The Crash
557 Words
Glass exploded through the air.
Lila stumbled backward, shielding her face with her arms as sharp shards scattered across the greenhouse floor.
The scream of the other girl cut through the night.
“RUN!” the girl shouted.
But there was nowhere to run.
The greenhouse doors slammed shut behind them.
Not by wind.
Not by accident.
By force.
Lila’s heartbeat spiked.
“Who’s there?!” she yelled into the darkness.
Silence answered her.
Then—
A slow step outside the cracked glass wall.
Then another.
Something—or someone—was circling them.
The girl grabbed Lila’s arm tightly.
“I told you this was a mistake,” she whispered, shaking.
Lila swallowed hard.
“You knew this would happen?”
The girl didn’t answer.
Instead, she reached into her pocket with trembling hands.
Pulled out a folded paper.
And shoved it into Lila’s palm.
“Take this,” she whispered urgently.
“What is it?”
“Proof.”
Lila’s fingers closed around it.
Her breath shook.
“Proof of what?”
The girl opened her mouth—
But never got the chance to answer.
A loud crash hit the side of the greenhouse again.
This time harder.
The glass cracked further.
A long spiderweb fracture spread across the wall.
The girl grabbed Lila again.
“They found us.”
“Who is they?” Lila demanded.
But the girl was already panicking.
“Listen to me,” she said quickly. “If anything happens to me tonight—”
“Stop saying that!”
“—don’t trust Ethan Blackwood.”
The words landed like a blow.
Before Lila could respond—
A shadow moved outside the glass.
Tall.
Slow.
Deliberate.
The figure stopped right in front of the broken pane.
And raised a hand.
The light from a distant lamp hit just enough to reveal a ring on his finger.
A black ring.
Lila froze.
She had seen that ring before.
Not clearly.
But once.
In the hallway.
In the dark.
At Kingston Elite University.
The figure tilted his head slightly.
As if looking straight at her.
Then—
He knocked on the glass.
Once.
Twice.
And the sound echoed like a warning.
The girl beside Lila whispered in horror:
“Oh no…”
Lila’s voice barely came out.
“You know him?”
The girl shook her head slowly.
“No…”
Then corrected herself.
“I know what he works for.”
Another loud crack split the glass.
The structure groaned.
The ceiling light flickered violently.
Lila’s hands went cold.
“What does he work for?”
The girl looked at her.
Tears forming in her eyes now.
Then she whispered the words that changed everything again.
“For Blackwood Industries… but not Ethan.”
Lila frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
The girl grabbed her shoulders tightly.
“There are things in this world, Lila… things even Ethan Blackwood is afraid of.”
The glass shattered further.
A piece fell between them.
The figure outside didn’t move.
Just stood there.
Watching.
Waiting.
And then—
A voice came from the darkness.
Deep.
Calm.
Not Ethan’s.
“I told you not to come here.”
Lila froze completely.
Because she finally realized something terrifying.
The voice wasn’t coming from outside.
It was coming from inside the greenhouse.
Behind her.
- Writer
