The Shadow in the Hallway
674 Words
The hallway was frozen in fear.
Lockers hung open like metal jaws. Students stared, whispering, pointing. A teacher fainted dramatically against a wall — though to be fair, she fainted every week for unrelated reasons.
But Liora didn’t look at any of that.
She looked at the spot where the shadowy figure had been.
“Tell me you saw that,” she whispered.
Xaden didn’t blink. “I saw it.”
Nova nodded. “I also saw it.”
Arin gulped. “I didn’t see it, but I believe in the general horror of the situation.”
Jace clung to Arin’s arm. “Please tell me the ghost didn’t see ME.”
“Jace… it was literally staring at Liora,” Arin said.
“Okay but maybe it glanced at me a little?!”
Nova grabbed Liora’s wrist. “We need to leave. People are watching.”
She was right. Students were peeking, pointing, whispering things like:
“Why didn’t her locker open?”
“Is she cursed?”
“Did she do this?”
“Maybe she’s an alien.”
“That notebook looks haunted.”
“I bet she controls the lockers with telepathy.”
Liora groaned. “Great. I’m becoming a school myth.”
The worst part? A few people were recording. Crescent High loved drama — and Liora hated being the main character.
Xaden stepped closer, voice low and protective. “Move. All of you.”
And surprisingly… students actually moved.
Arin whispered, “I wish people listened to me like that.”
“You trip on flat floors,” Nova said.
Arin sighed. “True.”
They hurried out of the hallway and ducked into a deserted stairwell. Liora leaned against the wall, clutching the notebook tightly.
Her hands were shaking.
“I don’t get it,” she said quietly. “Why me? What did I do? I didn’t see anything that night except some people running.”
Nova gently took the notebook from her. “You saw something. Maybe not consciously, but something important.”
Jace nodded. “Yeah! Sometimes I don’t consciously know where my snacks go, but my instincts remember!”
Xaden shot him a look. “This is not about your snacks, Jace.”
Jace whispered, “Everything is about snacks if you believe.”
Arin rubbed his forehead. “Please stop talking.”
Nova flipped back to the page labeled The Witness.
“Emil drew your face with insane detail, Liora. Look—he even got your annoyed eyebrow.”
Liora frowned. “That’s just my normal eyebrow.”
Then Nova turned the page.
Everyone froze.
A symbol covered the next sheet — the exact symbol the Shadows used. But beneath it, Emil had written a sentence in large, frantic handwriting:
“THEY KNOW SHE SAW.”
Arin took a step back. “Okay. No. Absolutely not. Stop the story. End the movie. Roll the credits.”
Jace pointed at the words, horrified. “WAIT—WHAT DID YOU SEE?!”
Liora shook her head. “I don’t know! I swear I don’t!”
But Xaden’s expression changed.
He looked at her very carefully — too carefully.
“What?” Liora demanded. “Why are you staring at me like I’m a puzzle you want to solve?”
Xaden hesitated.
Which was rare.
“I think,” he said slowly, “you saw something even you don’t realize you saw.”
Liora’s heartbeat quickened. “…Like what?”
“Something the Shadows are willing to kill over.”
The stairwell went silent.
Until—
CREAK.
A loud noise echoed from the floor above them.
Nova tensed. “There’s someone up there.”
Another creak.
Then a soft tap… tap… tap like footsteps descending slowly.
Arin whispered, “We’re going to die in a stairwell. I always knew.”
Xaden motioned them behind him. “Stay close.”
The footsteps grew louder.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Then—
A voice drifted down the stairs. Low. Calm.
And terrifying.
“Liora Mavens… we need to talk.”
- Writer
