Maya.
Author's note: I wrote this at 5am after a dream and couldn't stop once I started.
Visuals for the boys are up to you—Pinterest-friendly—but for reference: Zane has a scar near his eyebrow, and Noah has hazel eyes.
english is my not my first language so if I repeat things it's because I don't know how to say it in a different way.
all pictures used belong to rightful owners.
Maya Solis (19)
Adrian (23), Zane (22), Noah (22), Lucas (21), Marcus(20), Daniel (20)
Maya and them
The house
_________________________
Maya's POV
I lied.
Not to hurt anyone. Not to be rebellious or dramatic. I just... needed a break. One day where I wasn't stuck in my house pretending everything was fine when I knew it wasn't.
I woke up before anyone else. My alarm was quiet-just a soft buzz in my ears. I turned it off and stared at the ceiling for a minute, listening to the way the silence held its breath.
It was still dark out when I got in the shower. The water was warm, but not hot. I didn't want it to fog up the mirror too much. I stood there with my eyes closed and let it wash everything away. Maybe even parts of me.
After, I dried off and went through the motions. Lotion first-my favorite one, the strawberry-scented one I always saved for days I wanted to feel soft. Like I was someone worth holding gently.
Then brushing my teeth, lip gloss, the usual.
I didn't do too much makeup. Just a little mascara, concealer and crème lipstick. Just enough to feel like me. I pulled my hair half-up, half-down, the way I used to wear it when I still had people to impress.
I went downstairs and grabbed my backpack. My backpack felt heavier than usual, but I liked the weight. It grounded me.
When I passed my mom in the kitchen, she was busy packing my brothers' lunches.
"I'm heading out," I said, already halfway to the door.
"You're not gonna eat?"
"I'll grab something at school," I lied.
She looked up, squinted at me. "You look cute. Doing pictures or something?"
"Yeah," I said, trying not to sound guilty. "Class photos."
That was the second lie of the morning.
I stepped outside before she could ask anything else.
⸻
It was cold for mid-fall. The kind of cold that sunk into your sweater but didn't make you shiver-just made you aware of your skin. The air smelled like wet grass and asphalt and woodsmoke, and everything about it made me ache in a place I couldn't name.
I walked the long way.
Past the old tennis courts with the busted fence, past the alley with the boarded-up thrift shop, and past the small bridge where I once saw a raccoon eat an entire slice of pizza like a person.
I kept my headphones in my pocket. I didn't want noise. I wanted the world to talk to me. Or maybe I just wanted to hear if anyone called my name.
They didn't, of course.
⸻
I hadn't seen Saint Belladonna Academy in almost a year.
When I finally reached it, my legs were a little sore, and my heart was louder than it should've been. Not from the walk. Just from being here.
The gates were still painted that strange forest green. Rusted at the edges now, flaking where the paint had started to curl like old skin. I stood outside them, arms tucked around myself, breath shallow from the walk. The breeze smelled like wet leaves and something metallic-just like I remembered.
It looked the same. That scared me more than if it had changed.
Saint Belladonna Girls Academy sat on the edge of a dense forest, where the trees leaned too far inward, like they were whispering to each other. The school itself was a tall, towering thing-stone walls, iron railings, and thin windows that looked like they belonged in a cathedral, not a place where girls were supposed to grow up.
It used to be my second home. My safe place.
Then life happened. Things changed. I left. No one really asked why. Or maybe I never gave them the chance.
I didn't come back to make a scene. Or to relive anything. I just wanted to see. Just wanted to know if they remembered me at all.
I told myself I wouldn't go inside. That was the only rule I broke.
The gate creaked as I pushed it open.
I hadn't even made it past the courtyard before the weirdness started.
Girls passed me without saying hi. Not even a second glance.
It was... eerie.
I didn't expect hugs or "Oh my god, Maya!" or whatever. But something about how they looked at me-like I was furniture. Or background noise. It made my skin feel tight.
Maybe I'd romanticized this place too much. The stained glass. The ivy growing along the edges of the stone. The way the sunlight filtered through the windows like something out of a fairytale.
It didn't feel magical now.
It felt like I didn't belong.
⸻
I spotted a group of girls I did know-Nadine, Elle, and Tara-across the main hallway near the lockers.
My heart did this little jump.
I walked faster, a little hopeful, almost nervous.
Elle saw me first. She blinked like her brain needed a second to register.
"Oh," she said. "Maya."
Nadine's head snapped around. Tara just kind of half-smiled.
"What are you doing here?" Elle asked. Not mean, but not excited either.
I opened my mouth. "I was... just in the area. Thought I'd drop by. Just to say hi."
"That's... random," Nadine said. Her eyes flicked over my outfit, my bag. "You didn't enroll again or anything, did you?"
"No, no," I laughed softly. "Just visiting."
Tara shifted her weight. "We were just heading to dorm check-in. It's mandatory."
