Chapter 1
The lights died one after another.
Not all at once.
One.
Then another.
Then another.
The darkness advanced slowly through the hallway, swallowing the white fluorescent glow piece by piece.
Vivian Graves ran.
Her shoes had disappeared somewhere behind her.
She couldn't remember where.
Her bare feet struck the freezing concrete, each step sending a sharp sting through fresh cuts across her soles.
She didn't dare look down.
Looking down meant slowing down.
Slowing down meant...
No.
She couldn't think about that.
Her chest ached.
Every breath felt too small, as though the building itself was stealing the air before it reached her lungs.
She rounded another corner.
The hallway continued.
Exactly the same.
Same peeling paint.
Same cracked floor.
Same rusted doors.
Her pulse hammered against her ribs.
This hallway wasn't this long.
She knew it.
She remembered passing the same broken fire extinguisher.
Twice.
Then three times.
Now...
There it was again.
Still hanging crookedly from the wall.
"No..."
She whispered the word more to herself than anyone else.
The building wasn't letting her leave.
She kept running.
Somewhere behind her...
A footstep echoed.
Not hers.
She stopped.
The hallway fell silent.
Nothing moved.
She waited.
Five seconds.
Ten.
Nothing.
"...Come on..."
She laughed nervously.
"I'm hearing things."
She took another step.
Another.
The second set of footsteps returned.
Perfectly matching hers.
One step behind.
Never closer.
Never farther.
Vivian didn't turn around.
Some instinct older than fear told her not to.
Her eyes burned.
She hadn't blinked in...
How long?
Minutes?
Hours?
She couldn't remember.
Only one rule remained.
Don't blink.
A cold draft swept through the corridor.
The chain around her neck snapped.
The silver name tag slid across the floor with a sharp metallic scrape before coming to rest beneath the last working light.
She looked at it.
The light flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Its polished surface reflected her frightened face.
VIVIAN GRAVES Grade 11
She reached toward it.
Stopped.
Her fingers trembled.
"I'm sorry..."
She didn't know why she
apologized.
She simply knew she couldn't go back.
She ran.
The hallway grew quieter with every step.
Too quiet.
Even her own breathing seemed distant now.
Then...
Everything stopped.
No footsteps.
No lights.
No air.
Silence.
Vivian slowly closed her eyes.
Not intentionally.
Just for the smallest fraction of a second.
A blink.
She opened them.
Someone stood inches away.
A pale face.
Black, endless eyes.
A smile that wasn't wide...
Just wrong.
Completely still.
Its head tilted.
It looked at her...
The way a collector looks at something they've spent years searching for.
Its lips parted.
One sentence.
Soft enough to mistake for imagination.
"Found you."
Black.
____
6:30 A.M.
The shrill alarm shattered the quiet bedroom.
Mira groaned, slapping the phone until the sound stopped.
For a few seconds, she stayed under the blanket.
Warm.
Safe.
Outside, rain tapped gently against the window.
A motorcycle passed.
Someone laughed in the street.
Morning.
Just another Wednesday.
She finally sat up.
The room was neat except for one corner.
Books leaned against each other in untidy stacks.
Sticky notes covered the wall above her desk.
A school timetable.
A calendar.
Several reminders.
The small wooden photo frame rested quietly on Mira's desk facing down.
Nothing unusual.
She stretched before walking downstairs.
The house greeted her with silence.
No television.
No conversation.
Only the ticking of the old wall clock.
A lunchbox waited on the dining table beside a folded note.
Morning, kiddo.
Night shift again. Dinner's in the fridge. Don't skip breakfast.
Love, Uncle Ravi.
Mira smiled despite herself.
"You worry too much."
She folded the note carefully and slipped it into a kitchen drawer already filled with dozens of similar notes.
She never threw them away.
Breakfast was quiet.
The rain grew heavier outside.
Halfway through eating...
Her eyes wandered toward the end of the hallway.
A closed bedroom door.
Unlike every other door in the house...
This one never opened.
Halfway through breakfast...
She stared.
One second.
Two.
Three.
She stood.
Walked toward it.
Rested her hand on the doorknob.
Didn't open it.
Instead...
She whispered,
"...Good morning."
Then she walked away.
"...I'm going to be late." she muttered.
She grabbed her school bag and left.
The rest of the morning felt ordinary.
Students complained about homework.
Teachers reminded everyone about upcoming exams.
Someone accidentally spilled juice in the cafeteria.
Her best friend teased her for always arriving exactly two minutes before the bell.
Mira laughed.
She answered questions.
She smiled.
To anyone watching...
She looked perfectly normal.
Only once did she quietly glance at her phone beneath the desk.
No new messages.
She locked the screen.
A tiny flicker of disappointment crossed her face before disappearing.
The final bell rang.
Students poured out through the school gates.
Some headed home.
Some to cafés.
Some to sports practice.
Mira walked in the opposite direction.
Toward the police station.
To be continued....
by lucky.
