The air was thick with unease, heavy with the scent of damp wood and old paper. Dim light flickered overhead, casting jagged shadows along the walls, warping reality into something sinister. Every rustling whisper of movement felt like an unseen presence lurking just beyond reach, watching.
The group huddled in the center of the room, backs pressed together as if bracing for the unknown. In their hands, two worn Manila papers trembled under their grasp—one covered in frantic, hastily scribbled notes about their predicament, the other displaying a map of their respective schools.
Mateo and Chase had ventured outside earlier, expecting to step into another unfamiliar nightmare. Yet, to their astonishment, they remained within the walls of their own schools—or at least, something eerily mimicking them.
"Yep, we're definitely in our schools. Or maybe… a replica," Chase murmured, his voice hushed, as if speaking too loudly might summon whatever malevolent force loomed unseen. "But something's off."
"No kidding," Harith muttered, rubbing his temples as if trying to ward off a headache. "How can both schools exist in the same space?"
"An illusion," Zixuan interjected, stepping closer to peer at the map Cecilion had sketched. "We ended up here without even realizing how. On top of that…" She bit the inside of her cheek before gesturing toward Casper and his companions. "You guys don't remember anything."
Lucas snapped his fingers. "Think about it—what if we're in some sort of game? I mean, we're all gamers," he said, shooting them a knowing look. "That can't be just a coincidence."
"Or better yet…" Harith raised a hand, stepping forward as if proving a point. "What if we were all caught up in an accident at the same time? You guys were playing too, right? At least, that's the last thing you remember."
Isabella cocked an eyebrow. "And your point?"
Harith grinned. "You've all seen Alice in Borderland, right? What if this is the same? A death game. And whoever survives this… survives in real life."
"That's ridiculous," Charlotte scoffed, crossing her arms. "This is reality, not some horror novel."
"Oh, really?" Harith shot back. "Then explain this. Is this normal to you?"
Charlotte opened her mouth to argue but hesitated, falling silent.
Cecilion, who had been studying the maps, finally spoke. "Arguing doesn't matter right now. What does is that Harith might have a point." He pointed to the layouts, his finger trailing over the markings. "Look at the structures. Cimmerian Academy's main entrance is in the west, while Cerulean Academy's is in the east. The same physical location—different realities."
"You mean we won't be able to leave together?" Harith asked, his voice laced with unease.
"Most likely," Daphne interjected before Cecilion could answer. "Our school is much bigger. If we try to navigate as a group, we might waste too much time."
"Of course," Daniela scoffed, crossing her arms. "Prestigious schools and their overly complicated structures."
Before anyone could respond, a chilling noise interrupted them—a slow, grating sound, like metal scraping against concrete.
Their breath caught. The sound grew louder, dragging closer.
Daniela's face paled. "No, no, no… That's—"
A heavy thud slammed against the door, rattling the walls. Then another. Dust trickled from the ceiling, the entire room trembling under the force.
A third impact.
The wooden frame splintered, cracks spider-webbing across its surface. Something on the other side heaved, its ragged breathing audible even through the barrier. Then, with a sickening crunch, the door burst open—
And the thing stepped inside.
A grotesque figure loomed in the doorway, its body twisted and unnatural. Its hollowed-out eyes were nothing more than gaping black voids, and its lips were stretched into a grin far too wide, as if its skin had been forcefully pulled back. Its skeletal fingers twitched as it dragged something behind it—a length of rusted chain, the end of which disappeared into the darkness behind it. The heavy metal links clanked against the floor with each movement.
For a moment, no one moved.
Then—
"RUN!" Cecilion shouted.
Chaos erupted.
The group scrambled, shoving past desks and overturned chairs as the creature lunged forward with jerky, unnatural movements. The rusted chain whipped through the air, narrowly missing Daniela's shoulder as she stumbled backward with a strangled gasp.
They had no choice but to scatter.
Cecilion's heart pounded as he reached for Casper, but the moment Casper's group turned right, something shifted.
"Cas!" Cecilion gasped, but it was too late.
He and Zixuan sprinted after them—only to collide with something solid. A wall.
Where an open hallway had been mere seconds ago, there was now nothing but unyielding brick and stone. Casper's group was gone. Cecilion's theory was right. They're in different dimensions, gathered by something he couldn't decipher yet.
Zixuan staggered back, eyes wide. "T-They're gone—"
"No time to think, MOVE!" Harith yelled, grabbing Daniela by the wrist and pulling her forward. She was frozen in place, her face drained of color.
"C'mon! Move!" Mateo groaned, snapping everyone's attention back to the stairwell.
The moment their feet hit the steps, the darkness swallowed them.
They ran.
Downward, further and further, their footsteps hammering against the cold stone. The stairwell twisted in a dizzying spiral, the air thick with dust and an unnatural stillness. The dim lights overhead flickered erratically, casting long, warped shadows along the walls.
