**Chapter 8: A Desperate Search for Mira**
1235 Words
The friends sat through their classes, their minds far from the lectures being delivered. Nora kept glancing at her phone, willing it to light up with a message or call from Mira. Ryan, sitting beside her, tried multiple times to call Mira, but each attempt went straight to voicemail.
"Still nothing?" Ryan whispered.
Nora shook her head, her anxiety mounting. “I’ve texted her a dozen times. She’s not replying. This isn’t like her.”
The others exchanged worried glances. Even Matthew, usually the calmest, seemed on edge.
When the bell signaled the end of the day, the group hurried out of their classrooms, their assigned guards trailing behind. Nora practically sprinted toward the campus gate, ignoring the curious stares of other students. The moment she crossed the threshold, she broke into a full run.
Ryan, not far behind, called out, “Nora, wait! We’re all coming with you!”
The gang followed her, taking turns frantically dialing Mira’s number as they hurried to the apartment. Each call was met with silence. Nora reached the flat first and fumbled with the keys, her hands trembling as she unlocked the door.
“Mira! Mira, where are you?” Nora shouted as she pushed the door open. “Are you in the washroom? The balcony? Mira, answer me!”
Her voice echoed through the quiet apartment. The others burst in moments later, their faces etched with worry.
“She’s not here,” Nora said, her voice cracking. “I’ve looked everywhere.”
Ryan tried Mira’s number one last time. This time, a faint buzzing sound broke the silence. His head snapped toward the bedroom. “Did you hear that?”
“What?” Matthew asked, following close behind.
Ryan didn’t answer. He moved quickly toward Mira’s bedroom, the faint buzzing becoming clearer with each step. When he entered the room, his eyes were drawn to a faint glow coming from under the bed.
He crouched down and slowly peered underneath. His stomach twisted. Mira’s phone lay there, its screen shattered but still buzzing with an incoming call. Beside it, drops of blood were smeared across the floor.
“Guys,” Ryan called out, his voice tense.
Matthew was the first to enter the room. He saw the phone and the blood and immediately asked, “Should we call her family? Or the police?”
Nora appeared in the doorway, her face pale. “No,” she said firmly. “Not yet. We need to search harder. Maybe she’s somewhere nearby. Maybe she—” Her voice faltered, unable to finish the sentence.
Anna placed a hand on her shoulder. “Nora, we need to be realistic. If there’s blood—”
“No!” Nora snapped, shrugging Anna’s hand off. “She’s not gone! We can’t just give up on her!”
---
In the meantime, Mira slowly regained consciousness. Her head throbbed, and her vision was blurred. She blinked several times, trying to make sense of her surroundings. The room was pitch dark, save for a faint light flickering in the far corner.
She sat up slowly, her body aching with every movement. “Hello?” she called out, her voice trembling. “Is anyone there? Can you hear me?”
Her words echoed, but there was no response. A cold draft brushed against her face, making her shiver. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to calm her racing heart.
Suddenly, a faint sound broke the silence. It was the unmistakable sound of a woman crying.
Mira froze, straining to hear better. The crying grew louder, filled with anguish and despair. She squinted toward the faint light in the corner, trying to make out the figure that seemed to be sitting there.
“Hello?” Mira called out again, her voice shaky. “Who’s there? Please, help me!”
The figure didn’t respond. It just kept sobbing, its shoulders shaking with each cry.
Mira’s fear mingled with curiosity. Taking cautious steps, she moved closer to the light. The figure’s outline became clearer—a woman with long hair, hunched over as if cradling something in her arms.
“Are you okay?” Mira asked hesitantly, her voice barely above a whisper.
The woman stopped crying abruptly. The sudden silence was deafening, and Mira felt her breath catch in her throat. The figure began to move, slowly turning its head toward her.
Mira’s blood ran cold. The woman’s face was pale and hollow, her eyes sunken and dark. Her lips twisted into an unnatural smile, and a chilling laugh escaped her throat.
“You shouldn’t have left,” the woman said, her voice distorted and echoing.
Mira stumbled backward, her heart pounding. “Who are you? What do you want from me?”
The figure stood, its movements jerky and unnatural. It began to advance toward Mira, its empty eyes locked on her.
“You were never supposed to leave,” it hissed, its voice growing louder and more menacing.
Mira turned and ran, her bare feet slapping against the cold floor. She didn’t know where she was going; she just knew she had to get away. The sound of the woman’s laughter echoed behind her, growing louder and more maniacal with each passing second.
Mira reached a door and pushed it open, only to find herself in another dark room. She slammed the door shut behind her, pressing her back against it as she tried to catch her breath. Her hands fumbled along the wall until she found a light switch. She flipped it on, and the room was suddenly bathed in a harsh, white light.
It was empty.
Mira’s breathing slowed as she took in her surroundings. The room was stark and featureless, with no windows and only one door. She moved cautiously toward the center of the room, her eyes darting around for any sign of the woman.
A faint whisper made her spin around. The woman’s face was suddenly inches from hers, grinning maniacally.
“Why did you leave me, Mira?”
Mira screamed, the sound ripping through the empty space as everything around her dissolved into darkness once more.
---
Back at the apartment, the friends were in a state of chaos. Nora was pacing the living room, her phone clutched tightly in her hand as she debated calling Mira’s father. Ryan was scanning the apartment for any clue as to where Mira might have gone, while Matthew and Anna stood by the door, their faces grim.
“We need to do something,” Anna said. “We can’t just sit here.”
Ryan emerged from Mira’s room, holding her phone. “There’s blood on the floor,” he said quietly. “And her phone was under the bed. Someone took her.”
Nora’s knees buckled, and she sank onto the couch. “This is my fault,” she whispered, tears streaming down her face. “I should never have let her stay here alone.”
Ryan knelt in front of her, placing a hand on her knee. “This isn’t your fault, Nora. But we need to find her. And we need to find her fast.”
Anna nodded. “Agreed. But where do we even start?”
The group exchanged glances, their fear mirrored in each other’s eyes. Whatever was happening to Mira, they knew one thing for certain: the answers lay within the dark history of the university.
- Writer
