Chapter 1
The 6-7 Lockdown
By the time Caiden left his final class, the school was almost empty.
Most students had already boarded their buses or been picked up. Teachers locked their classrooms and hurried outside before the storm arrived. Rain struck the windows in heavy bursts, and dark clouds had turned the afternoon sky almost black.
Caiden adjusted the straps of his backpack and checked the time.
5:42 p.m.
“Great,” he muttered. “I’m supposed to be at work.”
His phone showed three missed messages from his manager.
Caiden started typing a reply as he walked.
Sorry. School kept me late. I’m leaving now.
The message wouldn’t send.
No service.
“That’s weird.”
He slipped the phone into his pocket and continued toward the main entrance.
The hallways looked different when nobody else was around. Every sound echoed—the squeak of his sneakers, the buzzing lights, the rain ticking against the windows.
A trophy case stood on his right, filled with old basketball medals and faded team photographs. Caiden caught his reflection in the glass.
For one second, someone appeared behind him.
A kid in a dark suit.
Caiden spun around.
The hallway was empty.
He looked back at the trophy case.
Only his own reflection remained.
“Very funny,” he whispered, even though nobody was there.
He reached the front doors and pushed the metal bar.
The doors didn’t open.
He pushed again, harder.
Locked.
A red light flashed above the entrance.
Caiden pulled out his phone and tried calling the school office.
The call failed immediately.
Then every light in the hallway shut off.
Caiden froze.
For several seconds, there was nothing but darkness and the sound of rain.
Emergency lights suddenly came on, filling the hall with a dim red glow.
The intercom crackled.
A woman’s recorded voice spoke from the speakers.
“Lockdown. This is not a drill.”
Metal shutters slammed over the windows.
Caiden jumped backward.
“Lockdown. This is not a drill.”
Doors began locking throughout the building.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Each sound came closer.
Click.
Click.
Click.
The classroom beside Caiden locked by itself.
He tried the handle.
It wouldn’t move.
“Hello?” Caiden shouted. “Is anybody still here?”
His voice traveled down the long corridor.
No one answered.
The intercom hissed again.
This time, the voice wasn’t the recorded woman.
It was low, broken and almost childlike.
“Caiden.”
Caiden stared at the speaker.
“Proceed to the library.”
Static filled the hallway.
Caiden slowly backed away.
“No.”
A loud bang came from the far end of the hall.
Caiden turned.
Something moved past the open doorway near the science wing.
It looked like a student.
“Hey!” Caiden called.
The figure stopped.
It stood with its back toward him.
“Are you stuck here too?”
The figure raised one arm.
Its hand moved up.
Then down.
Up.
Then down.
The familiar 6-7 gesture.
Caiden’s stomach tightened.
The emergency lights flickered.
When they came back on, the figure was gone.
The intercom repeated:
“Proceed to the library.”
Every hallway except the one leading toward the library was blocked by metal security doors.
Caiden didn’t have a choice.
He walked slowly through the red-lit corridor.
As he passed the lockers, something scratched from inside one of them.
Caiden stopped.
Scratch.
Scratch.
Scratch.
He leaned toward the locker.
“Hello?”
The scratching stopped.
A whisper came from behind the metal door.
“Six…”
Caiden stepped back.
Another locker farther down rattled.
“Seven…”
Then every locker in the hallway began shaking at once.
Caiden ran.
He reached the library and rushed through the open doors.
The doors slammed shut behind him.
The library was almost completely dark. Books had been pulled from the shelves and scattered across the floor. Chairs lay overturned. A ceiling fan turned slowly even though the power was off.
At the center of the room, a single desk lamp remained on.
Beneath it sat a thick black book.
Caiden approached carefully.
The book looked ancient. The leather cover was cracked and stained. Two numbers had been carved into it.
A dark red handprint covered the bottom half.
Caiden reached for the book.
The second his fingers touched it, the library doors locked.
He pulled his hand away.
The book opened by itself.
Most of the page was blank.
Then red letters slowly appeared, as though an invisible pen were writing them.
WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT SAY “6-7” FIVE TIMES.
Caiden stared at the words.
More writing appeared.
IF YOU SAY IT FIVE TIMES, THE 6-7 KID WILL COME AFTER YOU.
