31/10/2024
๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ช๐๐๐ก ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ | ๐๐ก๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ฆ
I glanced at the clock. 7:06 p.m.
My laptop was my only companion in the empty science lab. The competition I joined was still months away, but deadlines for the tasks weighed over me. My friend had promised to wait for me to finish what I was doing, but when I looked outside the lab, there was no one left. I wanted to call it a day, too, but I realized I left my tumbler in my classroomโRoom 406, all the way up on the fourth floor.
I sighed, standing up. Said, โI could make it quick.โ
The building was eerily silent this late. This school always felt different in the evening. But I pushed that thought away, told myself that I had stayed late here a million times. This was my school, after all.
The walk up the stairs felt longer than usual. The staircase was only dimly lit, and my footsteps echoed in the silence. I reached the fourth floor, feeling that strange, oppressive stillness that was in the corridors.
The door at Room 406 creaked as I opened it, and I chose not to switch on the lights. My seat was near the front, anyway. I walked straight to my desk, my hand blindly searching for my cold metal tumbler.
Then, from the corner of my eye, the door creaked open.
I froze. A silhouette stretched across the floor, moving ever so slightly. My heart was in my throat. I blinked, trying to make sense of the silhouette standing by the doorframe.
I forced a laugh, feeling the tension in my body ease just a bit. It was just a security guard, leaning against the door. I couldnโt see her face in the dim light, but I could glimpse a bit of his belt buckle and flashlight.
โ๐ผ๐ฃ๐ค ๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ข๐ค ๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ค?โ her voice was rough, but not unkind.
โ๐๐๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ฃ ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฅ๐ค,โ I replied, waving my tumbler slightly.
The guard didnโt respond, but as I walked toward the door, something just felt off. The guard was looking at meโor at least, I thought she was.
The air felt heavy as I got back to the hallway. When I looked back to look at the guard directlyโ
She was gone.
I whipped my head around, looking at every corner of the hallway. But there was no sign of her, no echo of footsteps down the corridor. Just silence.
My heartbeat became faster, but I shook my head, trying to rationalize. Maybe she moved so quickly that I just didnโt notice. Or maybe she had some other duty to attend to. I knew to myself that I was just tiredโthat was all.
But just when I was about to make my way toward the staircase. The lights flickered, and I heard a sound that sent me goosebumps.
It was the crackle of a walkie-talkie.
A voiceโlow, garbled, and completely unintelligibleโechoed from the hallway. Probably coming from the library. That sound made my skin crawl.
I decided to then just walk down the stairs and forget about it. I felt a chill crawl up my spine, but I know It was just my mind playing tricks on me. I was making it worse by lingering.
But as I reached the second floor, the lights flickered againโthis time staying off for a beat too long.
In that split second of darkness, I heard it. And this time, the sound that followed wasnโt a walkie-talkie.
It was a faint chuckle. High-pitched. Childlike.
I froze mid-step, my heart pounding in my chest. I knew it canโt be a teacherโs child as no parent-teacher ever stayed up late in this building.
The light flickered back on, and everything was as it should beโthe corridor was empty. But that laugh... it echoed in my mind and didnโt want to leave.
I hurried down the stairs, each breath requiring amounts of effort.
I was finally at the lobby, and didnโt want to mess around and find out anymore. I sprinted to the door and burst into the evening air, breathing in the fresh breeze.
As I walked home under the streetlights, I couldnโt shake the feeling that somebody was still watching me.
I didnโt bother to look back. I knew the school wasnโt empty.
It never had been.
๐๏ธ | Written By: โGiaโ
๐ผ๏ธ | Art By: Fiona Peteza
