uncured

hallway

At 11 p.m., the school stands before me… the hallway looks smaller at night. The lockers were the same ones they slammed me into that morning—but now, they felt like they were watching.

The hall lights blinked above me, one by one. Each flicker sent a sharp pulse through my chest. My heart was pounding like I just ran a marathon.

The building was silent except for low, strange sounds. My feet were shaking with each step I took. The strange sound wasn’t coming from anywhere specific.

It was everywhere.

I took a step forward.

The sound followed.

Like it was shadowing me.

My footsteps echoed down the hallway, loud and disturbing—whispers. I heard whispers. They were soft and broken. I couldn’t tell what they were saying, only that they weren’t meant for me to hear.

I stopped walking.

The whispers stopped too.

My throat went dry.

This was a bad idea.

I turned around, my heart pounding, already making up my mind to leave. I ran to the exit when I crashed into a person.

I looked up in fear.

Someone was laughing.

“Hey guys, it’s Oliver. I thought he wouldn’t show up.”

The bullies stood in front of me, blocking the hallway exit. They shoved me to the ground. Insults came fast. I clenched my fists, saying nothing.

Then the lights went out completely.

The strange sound became louder, deeper, and more terrifying.

My palms were slick with sweat. My breathing became louder.

I saw something move.

Behind them.

An odd figure stood at their back, with glowing eyes. Its shape was wrong, its presence heavy. It didn’t move. It didn’t breathe.

I blinked.

It was gone.

I sucked in a sharp breath, panic clawing at my chest.

“I—I think I’m losing my mind!” I screamed.

“Stop screaming, we’ll get caught,” he said to me.

“Hey, Max, give him his necklace and let’s go,” he said to the leader that pinned me to the ground.

A loud banging came from the back of the hallway.

“Let’s check it out,” Max said.

The two girls at the back said in trembling tones, “No, let’s go home. Coming here was a bad idea.”

“Why must you be a fun killer?” the leader said.

He put me on my feet and pushed me toward the room.

The room has always been locked. Nobody knows what’s inside—but now, it was not locked.

I froze.

Red light glowed through the door.

Max opened the door excitedly.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. People in red hoodies, faces covered. A restrained human tied down to a bed.

My face paled.

My legs froze.

I fell to the floor in shock. The bullies were speechless and spaced out. I could feel the fear in their minds.

The masked people were facing us, some trying to get closer.

I thought to myself, if only I knew, I wouldn’t have come here.

We started running as fast as we could—then bang—the hallway exit slammed into our faces.

No escape.

The atmosphere heated.

There was tension.

A cold chill ran down my spine, and my hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

I looked slowly at the four of them. They were staring at the door, just like me. Their minds hadn’t adjusted, and there was no time to think about what was happening.

We decided to go back.

Then a loud banging.

We kept moving, legs trembling, afraid to blink. The sounds became louder and louder.

“Henry! Henry!” Max shouted till his voice broke, as the bullies’ leader was dragged into the room by a rope until he disappeared.

“This is crazy. Let’s call 911,” Henry said.

His phone was beeping while waiting for 911 to pick up.

His phone fell from his hands…

“Henry, what’s wrong?” Emma said.

He looked down at his leg with trembling eyes—and he was dragged away into the room.

It felt like the walls were looking at us.

The air turned cold and heavy, like something unseen was watching—waiting. Every breath felt like a warning. The silence wasn’t empty—it was full of something dark and dangerous.

I tapped the two girls on their palms and said, “Let’s go upstairs. There’s a window we can use to jump down.”

They followed me silently.

“Do you guys hear that?” I said.

“Hear what?” they replied.

“The banging has stopped. Maybe it’s over,” they said.

“I’m not too sure about that.”

I turned back quietly—and me and the girls were captured by five men in blood-red clothes.

I’m done for, I said to myself.

We were taken to the room and placed on the floor.

A loud humming came from the altar, and a dark spirit—more like a demon—came out of a coffin. It went to the other restrained girl, then left her.

There were whispers saying the demon curse had rejected the sacrifice.

We were in big trouble.

The demon came closer to me and the bullies and said in an echoing, layered voice:

“I have accepted this sacrifice.”

The demon covered me with darkness and went into my mouth.

I screamed.

“Ahhhhhhh!”