One Shot
The morning arrived wrapped in a blanket of winter fog. Cold air brushed against my face as I stepped through the gates of Crescent International School, the same place where I had spent years chasing grades, friendships, and memories. Today, however, I wasn't there for classes.
The principal had called me to collect my CAIE result.
Students hurried across the courtyard in thick jackets, their laughter dissolving into the chilly breeze. I collected the envelope from the principal's office, thanked him politely, and slipped it into my backpack without opening it. Somehow, my curiosity had been replaced by an uneasy feeling I couldn't explain.
Outside, the campus looked nothing like an ordinary school day.
Rows of colourful stalls lined the pathways. Music drifted through loudspeakers, children laughed over carnival games, and the scent of popcorn and coffee filled the air. It was the school's annual winter festival, and almost every student seemed to be there.
Everything appeared perfect.
Too perfect.
As I wandered through the crowd, I noticed two teachers standing near the auditorium entrance. Their conversation was barely audible.
"Has anyone informed the security team?"
"They're trying to find him before the students notice."
"What if it's too late?"
I slowed my steps.
One teacher glanced around nervously before whispering, "He's dangerous. If you see a man named Maarij... don't approach him."
The name lingered in my mind.
A strange silence settled over me.
For the next several minutes, I couldn't enjoy the festival. Every unfamiliar face looked suspicious. Every sudden movement made me turn around. My imagination was beginning to play tricks on me.
Until it wasn't my imagination anymore.
The cafeteria had fallen unnaturally silent.
Conversations had stopped.
Even the music outside sounded distant.
Standing near the centre of the room was a young man dressed entirely in black. His hands rested casually inside the pockets of his hoodie. There was nothing unusual about him...
Except for the knife hanging loosely between his fingers.
He wasn't threatening anyone.
He wasn't shouting.
He simply smiled.
It wasn't the smile of an angry man.
It was the smile of someone who already knew exactly how the story would end.
Nobody dared to move.
A boy named Ayaan suddenly grabbed a metal chair and rushed toward him.
"Stay back!"
Before the chair could reach him, Maarij slowly lifted his head.
"You shouldn't have done that."
The cafeteria lights flickered.
Ayaan froze.
His terrified screams echoed through the room as he desperately tried shielding himself from invisible blows. It looked as though someone was striking him again and again, yet nobody was touching him.
The chair slipped from his hands.
He collapsed onto the floor, sobbing.
No one understood what had happened.
The room erupted into chaos.
Students shoved each other toward the exits while teachers shouted instructions nobody was listening to.
I stumbled behind the serving counter, trying to steady my breathing.
"Don't let him see you," someone whispered beside me.
It was a girl from my class, Hira.
Her face had turned completely pale.
"What is he doing to people?" I asked.
"I don't know," she whispered, tears filling her eyes. "But everyone who fights him... never escapes."
A heavy silence followed.
Then came the footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Unhurried.
Each one echoed through the cafeteria like the ticking of a clock counting down to something inevitable.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
My heartbeat became painfully loud.
I held my breath.
The footsteps stopped.
For one impossible second, hope returned.
Then a voice spoke from directly behind me.
"Found you."
I spun around.
Maarij stood less than a metre away.
Without warning, he grabbed the collar of my hoodie and lifted me effortlessly off the ground.
The cafeteria disappeared.
Behind me stretched an endless pool of black water beneath a sky without stars.
"This," he said calmly, "is where fear lives."
His voice echoed endlessly across the water.
"If I throw you in, you'll drown forever. Not because the water is deep... but because you'll never believe you can swim."
Something inside me refused to surrender.
I drove both feet into his chest.
His grip loosened.
The illusion shattered like broken glass.
I crashed back onto the cafeteria floor.
Without thinking, I sprinted toward the nearest window, smashing through the glass and landing hard on the road outside.
The freezing air burned my lungs as I ran.
Cars.
Buildings.
Streetlights.
Everything blurred together.
Yet no matter how far I ran...
Every road led back to the school.
Every turn.
Every alley.
Every shortcut.
The gates always appeared in front of me again.
The school had become a maze.
Not built from walls...
But from fear itself.
Hours seemed to pass before I wandered back inside.
The corridors were deserted.
Festival decorations fluttered gently in the empty halls.
Then I noticed movement.
A group of students gathered near the sports ground.
"We found another exit," one of them whispered. "A maintenance gate behind the football field."
Hope returned.
There were eight of us.
No one spoke.
We simply nodded.
One student wrapped a chain around the gate.
Another counted quietly.
"Three..."
The chain dropped.
"Two..."
Hands gripped the handle.
"One."
The gate burst open.
We ran.
Branches whipped against my face as we disappeared into the forest beyond the school.
For the first time...
No footsteps followed.
No voice called my name.
No road led back.
Relief washed over me.
Then someone laughed.
A slow...
Familiar...
Laugh.
I turned around.
The seven students standing beside me smiled at exactly the same time.
One by one, their faces began to change.
Until every single one of them...
Had become Maarij.
He stepped forward from the crowd, his eyes fixed on mine.
"You kept searching for an exit," he said softly.
"But you never realized..."
He leaned closer, his smile growing wider.
"...I was never chasing you."
"I was waiting for you to stop running."
The forest fell silent.
And somewhere beyond the trees...
The school bell rang once more.
