THE FOURTH ONE

CHAPTER FOUR: THE FOURTH ONE

The door slammed shut.

Maya spun around and grabbed the handle.

Locked.

“Jun.”

“I know.”

“Open it.”

“I’m trying.”

Jun pulled the handle again.

Nothing.

Sora stepped closer.

“Maybe there's another way out.”

Maya turned toward the staircase.

The darkness below seemed deeper now.

The voice was gone.

But Maya could still feel it watching them.

“That's our way out,” she said.

Sora stared at her.

“You want us to go down there?”

“No.”

Maya looked at the locked door.

“But I think we have to.”

Jun nodded.

For once, he didn't argue.

The three of them descended.

The staircase seemed endless.

They passed one floor.

Then another.

Then another.

But Haneul High only had three floors.

Maya counted the steps under her breath.

Twenty.

Forty.

Sixty.

At seventy-three, she stopped.

“Wait.”

Jun turned.

“What?”

Maya pointed at the wall.

There was a photograph hanging there.

Three students stood in front of the school.

They looked happy.

Normal.

But someone had scratched out their faces.

Maya stepped closer.

“Are these the three students you mentioned?”

Jun didn't answer.

Sora looked at him.

“Jun?”

He finally nodded.

“Yes.”

Maya looked at the photograph again.

Three names were written underneath.

Kang Hyun.

Lee Ara.

Park Ji-ho.

But there was something strange.

A fourth name had been written beneath them.

The letters were almost completely faded.

Maya wiped the dust away.

Her heart stopped.

MAYA.

She stepped backward.

“No.”

Jun grabbed her shoulder.

“Maya…”

“I wasn't even here when this photo was taken.”

“I know.”

“Then why is my name there?”

Jun didn't answer.

A sound came from below.

Clang.

All three of them froze.

Another sound.

Clang.

Something was coming up the stairs.

Jun immediately pushed Maya and Sora behind him.

“Stay back.”

Footsteps approached.

Slowly.

One step.

Then another.

A figure appeared.

Maya's heart jumped.

It was Min-jae.

But he wasn't smiling anymore.

“Run,” he whispered.

Jun frowned.

“What?”

“RUN!”

A loud roar came from beneath them.

The staircase shook violently.

Min-jae turned and sprinted upward.

Jun grabbed Maya's hand.

“Move!”

They ran.

The walls seemed to shake around them.

Sora stumbled.

Maya caught her.

“Keep going!”

Something struck the staircase beneath them.

BOOM!

Dust fell from the ceiling.

Maya looked down.

A black hand had wrapped around the railing.

She screamed.

“Faster!”

They reached the top.

The door suddenly flew open.

All four of them crashed into the hallway.

Jun slammed the door shut.

Min-jae pushed a desk in front of it.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Then Sora pointed at Min-jae.

“You knew.”

Min-jae breathed heavily.

“Yes.”

“You knew what was down there.”

“Yes.”

“And you still came here?”

Min-jae looked at Maya.

“I came because of her.”

Maya's expression hardened.

“Why?”

Min-jae didn't answer immediately.

Then he said quietly:

“Because the thing beneath this school has been waiting for you for seven years.”

Maya stared at him.

“Seven?”

Jun looked away.

Maya noticed.

“You knew too.”

Jun remained silent.

She stepped toward him.

“How long have you known?”

“Maya—”

“How long?”

Jun finally looked at her.

“Since before you arrived at this school.”

Maya felt betrayed.

“You lied to me.”

“I was trying to protect you.”

“You don't get to decide what I should know!”

The hallway fell silent.

Then the lights flickered.

Min-jae looked toward the classrooms.

“We need to leave.”

“Why?”

“Because it knows we're here.”

A classroom door opened.

Then another.

Then another.

One by one, every door along the hallway slowly opened.

Maya stared.

There was nobody inside.

But every blackboard had changed.

The words were gone.

Now there was only one sentence.

MAYA, COME HOME.

Maya's silver mark burned.

She grabbed her wrist.

Jun noticed.

“It's starting.”

“What is?”

Before he could answer, the school bell rang.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Then every window shattered at once.

Maya covered her head.

When she looked up, the hallway was empty.

Min-jae was gone.

Sora was gone.

Jun was gone.

Maya stood alone.

Then someone whispered beside her ear:

“Fourth one.”

She turned.

Nothing.

But on the floor was a photograph.

Maya picked it up.

It showed the three missing students.

And standing behind them—

was a younger version of herself.

Maya dropped the photograph.

For the first time since arriving at Haneul High, she was no longer afraid of what was inside the school.

She was afraid of what she might have been before she remembered herself.

And somewhere beneath the school, three voices whispered her name.

“Maya.”

“Maya.”

“Maya.”

Then a fourth voice answered.

Her own.

“I'm coming.”