Paige's breath came in ragged gasps as she tried to keep up. She glanced behind her—the creature hadn't followed them. But something felt wrong.
"Why aren't we reaching the bottom?" she whispered, panic creeping into her voice.
The realization settled over them like a lead weight.
PThe stairwell had no end.
The same worn steps stretched endlessly downward, the passage looping upon itself in an impossible cycle. No matter how far they ran, they remained trapped in the same space, the same dim lighting, the same suffocating air.
"We're caught in a loop," Paige choked out, her voice barely traveling the eerie space.
A hush fell over the group as dread slithered into their bones. And then, from somewhere above them, the sound of metal scraping against concrete echoed once more.
The creature was still coming and now, it knew they had nowhere to go. Daniela took an uneasy step backward—then froze, her breath catching in her throat.
A shadow shifted above them.
Nestled within the rafters, limbs contorted at unnatural angles, was a grotesque figure. A woman. Her body twisted, her arms bent like broken twigs, her head lolling to the side at an unnatural angle.
Her mouth gaped wide—too wide.
Then, with a sickening snap, her head jerked downward, locking onto them with empty, bleeding sockets. A bone-cracking shift echoed through the hallway as her limbs twitched and jerked into place, moving like a marionette on invisible strings.
The silence shattered.
A guttural, inhuman screech tore through the air as the woman dropped.
"AHHHHH!!" Daniela screamed, sprinting away from the creature.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Harith cursed, stumbling back and slamming into Mateo.
"Get yourself together, damnit!" Mateo barked, yanking him upright before he could collapse.
The group bolted and the monstrous woman scuttled after them, her body convulsing in erratic, insect-like movements. Her limbs snapped unnaturally, her fingers clawing against the walls, scraping deep gashes into the rotting concrete. She twisted, launching herself from ceiling to wall to floor, her distorted laughter bubbling up in garbled, choking noises.
"No—no—no—" Paige gasped, barely keeping up.
The hallway shifted around them. The walls pulsed, expanding and contracting as if breathing. The air thickened, turning to something dense, suffocating—wrong.
Then—the ground melted and their feet sank.
A black, viscous sludge swallowed their legs, the thick, gelatinous mass clinging to their skin like tar. The more they struggled, the deeper they sank.
And then, horrifyingly, rotting hands erupted from the sludge. Skeletal fingers, peeling flesh hanging from exposed tendons, clawed at their ankles. Nails jagged and broken raked against their skin, drawing blood. A rancid stench—like decay and stagnant water—filled their lungs, making them gag.
Zixuan thrashed, her heart hammering in her chest. The more she fought, the faster she sank. She could hear Mateo cursing, hear Paige sobbing, feel Harith's frantic movements beside her.
Then a wet, gurgling whispers oddly echoed—a hand—cold, slimy, inhuman—shot up from the depths and latched onto Zixuan's wrist making her scream.
"Z-Zixuan!"
She turned sharply at the sound of her name—Cecilion. He was on the far left, arm outstretched, desperately trying to reach her. Zixuan's breath hitched. She reached out, fingers trembling, straining to grasp his hand—
But something pulled her downward. The tar-like sludge churned, thickening, dragging her deeper. Shadows moved within it—twisting figures, writhing bodies, watching.
Then...
A jerk.
Zixuan gasped as she was wrenched free. A sharp, stinging pain lanced through her as she hit the ground. Her vision spun. When she blinked, Mateo was already standing over her, chest heaving, his grip iron-tight on her wrist.
"Snap out of it, Xuan!" Mateo's voice thundered through the empty space.
Zixuan's vision cleared, her breath coming in ragged gasps. "I-Illusion..."
Harith was in front of her—his expression vacant, his body trembling. Mateo slapped him hard across the face to wake him up from this madness. Harith flinched violently, sucking in a sharp breath.
And then—Zixuan followed their gaze—and her stomach dropped.
Paige. Daniela. Cecilion.
They stood motionless, their heads tilted upward.
The grotesque woman still hung from the ceiling—but this time, she wasn't alone. Strands of her long, matted hair had wrapped around their necks, tightening like nooses. Their eyes were wide, their mouths slightly parted as if caught in a trance.
Zixuan's blood ran cold.
Mateo moved first, his knife flashing as he lunged forward. With a forceful yank, he severed the strands, pulling them away just as they began to slither toward Zixuan's own throat.
The moment the hair snapped free, Paige and the others gasped for air, their bodies lurching forward as if waking from a nightmare.
They weren't fast enough to stop what happened next. The grotesque woman's head twisted sharply—her grin stretching wider and cackled.
