CHAPTER FOUR: The Day Silence Learned to Bleed
511 Words
The scream came before the news.
It tore through the morning like something alive, sharp, broken, and impossible to ignore. Emilia froze in place as the sound echoed through the hallway, followed by hurried footsteps and rising panic.
“What was that?” Tessa whispered.
No one answered.
Students began rushing past them, whispers forming faster than truth. Emilia felt her chest tighten as a cold dread settled deep inside her.
Something had happened.
Something bad.
They followed the crowd slowly at first, then faster as the tension pulled them forward. The usually orderly hallway was chaos now, voices overlapping, fear spreading like fire.
And then Emilia saw it.
In the middle of the hallway.
A girl lay sprawled on the cold floor.
Still,
Too still.
Blood had spread beneath her, dark and heavy, staining the polished tiles. In her hand loosely held, as if it had fallen there was a long, sharp piece of metal.
Her throat,
Emilia’s breath hitched violently.
It had been slit.
Clean.
Deep.
Final.
Tessa gasped beside her, turning away immediately. “Oh my God…”
Someone screamed again.
Teachers rushed in, shouting, pulling students back, trying to block the sight but it was too late. The image had already burned itself into Emilia’s mind.
Her stomach twisted.
Her hands trembled.
This wasn’t just fear anymore.
This was real.
Too real.
And as she stared,
Her eyes flickered, just for a second, to the glass window beside the hallway.
The reflection didn’t match.
The girl’s body lay still on the floor.
But in the glass,
Emilia could have sworn It moved.
She stumbled back.
“No…” she whispered.
“Emilia, don’t look,” Tessa said, gripping her arm tightly.
But Emilia couldn’t stop thinking about it.
The mirror.
The reflections.
The whisper.
And now,
This.
The announcement came less than an hour later.
The principal’s voice echoed through the speakers, strained but controlled.
“All classes are cancelled for today. Students are to return to their dormitories immediately. Staff will provide further instructions. Please remain calm.”
Remain calm.
As if that was possible.
As if anything about this was normal.
The school, once structured and predictable, now felt fragile like something invisible had cracked it open from the inside.
Emilia’s thoughts raced.
Naomi.
She needed to find her.
Through the confusion, the movement, the fear Emilia searched. She checked the common areas, the staircase, even outside the dining hall.
Nothing.
Her heart pounded harder with every passing minute.
Where was she?
Hours passed slowly, painfully.
The school grew quieter, heavier.
By evening, the air itself felt wrong.
Emilia made her way toward the senior dormitory, her steps uncertain but determined. The corridor was dim, shadows stretching along the walls like silent watchers.
And then,
She saw her.
Naomi.
Standing at the far end of the hallway.
Still.
Facing away.
Emilia’s breath caught.
Relief flooded her chest but something else followed.
Something uneasy.
Something she couldn’t explain.
“Naomi…” she called softly.
No response.
Emilia hesitated.
Then slowly,
She began to walk towards her.
- Writer
