Dawn Rising

In The Halls

Kaia’s boots echoed in the corridor. She adjusted the strap of her blazer, a sharp crease in the fabric despite the cool air blowing through the old vents. It wasn’t exactly a uniform requirement, but it made her look like she had authority—because someone had to.

She moved with purpose. Class was in session, and that meant fewer kids loitering—but that didn’t stop the usual suspects. As she turned the corner near the science hall, the sound of snickers and shuffling broke the quiet.

“Really?” she muttered.

Three boys had someone cornered again. She already knew who before she even saw.

Theo Park.

Quiet. Bookish. Weird. He wore that same over-sized track jacket every day, sleeves too long for his wiry frame. One of the boys knocked a stack of drawings out of his hands—again.

Kaia didn’t break stride.

“HEY!”

Her voice cracked through the hallway like thunder. The boys flinched hard and took off without a second glance, mumbling excuses.

As Kaia made her way to Theo, two girls passed them in the hall—one pale as paper, eyes red-rimmed and sluggish in her walk. “Probably that cafeteria food,” Kaia muttered, watching them head toward the nurse’s office.

Theo looked up, startled as Kaia stopped beside him. His glasses were crooked, and a thin line of red marked his cheek. Kaia crouched beside him, already gathering the scattered sketches.

"You okay?"

Theo gave a tiny nod, rubbing his arm. “They do that… every day. Guess it’s a hobby now.”

“You know,” Kaia said, helping him up, “just once, I’d love for you to throw a punch.”

He gave a soft laugh, half-awkward, half-genuine. “I’d miss.”

Kaia raised a brow. “That’s not the point.”

She handed him a crumpled drawing. It was of an alien invasion. In detail.

“They’re jerks. You can’t let them own you. Stand up straight, push back. I’m a girl, and I’m a person of color. It’s never been easy. It’s never going to be easy. Just try. That’s all I’m asking.”

Theo looked down at his sketchbook. “Trying’s harder than you make it sound.”

“You think I wake up brave?” she smirked. “Nah. I just get mad.”

Before he could reply, the bell rang.

Kaia stepped back. “Get to class before I drag you there myself.”

Theo smiled faintly and nodded, tucking his sketches under his arm.

Kaia turned to keep moving when something caught her eye.

Through the hallway window overlooking the track field, a student collapsed mid-sprint.

They didn't fall like they tripped. They just… dropped. Limbs twitching. Seizing.

Kaia pressed her hand to the glass.

“What the hell…”

She took a step toward the stairwell, ready to run down, but the sudden eruption of screams from a nearby classroom snapped her attention back.

The door to Room 2C burst open. Students flooded into the hall in panic.

Kaia grabbed the first student who passed her—a girl with smeared lip gloss and wide, frantic eyes.

“What happened?!”

The girl panted, looking over her shoulder. “She—she’s gone crazy! The teacher! She attacked Jake—she bit him! She—”

Kaia froze.

"Bit him?"

Behind her, Theo stood, pale and shaking. “What do you mean… she bit him?”

The girl pulled free, stumbling down the hallway, vanishing into the stream of panicked students.

Kaia turned to say something to Theo, but he was already walking—drawings forgotten—toward the classroom door.

He stopped in front of it like someone staring into a nightmare.

Kaia ran after him, catching up just as he reached the frame. She followed his gaze into the room.

Desks were overturned. Blood smeared the whiteboard. Jake lay slumped near the window, a circle of students crying and backing away. The teacher was hunched over him, snarling—actually snarling—her mouth red, her face wrong, like her muscles weren’t moving right anymore.

She turned suddenly. Her eyes were white.

Kaia grabbed Theo and yanked him back as the teacher lunged toward the door.

“GO,” she shouted. “RUN!”