Although her knees felt like they might give out any second, Zixuan forced herself to her feet, her breath ragged as she reached for Paige, Daniela, and Cecilion. Her hands trembled violently as she tried to pull at the strands of hair wrapping around their throats, but no matter how hard she pulled, they kept coiling tighter, burrowing deeper, even into their mouths.
"Oh, fuck it!" Mateo's voice was rough with panic as he grabbed a fistful of the woman's hair. With everything he had, he yanked her from the ceiling, his muscles straining under the force.
The moment the woman crashed to the floor, the air seemed to suck the life out of the room. The floor splintered with a terrifying crack, dust swirling up like smoke from a charred corpse.
Zixuan wasted no time, immediately turning to check on Cecilion and the others. Thankfully, they seemed to have broken free of the nightmarish illusion.
"What… happened?" Cecilion coughed, his body shaking as he reached toward Paige, who lay sprawled on the floor, barely clinging to consciousness.
"Paige!" Daniela stuttered, crawling desperately toward her, pushing Zixuan away as she tried to help.
"She's fine," Zixuan gasped, glancing frantically at Harith, who was beginning to stir. Her eyes then locked onto Mateo, who stood facing the grotesque woman, his back stiff and unmoving.
The woman was now standing, grotesque and towering, as if the darkness itself had birthed her from the very bowels of hell.
"M-Mateo…" Daniela's voice trembled as she rose to her feet, the weight of dread in her bones.
"Stay back," Mateo's voice was low, commanding. It was a tone none of them had ever heard from him before—a tone that sent shivers down their spines. His words hung in the air like an omen.
Zixuan's heart pounded in her chest. Something was wrong. This wasn't the Mateo they knew. He wasn't just afraid. He was prepared. And it scared her more than anything.
Without turning around, Mateo slowly glanced over his shoulder, his lips curling into a sickening smile—one that wasn't his, not truly.
"It was nice knowing all of you. I'm glad to become your friend," he whispered, his voice almost too soft to hear, but loud enough to break their hearts.
"W-What are you talking about, Mateo?!" Harith groaned, his voice breaking with confusion and fear.
Before Mateo could answer, the woman launched herself at them, her movements unnatural, too fast, too jerky. Mateo didn't hesitate. He charged forward with terrifying speed and slammed into the woman with a force that cracked the air around them, knocking her back with an earth-shattering thud.
"GO! BACK UP! NOTHING'S DOWN THERE BUT A VOID," Mateo bellowed, his voice a raw scream, his neck craning as his body tensed, ready for the fight of his life.
"No! Mateo—" Daniela sobbed, reaching for him, her heart torn, her chest heavy with the weight of unsaid words.
"JUST GO!" Mateo roared, his eyes wild with a mix of fear and determination.
But it was too late. The others didn't have a choice. They had to run. Daniela's heart shattered as she tore her eyes away from Mateo. She couldn't look at him, not when her world felt like it was unraveling.
Her feet pounded against the warped steps, each movement feeling like it was dragging her deeper into some hellish abyss. She could hear the others behind her, struggling, their bodies slowing, but she couldn't stop. Her legs burned, her breath came in shallow gasps, but she forced herself to push forward.
Behind them—screams.
Mateo's screams.
A sickening, wet squelch.
Flesh tearing.
The sound of his agony was worse than anything she had ever heard. It echoed through the twisted corridors like a curse.
Then… silence. Mateo's gone.
The ground beneath them began to shift again, as if the very earth itself was alive, breathing. The walls seemed to pulse, dark liquid seeping from the cracks, twisting and crawling like worms ready to devour a rotting flesh.
One by one, they were pulled under.
The mud surged, slick and sticky, wrapping around their limbs like a thousand hands dragging them into the depths. Zixuan felt it first—cold, suffocating, and thick. It filled her mouth, her lungs, choking her from the inside out.
Her vision blurred.
Darkness.
It swallowed her whole.
She screamed—
And woke up, sweating, gasping for air.
Zixuan bolted upright, her chest heaving, her heart hammering as if it would burst. Sweat drenched her body, clinging to her clothes like a second skin.
She was in her room.
Her room.
Everything was exactly as it should be.
Or was it?
Her breath caught in her throat. Something felt wrong.
She scrambled out of bed, her legs unsteady as she lunged for the light switch, her fingers trembling as they found the familiar plastic. With a frantic flick, the room was bathed in warm, yellow light.
Her desk. Her books. The posters on the walls, the familiar scent of her room.
But… no.
Her gaze flickered to the mirror across from her.
A cold chill settled in her bones. She froze.
The reflection staring back was her. But not. Her mouth—her mouth—was stretched just a little too wide, too unnatural. The corners of her lips curled into a smile, but it was wrong. The smile was wide, disturbingly wide, as if someone else was wearing her face.
It was smiling at her.
"Chapter 1..." Her reflection grinned.