Rayne's blood ran cold as he stood transfixed in place.
He began to stagger backwards, he almost couldn't control his legs.
'Maybe its just a drug addict on a ladder...'
Rayne tried to comfort himself as he struggled towards the door. He kept the thing in his peripheral vision, even though al he wanted to do was sprint out of the library.
He even began to regret his desire to read a book.
Rayne successfully made his way to the door and was about to exit when he accidentally made eye contact with the thing outside the window.
His heart jumped straight out his chest.
Rayne burst through the exit and sprinted through the hall. He didn't turn back or notice how the things eyes' seemed to squint in glee.
Rayne's thoughts moved faster than even his body.
'I need to leave, I need to leave, but that thing is out there, I can't leave, what about everyone else, is mom okay, I can't stay here'
Rayne wasn't able to think straight, all his emotions and fears jumbled together. He entered a random classroom hoping to find somewhere to hide, but even though he didn't think it was possible his heart managed drop even further.
Inside the classroom was Navia and Mark. They were having sex on one of the tables. They were so engrossed in the act that they didn't even notice him enter the room.
Rayne didn't even make a noise. He simply just closed the door and left.
Although he was still just as scared a before, he felt utterly empty. No longer running, Rayne walked to the gym and sat in his corner.
There were no tears on his face, just emptiness. However, within his hear the most dominating presence was still fear.
Pushing aside all his sadness and jealousy, Rayne urgently went through the internet to figure out what that creature was.
His search was interrupted by a call from his mom.
"Ray! I just recently saw something in my group chat, it was about soldiers being dispatched within the city!"
"Wait, what? Like the actual army?"
"I think we may be at war! You need to be careful, tell all your friends and teachers, they need to know this!"
"Who are we fighting against? Are you alright? Are you safe?"
"I don't know, but I'm fine. You need to be safe, I can't lose you..."
"I'll be fine mom, I'll tell my teachers now, love you," Rayne ended the call.
He didn't get up immediately though. He began to consider the situation using all the facts that he has.
'What if the soldiers aren't at war with another human group, but these monsters?'
This conclusion weighed even heavier on Rayne as it meant that there were so many of these things that the army was actually called in.
Forcing himself to stand up, Rayne approached the supervising teacher in the gym, Coach Kirk.
Rayne tried to probe for information, mentioning his mom telling him that the army was called in, but Coach Kirk just gave vague answers.
Rayne's frustration was soon going to reach a boiling point, not even mentioning his growing anxiety about the thing in the window.
Rayne continued to ask around and a few students confirmed that their parents had told them something similar. This did not sit well with Rayne at all.
Right now, all Rayne wanted to do was dump all his thoughts on Navia, but he wouldn't be able to bring himself to see her, let alone talk to her.
Therefore Rayne went back to his corner and sat alone with his despairing thoughts for what felt like hours.
....
Rayne figured that there must be others like him who noticed these supernatural occurrence, but he couldn't figure out how to identify or talk to them.
After deciding that there wasn't much for him to lose anyway. Rayne got up and once again asked around the gym
There were three others.
Samuel, Nate, and Lila.
Just like him, they were terrified and wanted to find their families. This was profoundly comforting to Rayne as he realized he was not alone.
All four of them discussed what they saw.
"I saw someone's reflection stare at me even though the person didn't move," Nate begrudgingly stated.
"I...One..My friend Jessica has been acting very strange...It's really scary," Lila revealed.
"My friend Paul disappeared yesterday day, but no one seems to remember him but me," Samuel looked like he was about to cry.
All their stories sent chills down Rayne's spine, but he obliged to the group and told his own experience starting from the shadow to the manthing.
Hearing his story, their faces went pale.
"Do...do you think it will come for you?," Lila asked what they were all thinking.
Rayne didn't respond.
"Not Rayne having friends," a joking voice cut the silence.
It was Navia and Mark.
"What were you guy talking about?" Navia asked.
No one said anything, but Rayne was so tired at this point that he just told them everything truthfully. He didn't care if they thought he was crazy.
"Damn, are you guy serious? I didn't notice anything, are you sure?" Mark said worriedly.
Rayne was genuinely surprised that Marked believed him.
"Rayne, I'm very disappointed in you. You know that right now everyone is very tense about our situation, but you're still spreading things like this?" Navia shook her head.
Rayne's heart broke a little more.
Navia turned to leave, and Mark looked confused but chose to follow her.
Nate, Samuel, and Lila didn't say anything, but Rayne chose to get up and return to his corner.
Rayne ended up not eating dinner or even showering. He just sat there with his head down until, the gym lights turned off and everyone was called to go to sleep.
Rayne managed to come to a decision. Tomorrow morning, before anyone woke up he would leave wether or not anyone would come with him.
Even with this resolution, Rayne could not fall asleep. His mind kept wandering to the creature in the window.
Rayne opened his eyes and surveyed the gym windows. Nothing.
He closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. But once again after a while he opened his eyes and surveyed the gym. Nothing again.
Rayne night followed this pattern for a few hours until one time when he opened his eyes to survey the gym, there wasn't nothing.
There was a face in one of the windows. The same face he saw in the library.
Except it was now smiling.
Something else began to appear in the window. A slender emaciated hand, skin stuck to the bone, revealing the finest details.
It began to knock on the window, rhythmically, unhurried as it watched them.
Rayne hadn't taken a breath since he saw it, but the noise from the knocking managed to wake a few people up.
Groggily, they began to look for the source of the sound, and once they found it they shrieked.
Everyone was now awake. Many people were confused as to why some people were screaming, but soon they were made aware.
Rayne was still sitting there staring at the creature, so this time he was able to witness the thing's smile widen even further.
Some students and even teachers began to force themselves through the crowded gym and out into the hallway to flee.
Then the creature slowly disappeared from the view of the window.
An overwhelming dread bubbled up with in Rayne as he realized they were all going to die.
He finally stood up. The teachers were trying to calm everyone down, but he ignored them and forced his way out of the gym.
Rayne ran to his Physics class and hid inside the small closet that his teacher kept in the room for jackets..
As he hid, a few people came in, some stayed, but most left. Rayne was indifferent to this. Inside that small closet, the picture of his mom on his phone illuminated his face.