The next day, Sam and I were jolted awake by the piercing sound of a scream. It echoed through the dormitory, sending a chill down my spine. We exchanged alarmed glances and scrambled out of bed, adrenaline already pumping through our veins.
"What the hell was that?" Sam muttered, pulling on a shirt.
"I don't know, but it didn't sound good," I replied, quickly getting dressed. "Let's check it out."
We rushed out of our room and into the hallway, where other students were also emerging, their faces a mix of confusion and concern. The scream had come from the direction of the main staircase, and we hurried towards it, our hearts pounding.
As we reached the stairwell, we found a group of students huddled around someone sitting on the floor. It was a girl, probably a first-year, trembling and pale. A few older students were trying to comfort her, but she was clearly terrified.
"What happened?" I asked, pushing through the crowd to get a closer look.
One of the older students, a tall guy with a serious expression, turned to us. "She says she saw something in her room. Something… supernatural."
The girl nodded frantically, her eyes wide with fear. "It was… it was like a shadow, but it had eyes. Glowing red eyes. It was just there, in the corner of my room, staring at me. And then it moved, and I screamed."
Sam and I exchanged worried looks. This sounded serious. "Has anyone checked her room?" Sam asked.
The tall guy shook his head. "Not yet. We wanted to make sure she was okay first."
"We'll go," I said, determination in my voice. "What's your name?" I asked the girl.
"Lila," she whispered.
"Okay, Lila, we're going to check your room. Stay here with these guys, all right? You're safe now," I said reassuringly.
We made our way to Lila's room, our footsteps echoing in the now eerily quiet hallway. The door was ajar, and I pushed it open cautiously. The room was small and tidy, but there was an unmistakable feeling of unease in the air. It felt colder than the rest of the dormitory, and the shadows seemed to dance menacingly.
"Do you feel that?" Sam whispered, his voice tense.
"Yeah," I replied, my eyes scanning the room. "There's definitely something off."
We stepped inside, moving slowly and carefully. I pulled out a small flashlight from my pocket, casting a beam of light into the corners of the room. Nothing seemed out of place, but the oppressive feeling persisted.
Sam was examining the wall near the window when he suddenly stiffened. "Kan, look at this."
I walked over to him and saw what he was pointing at. Faint, almost invisible against the paint, were strange symbols etched into the wall. They were unlike any inscription we had studied, but their presence was unmistakably supernatural.
"What do you think they are?" Sam asked, his voice hushed.
"I'm not sure," I admitted. "But they don't look like anything good. We should get Professor Ainsley."
As we turned to leave, a cold gust of wind swept through the room, extinguishing my flashlight. The door slammed shut with a force that shook the walls. We were plunged into darkness, the only light coming from the faint glow of the moon through the window.
"Great, just great," Sam muttered, his voice edged with nervousness. "What now?"
"Stay calm," I said, trying to keep my own fear in check. "We need to find a way out."
I reached for the door, but it wouldn't budge. It felt like something was holding it shut. We were trapped. I fumbled for my phone, using its screen to cast a dim light around us.
"Okay, let's think," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "The symbols on the wall… maybe they're a kind of binding spell. If we can disrupt them, it might break whatever's holding us here."
Sam nodded, moving to the wall and scraping at the symbols with his fingernails. It was slow work, and the room seemed to grow colder with each passing moment. My breath fogged in the air, and I could feel an invisible pressure weighing down on us.
Just as we were starting to lose hope, there was a sudden, violent shudder. The door flew open, and light flooded the room. Professor Ainsley stood in the doorway, her eyes blazing with anger.
"What are you two doing in here?" she demanded, her voice cutting through the tension like a knife.
"We heard a scream," I explained quickly. "Lila, the girl in this room, said she saw something supernatural. We came to check it out and found these symbols on the wall."
Professor Ainsley's expression softened slightly as she took in the situation. "All right, let's get you two out of here first."
She led us back into the hallway, where Lila was still being comforted by the other students. Professor Ainsley knelt beside her, speaking softly. "Lila, you're safe now. We'll take care of this."
Turning back to us, she said, "These symbols… they're a kind of containment spell, but they've been tampered with. Someone or something tried to weaken them, causing the entity inside to become active again."
"Who would do that?" Sam asked, bewildered.
"That's what we need to find out," Professor Ainsley replied. "But for now, we need to reinforce the containment and ensure Lila's safety."
She led us back into the room, where she began drawing new symbols over the old ones, chanting softly under her breath. The temperature in the room gradually returned to normal, and the oppressive feeling lifted.
"There," she said, stepping back. "That should hold for now. But we need to investigate further to understand who tampered with the original containment and why."
We nodded, feeling a mixture of relief and renewed determination. The events of the morning had been a stark reminder of the dangers we faced, but also of the importance of our training.
As we helped Lila gather her things and move to a different room, Sam turned to me. "Well, that was one way to start the day."
I couldn't help but laugh, despite the tension. "Yeah, definitely not what I expected."
But as we settled Lila into her new room and made our way to our first class, I couldn't shake the feeling that this was just the beginning. The Academy held many secrets, and it was clear that not all of them were as dormant as we had hoped.
And so, with a sense of resolve, we dove back into our studies, knowing that each lesson brought us one step closer to understanding—and protecting against—the unseen forces at work around us.