Caiden laughed nervously.
“This is stupid.”
The desk lamp flickered.
He glanced over his shoulder.
Nothing.
Caiden looked back at the book.
“Six-seven.”
A light bulb exploded above him.
Glass rained onto the floor.
Caiden ducked.
“What the—”
A quiet giggle came from somewhere behind the bookshelves.
Caiden raised his phone and turned on the flashlight.
“Who’s there?”
No answer.
He walked between the shelves.
His light passed over rows of books.
At the far end of the aisle, two shoes were visible beneath a shelf.
Black dress shoes.
Caiden stopped.
The shoes didn’t move.
He slowly pointed the light upward.
There was nobody above them.
The shoes were standing by themselves.
Caiden backed out of the aisle.
“Six-seven,” a voice whispered behind him.
Caiden turned quickly.
Nobody was there.
“That wasn’t me.”
The book’s pages began flipping wildly.
A new message appeared.
TWO TIMES.
Caiden’s mouth went dry.
“No. I only said it once.”
Red letters formed beneath the message.
THE SCHOOL SAID IT FOR YOU.
The intercom crackled.
“Threat level six.”
A pause followed.
“Threat level seven.”
The book changed.
THREE TIMES.
Caiden grabbed it.
“How do I stop this?”
Words appeared.
DO NOT SAY IT AGAIN.
The desk lamp shut off.
Caiden stood in darkness.
His phone flashlight flickered.
At the other end of the library, something began breathing.
Slowly.
Deeply.
Caiden pointed the light toward the sound.
A kid stood between two shelves.
His head hung forward.
He wore a dark suit stained with patches of dried blood. His arms dangled at his sides. His skin was pale and stretched tightly across his face.
“Hey,” Caiden whispered.
The kid lifted his head.
His eye sockets were completely black.
At their centers, small red pupils glowed like burning lights.
Blood streamed from his eyes and ran down his cheeks.
The kid smiled.
“Four times,” he said.
Caiden shook his head.
“I didn’t say it.”
“You said the numbers when you opened your locker.”
Caiden remembered that morning.
His combination.
Six.
Seven.
The creature’s smile stretched wider.
“One more.”
The library lights flashed on.
The 6-7 Kid disappeared.
Caiden grabbed the black book and ran for the doors.
They unlocked as soon as he reached them.
He burst into the hallway.
The school looked different.
Every classroom number had changed.
Room 104 was now Room 67.
Room 205 was Room 67.
Every door showed the same numbers.
The clocks above the hallway all read 6:07.
None of their second hands moved.
Caiden ran toward the office.
The lights began shutting off behind him one by one.
Darkness followed him down the hallway.
Over the intercom, the creature began chanting.
“6-7 must kill Caiden.”
Caiden ran faster.
“6-7 must kill Caiden.”
A classroom door burst open beside him.
A clone of the creature stepped into the hall.
Its head was twisted completely sideways.
Another door opened.
A second clone crawled out on all fours, its elbows bending the wrong way.
“6-7 must kill Caiden.”
Four more doors opened.
Six clones now stood in the hallway.
One was nearly tall enough to reach the ceiling.
One dragged a broken leg behind it.
One shook violently as though every bone in its body were vibrating.
One covered its face with both hands, but blood poured through its fingers.
The last clone stood perfectly still, silently pointing at Caiden.
Behind them, the original 6-7 Kid appeared.
Blood covered the front of his suit.
His red pupils burned brighter.
“6-7 must kill Caiden,” he repeated.
The six clones charged.
Caiden ran toward the gym.
The crawling clone moved faster than the others. Its hands slapped against the floor only a few feet behind him.
Caiden reached the double doors and threw himself through them.
He slammed the doors shut and shoved an equipment cart against the handles.
Something crashed into the other side.
The metal doors bent inward.
Caiden backed away.
The gym lights flickered on.
The scoreboard glowed above the bleachers.
HOME: 6
GUEST: 7
TIME: 6:07
Caiden held the book against his chest.
“Tell me how to destroy him.”
The pages turned.
A sentence appeared.
THE CREATURE CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT THE NUMBERS.
Caiden looked at the scoreboard.
He grabbed a basketball and threw it as hard as he could.
