Secrets in the eyes.

SECRETS OF THE WOODS

Andri kept flipping through the pages, curiosity clashing with unease—when suddenly, a deafening BANG echoed through the corridor.

The blast shattered every light source in the dorm, plunging the building into darkness. A stunned silence was broken by panicked screams as everyone jolted awake, disoriented and terrified.

Lina’s eyes snapped open, confusion clouding her face. Andri rose quickly, moving toward the door and pulling at the handle—but it wouldn’t budge. The door was locked tight.

From the other rooms, muffled screams and frantic banging echoed down the hall. The students were trapped, separated by locked doors, their fear bleeding through the walls.

Andri took a steadying breath and shouted through the darkness, “Calm down! Everyone, stay calm! We’ll figure this out!”

Despite the terror surrounding her, she forced her voice to remain strong—because right now, they needed someone to hold on to.

She looked around for something to break the doors open and took a long metal rod. She struck at the door with the combined force of Lina and herself, but the door didn’t budge as if it was protected by a supernatural barrier.

Both Lina and Andri were devastated. They didn’t know what to do. Then suddenly, a knock came from their closet, and an eerie whisper echoed, “Come in, I will show you the way.”

Slowly, they hesitantly walked toward the closet. The room was pitch dark, and they couldn’t see anything clearly, stumbling as they moved forward. When they opened the closet door, the clothes inside were nowhere to be found. Instead, a long, never-ending passage stretched out before them.

They nodded in understanding and reached for their phones to use as torches. But the moment they turned them on, the phones switched off—there was no way to recharge them either, as the power outage was mysteriously absent.

With no choice, they decided to proceed, holding each other’s hands as they ventured into the darkness. Before they left, Andri carried the black book with her.

Lina asked, confused, “What is that?”

Andri replied, "I will tell you but first let's see what's there to come through this passage."

They moved forward, feeling like they were walking forever. At the end of the passage, their hands found a door handle, and they tried to open it. They opened the door to see a dark room. Standing there were Jacob and Daniel, both looking surprised to see the girls emerging from the closet.

Seeing them, both girls hugged Jacob and Daniel tightly, tears streaming down their faces as they began to explain everything that had just happened.

As the story unfolded, they realized that the boys’ dorm had experienced the same chaos—the deafening bang, the sudden blackout, and shattered glass scattered across the floor.

Then Andri’s heart skipped a beat. She looked around anxiously and asked the boys about Sam.

Jacob shook his head grimly. “He went outside the dorm for a while… but before he could come back, all this happened.”

“What do you mean he’s not here? What is happening? Why did you let him go?” she cried out, her voice trembling.

Jacob, Lina, and Daniel exchanged uneasy glances, then tried to calm her down. “Maybe he’s okay out there,” Jacob said softly.

Daniel couldn’t stand seeing her in so much pain. He pulled her into a tight hug, gently patting her back.

Though none of them said it aloud, everyone was worried about Sam deep inside—and felt the same helpless fear that Andri carried.

Andri looked down at the book she was carrying in her hand, fidgeting with her pendant and whispered to herself in her heart, "I have to believe in myself. It’s time to be strong, not to panic. I need to be strong to see Sam again."

She wiped her tears away.

“There’s something I haven’t told you all. Lina, remember when I said I saw some figures wearing cloaks last time? I think it’s all their doing. I found this black, worn-out book—it looks like it contains instructions for some kind of ritual. I believe it's all connected”

She handed the book over to them, her eyes steady with resolve. All of them flipped through the book together. It contained detailed instructions for a ritual meant to summon the entities of hell—for the supposed greater good of the world. At the very end of the book, they found a cryptic message—one they couldn’t make sense of.

“What you’re saying may be true, but there’s nothing written here about how to stop the ritual—or how to prevent the summoning,” Lina said, her voice edged with worry.

Jacob suddenly stood up and asked, “Is the passage in the closet still there?”

Their attention shifted to the closet—its very existence strange enough to defy a normal world. They exchanged uneasy looks, each wondering what the others were thinking.

Daniel stepped forward. “Jacob and I will go check if the passage still leads to your dorm.”

Lina shook her head firmly. “No, I don’t think we should split up. We should go together. We don’t know what’s waiting for us."

They held hands, took a deep breath, and ventured into the dark alley. This time, the passage didn’t feel empty like before—there was a presence, something unseen but deeply felt.

Despite the growing fear, they pressed on until they reached the end and opened the door. It was a different room than the dorm they had come from before. Inside was the same abandoned clubroom where Andri had found the book. But now, a single candle flickered faintly, casting eerie shadows across the dark room.

As they stepped closer to the candle, a mysterious face suddenly appeared, blew out the flame, and vanished into the darkness…

That was the limit of their fear—what they had just seen pushed them past what they could contain.

Now, the room was lit only by the pale glow of moonlight streaming through the window—a window that, like the door in the dorms, could neither be opened nor broken.

Lina and Andri tried desperately to force the clubroom door open, but it was just unyielding, as if sealed by the same invisible force. They couldn’t hold back anymore.

The boys, equally frightened, tried to offer comfort, but the dread in the room was overwhelming. The passage they had entered from had vanished, leaving them trapped with no sense of how much time had passed—or how much more would.

They all sat down, huddled close together, unwilling to let go of each other.

Andri’s hand instinctively found her pendant, fingers curling around it as her eyes burned with fresh tears. Daniel, glancing at her, noticed how the moonlight fell across her devastated face—and the sight made his heart ache even more. He knew how dearly she loved Sam, and he could only imagine how heartbroken she must be feeling.

Jacob, who had always seen Lina as confident and untouchable, now saw her vulnerable—and the sight made his eyes sting with unspoken emotion.

They sat there in complete hopelessness—until suddenly, a knock echoed from the floor below. Startled, they instinctively stepped back in fear.

There, in the middle of the room, was a trapdoor they hadn’t noticed before. Without warning, it shot open. Their fear spiked, but curiosity pulled them forward. Moving cautiously, they peered into the opening.

To their shock, two familiar faces emerged—Ian and Jessie, their classmates. Relief washed over them as they hurried to help the pair up from the dark space below.

But as soon as Ian and Jessie climbed out, they fixed their gaze on Andri, their expressions twisted with anger.

“We know it’s you. You did this. It’s all your fault. You betrayed us, you traitor!”

Before she could even react, they lunged forward, shoving her back. Her friends tried to pull them away, but it was no use—their strength was unnatural. These weren’t the same Ian and Jessie who had once been so sweet and gentle.

As their accusations grew louder, their voices began to distort, layered with something inhuman. Their eyes rolled white, glowing faintly in the dim moonlight.

Andri’s breath caught—they weren’t her friends anymore. It was them. The entities.

Her heart pounded as fear clawed at her chest. Then, suddenly, Jacob stepped forward and slammed the thick black book against both of them, the force sending them sprawling to the floor.

“We don’t have time,” Daniel said, gripping Andri’s hand tightly and pulling her toward the trapdoor.

All four of them slipped inside, shutting it behind them, their chests heaving as they let out a shaky sigh of relief.

“I think we’re safe here… for now,” Lina said softly.

They stood at the top of a dark stairway leading down into a narrow passage. The air felt thick and suffocating, pressing in on them from all sides.

Andri’s voice cracked as she spoke,“We still haven’t found Sam… I’m really starting to get scared.”

Without hesitation, all four of them wrapped their arms around each other in a tight, comforting hug.

“We will find him,” Lina promised firmly, “and we’ll make it out alive—together.”