Alex sprang from the chair, his heart racing wildly as a deafening crash reverberated through the air from the adjoining room. Carol! The thought sliced through his mind like a bolt of electricity, and he sprinted to the door, fingers gripping the handle with desperate urgency. Anxiety surged within him; the sound had been jarring, filling him with an ominous sense that something dreadful had occurred. Yet, as he flung open the door to the adjacent classroom, he was met with an unsettling silence, the space void of life—no trace of Carol anywhere.
****
A moment later, I awoke to a smothering darkness, lit only by the pale silvery moonlight filtering through the tattered curtains. A sharp throb pulsed through my skull as I struggled to rise from the unforgiving chill of the floor beneath me. Beside me lay a golden flower, its luminescent glow casting an otherworldly light in the gloom. I squinted, taking in my surroundings.