The ball struck the screen.
Nothing happened.
Behind him, the equipment cart slowly rolled away from the doors.
Caiden hadn’t touched it.
The gym doors opened.
The six clones entered in a straight line.
The original 6-7 Kid followed them.
Caiden ran toward the scoreboard controls.
He pressed every button.
The numbers wouldn’t change.
The clones spread out around the court.
Caiden pulled at the wires beneath the control panel.
Sparks shot from the wall.
The scoreboard flickered.
The 6 disappeared.
Caiden smiled.
The clones screamed.
Their bodies twisted, filling the gym with cracking sounds.
“It’s working.”
Caiden yanked another wire.
The 7 vanished.
The scoreboard went black.
All six clones collapsed.
Their bodies dissolved into thick smoke.
The original 6-7 Kid dropped to his knees.
His red pupils faded.
Caiden stepped closer.
“I beat you.”
The creature looked up.
A weak smile appeared on its face.
“You said it.”
Caiden froze.
“What?”
“You said the numbers.”
Caiden thought back.
He had said the creature’s name while reading the warning.
Once.
He had said it again as a joke.
Twice.
The school announcement counted as the third.
His locker combination counted as the fourth.
But he hadn’t said it again.
The creature began laughing.
Caiden looked down at the open book.
New words appeared.
READING THE NAME INSIDE YOUR MIND STILL COUNTS.
Caiden remembered looking at the scoreboard.
Home: 6.
Guest: 7.
He had silently read the numbers.
The fifth time.
The scoreboard suddenly turned back on.
6:07.
All six clones opened their eyes.
Their red pupils glowed through the smoke.
The lights shut off.
Caiden ran blindly across the gym.
Hands grabbed his backpack.
He slipped out of it and kept moving.
Another hand wrapped around his ankle.
Caiden fell hard.
He kicked free and crawled toward the exit.
The tall clone stepped in front of him.
The others surrounded him.
The original 6-7 Kid walked slowly toward the center of the court.
Its body had changed.
Its black eye sockets stretched farther across its face. Blood poured from them in thick streams. Fresh blood covered its suit, hands and mouth.
The creature spoke in a louder, harsher voice.
“6-7 must kill Caiden.”
The clones repeated it.
“6-7 must kill Caiden.”
They grabbed Caiden’s arms and legs.
He fought against them.
“Let go of me!”
The clones pulled him toward the center of the gym.
Caiden screamed for help.
No one came.
The intercom switched on.
“Lockdown complete.”
The clones forced Caiden onto his back.
He could see the scoreboard above him.
6:07.
The original creature stood over him.
Caiden reached for the black book.
It lay only a few feet away.
His fingertips almost touched it.
The crawling clone grabbed the book first.
It opened its mouth impossibly wide and bit through the cover.
The book burst into flames.
“No!”
The pages turned to ash.
The 6-7 Kid placed one freezing hand against Caiden’s chest.
Caiden gasped.
The creature’s fingers began sinking into the darkness beneath his shirt, as though his chest had turned into deep water.
All six clones raised their hands and performed the gesture.
The lights flashed six times.
Then seven.
Caiden felt pressure building inside his chest.
His heartbeat became painfully loud.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
The creature leaned closer.
“You should’ve gone to work.”
Caiden tried to answer, but he couldn’t breathe.
The red pupils filled his vision.
His heartbeat slowed.
Thump.
A pause.
Thump.
Another pause.
Caiden’s body became cold.
He stared up at the scoreboard.
The clock changed.
6:08.
His heart stopped.
The clones released him.
Caiden lay motionless at center court.
He wasn’t breathing.
His eyes remained open, but there was nothing behind them.
The original 6-7 Kid stood above his body.
The creature leaned down and whispered into his ear.
“Now you belong to us.”
Every light in the school went out.
The emergency shutters lifted.
The doors unlocked.
The storm outside suddenly stopped.
Inside the dark gym, Caiden remained completely still.
He was dead.
Somewhere beneath the court, something knocked six times.
Then seven.
A voice whispered from the darkness.
“I can bring him back.”
The 6-7 Kid slowly turned toward the sound.
For the first time, the creature’s smile disappeared.
TO BE CONTINUED…
