"Lockdown Escape"
787 Words
Rain poured across Kingston Elite University like the sky itself was collapsing.
Red emergency lights flashed through the darkness.
Sirens echoed endlessly across the campus.
And somewhere far away—
Someone screamed again.
Lila’s stomach twisted.
The university no longer looked beautiful.
It looked haunted.
Dangerous.
Wrong.
“Stay close to me,” Ethan said.
His voice was calm, but his eyes constantly scanned the darkness around them.
The mysterious man moved ahead first while the terrified girl followed beside him nervously.
Lila stayed near Ethan as they slipped out of the shattered greenhouse into the storm.
Cold rain soaked her instantly.
“We need to move before they close the central sector,” the man said quickly.
Ethan nodded once.
“Take the lower paths.”
The man disappeared into the darkness with the girl without another word.
Lila frowned.
“Wait—they’re leaving us?”
“They’re creating a distraction.”
“What?”
But Ethan had already started walking.
Fast.
Lila hurried after him.
The campus felt abandoned.
Doors stood open.
Lights flickered inside empty classrooms.
Papers blew across the sidewalks in the storm.
And everywhere—
There were signs of panic.
Dropped phones.
Backpacks.
Broken glass.
Lila hugged herself tightly.
“What happened here?”
Ethan didn’t slow down.
“They evacuated most students.”
“Most?”
His silence answered enough.
Fear crawled deeper into her chest.
As they turned down a narrow pathway between buildings, Ethan suddenly stopped.
Hard.
Lila nearly crashed into him.
“What—”
He grabbed her waist instantly and pulled her backward into the shadows beside the building.
Her breath caught.
His hand stayed firmly against her waist.
Warm.
Strong.
“Don’t speak,” he whispered near her ear.
Lila’s heartbeat stumbled.
Footsteps echoed nearby.
Several figures dressed in black moved across the pathway ahead.
Each wore the same black ring.
Each carried silver weapons glowing faintly in the rain.
“They’re trackers,” Ethan murmured.
Lila barely breathed.
One of the figures suddenly stopped walking.
Slowly turned toward their hiding place.
Lila’s pulse spiked.
Did he see them?
The figure tilted his head slightly.
Then smiled.
A cold smile.
“He’s here,” the man whispered.
Before Lila could react—
Ethan moved.
Fast.
Too fast.
One second he stood beside her.
The next—
He slammed the man against the wall with terrifying force.
The silver weapon clattered across the ground.
The other figures shouted instantly.
Lila gasped.
Ethan’s eyes darkened unnaturally again.
Cold.
Inhuman.
The rain around him almost seemed to freeze.
“Run,” he ordered her.
But Lila couldn’t move.
She stared in shock as Ethan fought like something out of a nightmare.
Brutal.
Effortless.
Dangerous.
One attacker rushed him with the glowing blade.
Ethan caught the weapon with his bare hand.
Bare hand.
Lila’s breath stopped.
The silver blade burned against his skin—
But Ethan didn’t even flinch.
Instead, he twisted the attacker’s arm violently and threw him across the pathway.
The others backed away instantly.
Afraid.
One of them whispered shakily:
“Blackwood…”
Not with confidence.
With fear.
Real fear.
And suddenly Lila understood something terrifying.
These people hunted monsters.
But even they feared Ethan.
“Lila!”
Ethan’s sharp voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
“We have to move!”
She ran toward him immediately.
The remaining attackers disappeared into the storm instead of chasing them.
As if fighting Ethan wasn’t worth the risk.
Rain soaked through Lila’s clothes as they sprinted across campus.
Her breathing came hard now.
“What are you?” she demanded again.
Ethan didn’t answer immediately.
Lightning flashed across the sky.
For half a second, his face looked exhausted.
Not cold.
Not cruel.
Just tired.
“Someone dangerous,” he said quietly.
The honesty in his voice unsettled her more than lies would have.
They finally reached the girls’ dormitory building.
The front entrance hung half open.
Emergency lights flickered inside.
No voices.
No students.
Only silence.
Ethan moved in front of her protectively.
“Stay behind me.”
Lila nodded nervously.
They entered slowly.
The hallway lights buzzed overhead.
The entire building felt empty.
Too empty.
Then Lila saw it.
Scarlett’s dorm room door.
Wide open.
Her heart dropped instantly.
Lila pushed past Ethan and ran inside.
“Scarlett?!”
No answer.
The room was destroyed.
Furniture overturned.
Glass shattered.
Clothes scattered everywhere.
Like someone had searched the room violently.
Lila’s breathing quickened.
“No…”
Then she noticed the wall.
Words written across it in dark red letters.
YOU BROUGHT HIM BACK TO US
Lila froze completely.
Behind her, Ethan went deadly still.
And for the first time since she met him—
He looked afraid.
- Writer
