder. Even their own breaths sounded distant, echoing strangely, like they were walking inside someone else's dream.
After what felt like forever, another gust of wind came — harder this time. It slammed into them, forcing them backward.
They stumbled, arms raised again, and when they opened their eyes—
A door.
It hadn't been there before.
The hallway was still black, still endless, but one room stood out — faint light spilling from the crack under the door.
Roger exchanged a look with Kim.
"Did… that just appear?" she asked.
"Yeah," Kim said. "And it's the only thing here that isn't dark."
Without a word, they pushed it open.
The room inside was small, dimly lit by a single lamp that shouldn't have been working. Dust floated lazily in the air, glowing like drifting ash. A wooden desk stood in the center, covered with books, a diary, and one unopened letter sealed in old wax.
Everything else was still.
Too still.
Tony stepped inside first, glancing around. "Looks like someone's office," he said. "Or a classroom from… forever ago."
Then — slam.
The door behind them slammed shut.
The sound echoed through the room like a gunshot.
Samy jumped, eyes wide. "No—no no no—don't tell me it locked—"
She ran to the door and pulled, but it didn't move. It felt solid, cold, as if it were part of the wall now.
Roger looked around, steadying her voice. "Okay. Nobody panic. We're safe for now."
"Safe?" Jet said, gripping her torch tighter. "You call this safe?"
No one answered.
Each of them found their own way to deal with the fear clawing at their insides.
Samy stood near the door, muttering softly, desperate to get out.
Jet crouched beside the wall, flashlight trembling as she whispered plans for how they might survive the night.
Tony sat on the floor, pulling a small cube puzzle from his pocket, trying to distract himself, hands shaking with every twist.
Tin stared at the ceiling, eyes unfocused, whispering theories about what this place could be — another dimension, a curse, a reflection. Anything that made sense.
Meanwhile, Roger and Kim moved toward the desk.
The diary sat open, its pages yellowed with age, words written in hurried, jagged handwriting. Roger brushed off the dust and began to read quietly.
"The school is changing again. I can hear them in the walls — the ones who never left. If anyone finds this, don't trust the mirrors…"
Her voice trailed off. "What does that mean?" she whispered.
Kim didn't answer. His eyes were fixed on the unopened letter.
The wax seal was cracked and darkened, like it had been waiting a long time for someone to touch it.
"Maybe this will tell us," he said softly, sliding a finger under the seal.
Roger looked up, uneasy. "Kim… maybe we shouldn't—"
But the seal broke with a quiet snap.
The air in the room shifted — colder, heavier, like the room itself had taken a breath.
Somewhere behind them, a faint whisper crawled through the silence.
"You shouldn't have opened that…"