The Thing Outside
657 Words
The greenhouse door creaked open.
Creeeak…
No one moved.
No one breathed.
The icy wind carried thick fog into the room, swallowing everything in white.
Lucas stepped in front of the others.
“Nobody speak.”
His voice was barely above a whisper.
“Whatever happens… don’t answer it.”
The knocking stopped.
Silence.
Then footsteps.
Tap…
Tap…
Tap…
Something was walking across the gravel outside.
Not rushing.
Not hiding.
Almost… enjoying itself.
Amara’s hands shook as she tightened her grip on the edge of the table.
A shadow appeared through the fog.
It looked human.
Tall.
Thin.
Its head was tilted unnaturally to one side.
The figure stopped in the doorway.
No one could see its face.
Then it spoke.
“…Lucas.”
It sounded exactly like Lucas’s younger sister.
Lucas’s eyes widened.
“No…”
“You drowned seven years ago,” he whispered.
The figure took one slow step forward.
“I missed you.”
Lucas clenched his fists.
“You are not my sister.”
The figure laughed.
The sweet voice twisted into something deep and inhuman.
“I know.”
The lights flickered back on.
The doorway…
Was empty.
It had vanished.
⸻
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Finally, Lucas turned to the group.
“It knows all of us now.”
“What was that?” Amara asked.
Lucas hesitated.
“We call it… The Mimic.”
“The Mimic?”
“It doesn’t have a real face.”
“It borrows the voices of the people we’ve lost.”
“It wants us to trust it.”
“And if someone does…”
He looked at Ethan’s missing poster on the wall.
“They disappear.”
A chill ran down Amara’s spine.
“So Ethan heard someone he loved…”
Lucas nodded.
“Just like all the others.”
⸻
The group gathered around the old map of Ashcroft University.
Lucas pointed to six red circles marked across the campus.
“There are six places connected to the curse.”
“The library.”
“The old clock tower.”
“The abandoned chapel.”
“The underground tunnels.”
“The cemetery.”
“And…”
He paused.
“Dormitory 13.”
“But it doesn’t exist,” Amara said.
Lucas looked at her.
“It doesn’t exist…”
“…until it wants to.”
⸻
Damien unfolded another yellowed page from the journal.
“It’s written in Latin.”
One of the members, Sofia, adjusted her glasses and translated it aloud.
“When the sixth Rememberer awakens, the forgotten door shall open once more.”
Everyone fell silent.
Amara frowned.
“Sixth Rememberer?”
Lucas slowly looked around the room.
“There are only five of us left.”
His eyes settled on Amara.
“You…”
“…are the sixth.”
⸻
A sudden crash echoed from upstairs.
BANG!
Everyone jumped.
“There shouldn’t be anyone up there,” Sofia whispered.
Lucas grabbed a flashlight.
“Stay here.”
“I’m coming with you,” Damien said.
“So am I,” Amara added.
Lucas hesitated before nodding.
The three of them climbed the narrow staircase.
Each step groaned beneath their feet.
Dust covered everything.
At the end of the hallway stood a single wooden door.
It was slightly open.
The room beyond was dark.
Lucas slowly pushed the door open.
Inside…
There was nothing.
Just broken furniture.
Cobwebs.
And an old mirror leaning against the wall.
Amara walked closer.
At first, she saw only her own reflection.
Then…
Something changed.
Damien and Lucas disappeared from the mirror.
Only Amara remained.
Behind her…
Six shadowy figures slowly emerged from the darkness.
Each wore an old Ashcroft University uniform.
Their faces were pale.
Their eyes completely black.
One of them stepped forward.
It was Emily Moore.
She raised one finger…
And pointed toward the mirror.
Then all six whispered in perfect unison—
“It’s behind you.”
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