"Oh. Right."
I waited for them to say something else.
They didn't.
"Cool seeing you," Elle offered, but she was already turning away.
Nadine gave me a small nod, and then they were gone.
⸻
I don't know why I didn't leave then.
I should've.
But something pulled me deeper into the halls. Like my feet had their own plans. Like I was walking through an echo of something I wasn't ready to let go of.
The place was almost empty now-just the tap of my shoes and the occasional muffled voice behind a door. My reflection stared back at me in the hallway windows, warped by the old glass.
I didn't know where I was going.
Just... looking.
A bathroom. A bench. Somewhere to sit down and breathe and maybe cry for like, two minutes without looking stupid.
⸻
I turned a corner, then another. The halls got colder the farther I went. The paintings on the wall changed-from smiling headmistresses and girls holding trophies to stern-looking nuns and giant portraits with cracked gold frames.
There was no one around.
The buzzing in my ears got louder.
Maybe it was adrenaline. Maybe it was something else.
I spotted a door tucked into a shadowed part of the hallway. Small. Unlabeled. No window.
I reached for the handle without thinking. Just one second of silence.
I opened the door-
And immediately regretted it.
⸻
The office was massive. Old. Dusty, but untouched.
There was a thick red carpet. Shelves of leather-bound books. A desk big enough to sleep on. Velvet curtains blocked out the windows, casting the room in this deep, reddish light.
It smelled like paper and something... earthy. Like soil. Or old wood.
I blinked.
This wasn't a student space. It had authority.
Then I saw the plaque on the desk.
Headmistress Darnell
Oh god.
I took a step back.
My fingers fumbled for the doorknob-
But before I could twist it, my foot hit something on the floor.
A loose tile.
It shifted under my weight with a loud, ugly click.
I froze.
Then the floor gave out from under me.
⸻
I didn't even have time to scream.
It felt like sliding down a smooth chute-metal, maybe? Cold against my arms. My backpack smacked my back repeatedly as I spiraled downward into darkness.
It wasn't a fall, not at first. Just speed. Endless, twisting speed.
Then suddenly-
THUD.
I hit the ground hard. My knees slammed the concrete. My backpack cushioned some of it, but not enough.
I groaned and rolled onto my side, heart pounding so fast I thought I might throw up.
Where was I?
Where the hell-
⸻
The room was dim.
There were pipes overhead, dripping water into puddles. The walls were made of stone-old, unpolished, damp. One bare bulb flickered in the ceiling like it was struggling to stay alive.
I sat up slowly.
There was a hallway ahead of me.
No signs. No windows. Just doors. Thick ones. Metal.
I clutched my backpack closer.
It was cold.
Too cold.
I stood and took a shaky step forward.
⸻
Something about this place made the air feel... heavier.
My breathing was shallow, my pulse way too loud in my ears.
Was this a boiler room?
A fallout shelter?
Or-
I didn't finish the thought.
I kept walking, shoes echoing down the hallway like a threat. The lightbulbs flickered overhead, one by one.
There were noises now.
Muffled voices. Low and quiet, like arguments being had behind thick walls.
Laughter.
A door creaked open behind me.
I froze.
⸻
"Yo."
I spun around.
A boy stood there. He looked young, maybe eighteen? Shaved head. Dark eyes. A long scar down his cheek.
He looked confused. But not surprised. Like he was used to weird things happening-and this was just another one.
"What the hell..." he muttered.
Another door opened.
Then another.
Three more boys stepped out into the hall.
They all stared at me like I was a ghost.
My throat closed up.
"I-I didn't mean to be here," I said quickly, backing up. "I'm sorry. I-I fell. I was just trying to find the bathroom and-"
They didn't move.
Didn't speak.
Just kept staring like I'd dropped in from another planet.
The scarred boy finally said, "Where'd you come from?"
"I was... I was upstairs. In the school. I fell through-through a floor or something? I think it was the headmistress's office-"
All of them tensed.
Like I'd said something I wasn't supposed to.
My breathing quickened. My chest felt tight.
"I'm not supposed to be here," I whispered.
"No shit," one of them muttered.
"She's not one of us," another said. "She's not even supposed to know this place exists."
The scarred boy turned to the others. "We gotta take her to him."
"Him?" I echoed, voice shaking. "Who's-who's him?"
"He'll know what to do."
I took another step back. "No. No, please-just show me the way back. I'll leave. I won't tell anyone, I swear-"
"You think it's that easy?" one said, almost laughing.
They started walking toward me.
Not fast. But steady.
I backed into the wall.
"No-please. I didn't do anything-"
"Exactly the problem."
They weren't being cruel. But they weren't being kind either. They were too calm. Too used to this.
They closed in around me.
I was surrounded.
Then one of them opened a steel door behind me and jerked his chin.
"In."
I stepped in with shaking legs, chest heaving.
The door shut behind me.
