Dance Till Death
1113 Words
The very next day, the victims gathered in a large secured event hall in the real world — not Arcadia.
It was a rented community building near the destroyed school.
Police had blocked the ruins. Parents stood outside. Teachers tried to keep students calm.
Inside the hall, Instructor Kai and Headmistress Seraphine stood quietly near the entrance.
Seraphine lifted her hand and traced invisible symbols in the air.
A transparent forcefield sealed the entire building.
Kai nodded. “She won’t get in.”
Elowen added, “Not without tearing the place apart.”
Music began to play.
The students tried to move on.
Some danced. Some talked. Some pretended nothing had happened.
Kira stood stiffly near the wall when she noticed someone staring at her.
Ariella.
Kira blinked. “You… you look exactly like her.”
Ariella nodded calmly. “I’m her twin sister.”
Kira’s mouth parted slightly. “You’re serious?”
Seylah stepped in sharply. “Dead serious.”
Kira looked down. “I know I deserve whatever she does to me.”
Seylah crossed her arms. “You bullied her. You made her feel small.”
Kira swallowed hard. “I know. And seeing her like this… I realize how wrong I was.”
Mary watched closely.
Kira continued, voice shaking. “I’m sorry. To all of you.”
Seylah stared at her for a long moment.
“I should let her deal with you,” she muttered.
Kira didn’t argue.
Then suddenly — Seylah stepped forward and hugged her.
“Don’t make me regret this.”
Kira blinked in surprise. “I won’t.”
Across the room, Sarah, Wendy, Stella, Mia, Ferah, Ariella, Mary, and Valerina were talking.
Mary still looked tense.
“I don’t trust her,” Mary whispered about Kira.
“She apologized,” Sarah replied gently.
Mary sighed. “Still…”
Music grew louder.
Some students began dancing.
For a moment — it felt safe.
Then—
BOOM.
The main doors flung open violently.
The forcefield shimmered — cracked — and shattered in a burst of orange sparks.
Music cut off.
Silence fell instantly.
Orange smoke rolled across the floor.
Students backed away.
Out of the smoke—
Alexa stepped forward.
Her hair fully orange.
Her eyes glowing.
Orange lightning flickering permanently across her face.
She walked slowly, confidently.
Seraphine stepped forward immediately. “Alexa.”
Elowen stood beside her. “You cannot be here.”
Alexa twirled lightly, sniffing the air.
“Oh… what a charming little party,” she said softly. “And I wasn’t invited?”
She looked directly at Mary.
“Well, Mary… that’s not how you treat friends.”
Mary’s voice trembled. “My friend is Alexa. Not you.”
Ariella stepped forward. “There was a forcefield around this building. How did you—”
Alexa cut her off, smiling.
“Girls have their thing.”
Her eyes flared brighter.
“With the ITE voice layered beneath hers—”
“And we have ours.”
Mary clenched her fists. “You’re not her!”
Alexa’s voice thundered suddenly, echoing through the hall.
“I am the ITE.”
The walls trembled.
Some students screamed.
Then Alexa exhaled calmly.
“Relax. I wanted this to be fun.”
Mr Richardson stepped forward. “Give me back my daughter.”
Alexa tilted her head.
“Don’t be silly, Daniel,” she said sweetly. “She’s right here.”
Mr Richardson’s face hardened. “Alexa doesn’t call me by my name. She calls me Dad.”
Alexa shrugged. “Details.”
Mrs Richardson’s eyes filled with tears. “Please come back.”
“Don’t cry, Mother,” Alexa said lightly. “I’ve evolved.”
Sarah stepped forward. “We’re not giving you any music.”
Her roommates stood beside her.
Alexa smiled slowly.
“Who says I need your music?”
She snapped her fingers.
Orange smoke swirled around her palm.
Suddenly music blasted through the speakers — loud, distorted.
Students gasped.
Alexa laughed softly.
“I wanted this to be fun. You’re all so serious.”
She raised both hands.
Orange smoke creatures began rising from the floor.
Tall. Shadowy. Flickering.
Gasps filled the hall.
Alexa covered her mouth dramatically.
“Oh… did I forget to mention?”
Her eyes flared bright orange.
Her voice deepened with the ITE’s echo.
“This… is a dance till death.”
Students screamed.
Kai shouted, “Protect the civilians!”
Shadow creatures lunged.
Sarah blasted wind into one. Valerina struck another with lightning.
Wendy threw water to slow them down.
Stella flashed bursts of light.
Tedros fought hand to hand.
Ariella froze several shadows in place.
“Stay behind us!” Sarah yelled at Mary.
One creature tackled Sarah to the ground.
Valerina zapped it off her.
“On your left!” Valerina shouted.
Mary pulled Kira away from falling debris.
Mr and Mrs Richardson rushed to guide younger students toward the exits.
Alexa hovered slightly above the ground.
“Dance,” she whispered softly.
The creatures moved faster.
Orange smoke thickened.
Kira stumbled backward.
Alexa’s eyes locked onto her.
“There you are.”
Before anyone could react, Alexa swirled into orange smoke—
—and reappeared beside Kira.
She grabbed her wrist.
Sarah screamed, “NO!”
Alexa smiled.
“Memories must be erased.”
She vanished in a spiral of smoke — taking Kira with her.
Silence lasted half a second.
Then—
“After her!” Ariella shouted.
But the shadow creatures attacked harder.
They fought desperately.
Sarah was thrown against a table.
Valerina barely caught her.
Wendy shouted, “They keep multiplying!”
Ariella yelled, “Hold them together!”
Sarah gasped, “Stella — your light!”
Stella stepped forward, trembling. “It’s too many!”
“Do it!” Valerina shouted.
Sarah summoned wind — pulling the shadows inward.
Wendy pushed water to trap them.
Valerina blasted lightning to keep them contained.
Ariella froze the ground beneath them.
“NOW!” Sarah screamed.
Stella released a massive burst of blinding white light.
The shadows shrieked and dissolved into nothing.
Silence fell.
Everyone panted.
Tedros looked around. “That was close.”
Sarah’s voice shook. “She’s got Kira.”
Ariella’s face went pale. “This is bad. Really bad.”
Wendy asked urgently, “Where would she take her?”
Mary’s eyes widened slowly.
“She said memories, right?”
Sarah nodded. “Yes.”
Mary swallowed.
“Then I know exactly where she’ll be.”
Everyone turned to her.
“Where?” Ariella asked.
Mary took a breath.
“The old girls’ bathroom.”
The place where everything started.
And now—
It might end there.
- Writer
