The Tunnel That Shouldn’t Be There
762 Words
The tunnels beneath Crescent High were never quiet.
They hummed.
A low, vibrating hum, like the whole underground was breathing.
Jace hated it. “Why does the floor sound like a giant snoring? I don’t like snoring floors.”
Arin patted his shoulder. “At least the floor isn’t trying to kill us… yet.”
“Yet?!” Jace squeaked.
Liora led the group with the flashlight, notebook tucked under her arm. It had taken nearly half the lunch period just to convince herself she wasn’t hallucinating the figure from the stairwell.
Xaden walked beside her, silent but alert, his hand hovering near a metal door as they passed it.
“That one wasn’t open before,” he muttered.
Nova checked her digital map. “No door exists on this side according to the school layout.”
Arin blinked. “So… ghost door?”
“Secret door,” Xaden corrected.
“Haunted secret door?” Jace added hopefully.
“No,” Nova said flatly. “Just dangerous.”
They approached the mysterious door. It was old — older than anything in the tunnels — carved with symbols Liora had seen in the notebook.
Her breath caught.
“Xaden… this symbol here...” She traced the crescent with her finger. “It’s the same one Emil wrote over and over.”
Nova compared both symbols. “Same style. Same pattern. Same meaning: danger.”
“Danger is becoming our specialty,” Arin muttered.
The door shifted — slightly — as if something nudged it from the inside.
Everyone stepped back except Xaden.
He stepped forward.
“Don’t,” Liora whispered.
Xaden paused and looked at her, eyes steady. “If we don’t know what’s inside, we can’t stop them. This door… it wasn’t sealed before.”
Jace leaned forward. “Meaning…?”
Xaden turned the handle.
“It means someone opened it recently.”
The door creaked open.
A wave of cold air swept out.
Liora shivered. “Okay. Creepy. Very creepy. Ten out of ten on the horror scale.”
Xaden signaled them in.
Liora entered first — because apparently she made bad life choices now.
Inside, the room was tiny. Dusty. Dead silent.
Just an old storage space.
Arin exhaled in relief. “Oh thank goodness. It’s empty. No monsters. No shadows. No—”
Then he froze.
On the floor was a single sheet of paper.
Placed perfectly in the center.
Liora swallowed. “Why does everything creepy in this school come perfectly centered?”
Nova picked it up slowly.
Everyone leaned closer.
It read:
“STOP LOOKING FOR ME.”
Jace frowned. “Uh… polite? Kinda?”
Nova shook her head. “No. That’s Emil Dane’s handwriting.”
Liora felt her heartbeat slam against her ribs.
“But Emil is missing…”
Xaden crouched down. “Meaning he’s alive. He was here.”
Arin blinked. “Wait—so the missing student left us a note? Telling us to stop looking for him?”
Jace nodded passionately. “We should respect his privacy!”
“No,” Nova said. “The Shadows are forcing him to warn us. This note is not his idea.”
Liora picked up the notebook again and flipped to a random page.
Her eyes widened.
“Guys… look.”
On the page was a drawing of the same secret room — exactly the same shape — with one line written underneath.
A line Emil had circled five times:
“IF THEY FIND THIS ROOM, THEY FIND EVERYTHING.”
Jace whispered, “Uh… does that mean what I think it means?”
Nova looked around nervously. “Guys… this room isn’t just a room.”
Xaden stood.
“It’s a hiding place. Emil’s hiding place.”
Liora felt everything click together — horribly.
The Shadows weren’t just watching them.
They were watching this room.
They were waiting for someone to enter it.
Suddenly—
THUD.
A heavy sound echoed from down the tunnel.
Then another.
Closer.
Arin panicked. “Nope. Nope. Let’s leave. I don’t care what secrets are here. I value my respiratory system.”
Jace grabbed him. “RUNNING SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT IDEA.”
Nova clutched her tablet. “We have incoming.”
Xaden moved in front of Liora. “Stay behind me.”
But before they could flee, a shadow blocked the entrance of the tunnel.
A tall figure.
Standing still.
Breathing slow.
And familiar.
Xaden whispered, voice breaking just slightly—
“…No. Not him.”
Liora froze.
“Who is it?”
Xaden’s jaw clenched.
“My brother.”
- Writer
