CHAPTER 2:FOOTSTEPS IN THE DARK
644 Words
The scream echoed through the stairway like it had a mouth of its own.
Mira spun around.
No one was behind them.
The corridor was empty.
Yet the sound had come from right there.
Jax grabbed Tari’s arm. “You heard that too, right?”
Tari nodded, unable to speak.
The lights flickered back on.
Weak. Yellow. Unsteady.
The basement door was still open.
Darkness filled it like thick smoke.
Mira stepped backward. “We are not supposed to be here. Let’s go back to the room.”
They turned—
And froze.
Standing at the end of the hallway was a figure.
A student.
In a night uniform.
Hair covering the face.
Barefoot.
“Nina?” Jax whispered.
The figure did not move.
“Mira… that’s her,” Tari said.
They took one step forward.
The figure took one step back.
“Wait!” Mira called.
The figure turned and ran down the hallway.
“Don’t let her disappear again!” Jax shouted.
They ran after her.
Past empty rooms.
Past the dorm master’s office.
Past the bathroom.
The figure turned a corner and vanished.
They reached the corner.
Nothing.
No doors open.
No footsteps.
Just silence.
“She can’t just vanish,” Tari said.
Mira looked at the floor.
There were wet footprints.
Leading toward the bathroom.
They followed slowly.
The bathroom door was slightly open.
Cold air came from inside.
“Nina?” Mira said.
No reply.
Jax pushed the door open.
The bathroom lights flickered on.
Every tap was running.
Water overflowed onto the floor.
The mirrors were fogged up.
And written on the mirror in mist was one word:
LEAVE.
Tari wiped the mirror with his sleeve.
The word disappeared.
But another one appeared beneath it.
TOO LATE.
Mira’s chest tightened.
“Why is she doing this?” she whispered.
Jax shook his head. “That’s not Nina.”
Suddenly, one of the toilet doors slammed shut.
They jumped.
“Who’s there?” Tari asked.
No answer.
Another door slammed.
Then another.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
All the doors closed at once.
The lights went out.
Darkness swallowed them.
Mira screamed.
Something brushed past her arm.
Cold.
Wet.
Like fingers dipped in water.
“Don’t touch me!” she cried.
The lights came back on.
The doors were open again.
No one was inside.
Only water on the floor.
And a new message on the mirror.
Written this time in something darker than mist.
ONE DOWN.
Jax stepped back. “One down? What does that mean?”
Before anyone could answer, footsteps ran outside the bathroom.
Fast.
Heavy.
“Leo!” Mira shouted.
They ran out.
At the end of the hallway, they saw him.
Leo stood facing the wall.
Not moving.
“Leo!” Jax ran to him and grabbed his shoulder.
Leo turned.
His eyes were wide.
Too wide.
“You shouldn’t have followed her,” he said.
Mira felt sick. “Followed who?”
“Nina,” Leo said. “She’s not missing. She’s waiting.”
“Waiting for what?” Tari asked.
Leo pointed down the hallway.
“To finish it.”
Then he collapsed.
They dragged him back to their room and locked the door.
Leo’s body was cold.
Not dead.
But not fully awake either.
His lips moved.
“She sleeps under the school,” he whispered.
“Who?” Mira asked.
“The first girl.”
Jax frowned. “What first girl?”
Leo’s eyes opened.
And for a moment, his voice was not his own.
“She drowned.
They buried her secret.
Now she wakes.”
The room grew cold.
Mira hugged herself. “What does she want with us?”
Leo’s head turned slowly toward Nina’s empty bed.
“She needs five.”
The whisper returned.
From under the floor.
“…come back to me…”
The bed began to shake.
- Writer
