The corridor

As soon as I stepped inside, a chilling cold washed over me. My vision began to blur, and my nostrils were assaulted by an awful stench that made them flare. I reached for the doorframe to steady myself, hoping my sight would refocus-but my hand passed right through it, sending me crashing to the floor. My cap fell off. The floor was wet, soaking my side and hand as I sat up.

At first, I thought the blinds were shut, but then I noticed a red light faintly illuminating the room. My vision sharpened-and what I saw made every hair on my body stand on edge. This wasn't the auditorium. It looked like the school hall, but something was horribly off.

The brick walls were withering away, and water ran across the floor like a shallow lake, flowing between scattered debris-broken desks, shattered monitors, rusted filing cabinets. Countless torches lined the walls, flickering ominously. And beyond all of that lay a darkness. A darkness that demanded attention.

My eyes locked on it. For a moment, I felt the urge to run. But when I turned to glance at the exit-it was gone. In its place was another corridor, nearly identical to this one, stretching into the same consuming darkness.

The pathway ahead wasn't straight. It curved smoothly as if guiding me, or something else, deeper. I tried to make sense of what was happening.

I wanted to call out for help, but my mouth wouldn't move. My eyes refused to blink. My muscles tensed on their own, and my heartbeat spiked-filling my body with uncomfortable heat. Still facing the corridor, I tried to get up, but I couldn't. I was frozen.

That's when I heard it-the sound of something being dragged along the floor. At first, it was distant. But it grew louder, quickly. It was coming.

The creature emerged from the shadows.

Its flat, disk-like head shimmered with scales like polished black marble, absorbing what little light there was. Its mouth was slightly open, but I couldn't see what lay inside-and I didn't want to. A long, slender tongue flickered in and out of its mouth with hypnotic rhythm, tasting the air like a snake.

As it slithered closer, its movement was disturbingly smooth, like it had mastered the shadows. The air vibrated with its presence. My skin crawled. The malevolence it carried was suffocating.

Just as I was about to scream, a hand clamped over my mouth.

"Don't," a voice whispered.

I turned slightly-it was Jayden. His eyes were locked ahead, and he raised a finger to his lips. His other hand moved to my waist. In one swift motion, he spun me out of the creature's path and pinned us both flat against the wall.

The creature slithered past Jayden first, completely silent, before halting right in front of me. It turned its head abruptly, revealing a featureless face, two horns on its disk-shaped scalp, and a jagged slit where its tongue flickered. It leaned close. The tongue landed on my face, leaving behind a burning sensation before it snapped back into its mouth.

I whimpered.

That tiny sound was enough. The creature lashed out with a massive arm.

Jayden yanked me aside just in time-his arm still tight around my waist-and the creature's claws embedded themselves into the wall where I'd been standing. Then, out of nowhere, his friend from earlier-Nkosi-appeared and pulled me away. We were running.

He was moving so fast I nearly lost my footing-and with only one arm, keeping balance was a nightmare. A scream echoed behind us. I looked back. Jayden was catching up quickly, but behind him, a towering shadow surged forward, closing in fast.

The boys moved like something out of a dream, unnaturally fast. It felt like being dragged behind a speeding truck.

"Nkosi, can't you go faster?" Jayden shouted.

"No," he snapped back-but then he stopped abruptly.

He shoved me hard against the wall, and my head knocked painfully against it. At that same moment, a large object zoomed past, barely missing Jayden, who had fallen forward onto the ground.

Someone-I'm not even sure who-grabbed me and threw me over their shoulder. My sling bag slipped off during the sprint. Before I could process anything, they slammed through a door-

-and everything went black.