The school bus was packed with teenagers, and somehow, in the middle of all the noise and bumps, a 17-year-old boy was actually asleep with his head against the window.
He wasn't exactly plain-looking—skinny, with midnight-black hair, pale skin from barely ever seeing the sun, and light brown eyes that usually looked half-awake.
The guy sitting next to him stared like he'd just witnessed a miracle.
"How does he sleep through all this chaos?"
Someone nudged my arm, and I blinked myself awake.
"What's up, David? Are we there yet?"
David snorted.
"Dude, seriously? What'd you do this time—stay up all night gaming or watching anime again? And yeah, we're here."
When we got off the bus, Professor Tony and the rest of our class were already giving us that "finally" look.
After the teacher went through the rules for the mountain trail, we started hiking. An hour later, half the class looked ready to collapse—including me and David. Only the athletes seemed totally fine. Notifying everyone dragging, the teacher said:
"Break time. Five minutes under that tree, then we keep moving."
People grouped up on the grass.
David and I stayed standing since we only brought the basics—food, water, jackets, bug spray, whatever. I looked up, out of breath, and saw dark rain clouds rolling in, but… eh. I figured it'd hold.
It didn't.
Five minutes later we were back on the trail, and by the time we hit the halfway point, the rain came out of nowhere.
"Perfect. Just perfect," I muttered.
Some students panicked. Some groaned. Professor Tony told everyone to speed up because camp was still far.
And then it happened—my foot slipped. One second I was on the trail, the next I was sliding down the slope, landing somewhere below the main path.
I got up, tried brushing the mud off, failed miserably, and just stood there like, "Great. Love this for me."
I tried climbing back up, slipped again, and fell on my back. At that point, I yelled for help like a maniac… but no one heard. They were too far ahead.
After shouting until my throat burned and questioning every life choice that led me here, I decided to find shelter before I froze to death. Someone would notice I was missing… hopefully.
After walking a bit, I found a small cave hidden between rocks. The floor was damp but good enough to sit on, so I stayed there, waiting for the rain to calm down.
Meanwhile, back at camp, David was freaking out since he couldn't find me anywhere. He told Professor Tony, who looked annoyed but also worried.
"With rain like this, there's nothing we can do until it stops," he said.
Spoiler: it didn't stop. It got worse.
Back inside the cave, I spotted a faint red glow deeper inside. I know, I know—going toward the creepy red light isn't the smartest move, but I was curious and bored and… well, I went.
That's when I found it—a blood-red stone buried in the wall.
It was beautiful in a weird, unsettling way. I reached out and touched it.
Instant regret.
The moment my fingers brushed the surface, a burning pain shot through my entire body. I screamed until my voice broke.
The stone started melting, pulling me in like quicksand. The pain was so intense that everything went black.
Then the stone dissolved into the ground, and the entire cave collapsed behind me, disappearing as if it had never existed at all.