Dorm of Shadows
773 Words
Rina didn’t sleep that night.
Even after she locked the window, checked under the bed, and turned her flashlight on low beside her pillow, her eyes stayed wide open—glued to the ceiling above her.
That notebook... That message...
“Trust no one. Not even your own shadow.”
It sounded like something from a cheap horror story. And yet, her instincts screamed otherwise.
The wind howled through the cracks in the window frame, but it was something else that made her skin crawl: the sense that she wasn’t alone.
Just after 3:12 AM, she finally drifted into a light, dreamless sleep.
Morning came too soon.
The hallway buzzed with the sound of girls chatting, lockers slamming, and footsteps echoing on the wooden floor. Life resumed like nothing had happened. Like no one ever found a strange note in a forgotten drawer. Like no one ever heard footsteps in an empty corridor.
Rina emerged from her room, dressed in the dull gray uniform of St. Celestine’s. She felt invisible. Unnoticed. Which would’ve been comforting—if not for the way a few girls turned their heads just slightly when she passed. As if... they already knew her.
Her first stop was the dining hall.
She was halfway through her bland breakfast when someone dropped a tray across from her with a loud clack.
“New girl,” the girl said, plopping down without hesitation. “You’ve got the haunted room, right?”
Rina blinked. “I... what?”
“2B. That’s the one,” the girl said, chewing toast aggressively. “I’m Lala. Your new best friend or your first mistake—depending on who you ask.”
“Wait, haunted?” Rina asked, lowering her spoon.
Lala leaned forward, eyes twinkling with morbid excitement.
“You didn’t hear about Amelia?”
“Who?”
Lala lowered her voice. “The girl who stayed in 2B before you. Two weeks ago, she started sleepwalking. Saying strange things in Latin. Then one night she climbed onto the roof and just… vanished.”
Rina swallowed hard.
“They never found her body. The teachers said she ‘transferred’,” Lala made air quotes. “Classic Celestine’s cover-up.”
Rina glanced around. No one seemed to be listening. Or rather—no one seemed to care.
“She left a message,” Rina said quietly. “In the drawer. A notebook.”
Lala’s expression changed. No more teasing.
“What kind of message?” she asked.
Rina hesitated, then whispered, “It said… not to trust anyone. Not even your own shadow.”
Lala went pale. “You shouldn’t have read that.”
“What do you mean?”
But Lala just stood up. “Finish your food. You’re gonna need energy. Tonight… I’ll show you something.”
And with that, she walked away.
Classes were dull but uneventful. Rina tried to pay attention to the math formulas and the monotone lectures, but her thoughts kept drifting back to the note. And to Lala.
That night, just past midnight, Lala appeared outside her door—fully dressed, holding a flashlight and a mischievous smile.
“Ready for some truth?” she whispered.
Without a word, Rina followed her down the hall.
They passed silent doors, each marked with faded brass numbers. The dormitory at night felt like a different building altogether. The warm lights and student chatter of the day were replaced with flickering bulbs and creaking wood.
They stopped at a heavy wooden door marked: Attic Access – Restricted.
Lala picked the lock like it was second nature.
“You’ve done this before,” Rina murmured.
“Too many times,” Lala replied.
Inside, the attic was dark, filled with cobwebs and covered furniture. The air was heavy—like breathing through cloth. In the far corner, a dusty trunk sat slightly ajar.
“This,” Lala said, “is where Amelia found the file. The one that got her killed.”
Rina’s heart thumped. “File?”
Lala opened the trunk. Inside, instead of books or old clothes, there were student records. Faded photographs. Evaluation notes. Incident reports. Some dated back decades.
Rina reached for one and gasped.
It was a photo of herself.
Same face. Same name.
But the file was dated a year ago.
“I wasn’t even here then...” Rina whispered.
“You sure?” Lala asked quietly.
Before Rina could answer, something banged behind them.
They turned.
At the far end of the attic, a shadow moved across the slanted wall.
There was no one there.
But the shadow...
had no source.
- Writer
