Silence hung thick in the gymnasium as the words on the shattered mirror burned into their minds:
"ONE OF YOU IS ALREADY TAKEN."
Ellie's breathing was ragged. "What does that even mean? Taken by what?"
Barto scanned the room, his expression unreadable as usual, but his mind was racing. The creature had vanished, but something felt off—like a wrong note in a familiar song.
Dami adjusted his glasses, flipping through the diary with shaking hands. "Lila wrote that the shadows don't just haunt… they replace. If one of us is taken, it means they're… not themselves anymore."
John scoffed. "That's ridiculous. We've been together the whole time. No one's acting weird."
Bryan eyed him skeptically. "You sure about that? You were pretty quick to dismiss the creepy stuff earlier."
Ellie frowned. "Stop it. Turning on each other won't help. We need to figure out who's missing—or who's not themselves."
Suddenly, a loud thump echoed from the hallway. Everyone froze, exchanging uneasy glances. Ellie gripped her flashlight, motioning for the group to follow her. Barto led the way, his footsteps quiet as they navigated the darkened corridor.
The noise grew louder—muffled banging, like someone pounding on a door. As they approached one of the classrooms, they saw the door rattling violently from the inside. Bryan cautiously pushed it open, and the banging stopped.
Inside, they found Charles, slumped against the far wall, his clothes dirtied and his face pale. He looked up, dazed and disoriented.
"Charles!" Ellie rushed to him, but Barto held out a hand, stopping her.
Charles blinked, his voice rough. "Where… where am I?"
Barto's gaze was intense. "How did you get here?"
Charles hesitated. "I… I remember walking down the hall. Something grabbed me. Then… darkness."
Sofia crossed her arms. "We saw you earlier. You attacked Ellie. You weren't yourself."
Charles looked genuinely confused. "What are you talking about? I don't remember that."
John glanced at Dami. "Could it be? The thing that took his place… is it gone?"
Dami bit his lip. "The shadows are tricksters. They mimic us to blend in. But if Charles was replaced, that means the one who attacked Ellie wasn't him."
Aiko looked terrified. "Then who was it?"
Before anyone could respond, the lights in the hallway flickered violently, and a cold draft swept through, sending papers flying. The air grew thick, and the shadows stretched along the walls, intertwining like grasping hands.
Barto stepped back, keeping his eyes on Charles. He noticed something off—the shadow on the floor didn't match his movements. It stayed perfectly still while Charles shifted his weight.
Without warning, the shadow detached from the floor, crawling up the wall behind Charles like a writhing, inky mass. Ellie screamed, and Barto yanked Charles away just as the shadow lunged, its amorphous form slamming against the wall and dissolving into the cracks.
Charles gasped, clutching his head. "I feel… like something's crawling in my mind."
Dami flipped to a new page in the diary, his hands trembling. "Lila wrote about this too—if a shadow takes your place, it feeds on your willpower. The real person becomes… hollowed out, like a puppet."
Nancy's face was pale. "How do we know Charles isn't still possessed?"
Barto looked directly at Charles. "What's the one thing you always brag about?"
Charles gave a weak chuckle. "That I'm the smartest one here. Always top of the class."
Ellie nodded. "That's true… he wouldn't forget that."
Bryan wasn't convinced. "But what if it's just mimicking him better now? How do we know for sure?"
Sofia spoke up. "We can't afford to doubt everyone. We need to keep moving and find a way out of here. If the shadows are still playing with us, staying in one place makes us easy targets."
John tried to force a laugh. "Yeah, great idea. Let's just keep wandering around the haunted school. Perfect plan."
Ignoring him, Barto took point, leading the group deeper into the building. The corridors twisted, seeming longer than before.
The walls were covered in more scratches and symbols, like desperate attempts to communicate.
As they reached the old library, Sofia hesitated. "This place… it feels wrong."
Dami scanned the shelves. "The diary mentioned a ritual room somewhere below the school—a place where Lila tried to summon the Forgotten Ones. If we find it, maybe we can break whatever curse is keeping us here."
Ellie's flashlight flickered again. "We need supplies. Weapons. Something to defend ourselves."
John found a broken broomstick and snapped it in half. "Better than nothing."
Bryan picked up a heavy iron rod from a collapsed shelf. "Bring it on, shadow freaks."
Suddenly, Aiko gasped, pointing to a dusty display case. Inside was an old photo of the school's drama club—the faces eerily familiar. Barto's eyes narrowed as he spotted Sofia's face in the back row, faded but unmistakable.
Sofia's face went blank. "That's… impossible. I've never been here before."
Dami wiped away the dust, revealing a label: Class of 1998.
Nancy whimpered. "How can you be in a picture from over twenty years ago?"
Before anyone could process it, the door slammed shut. The windows darkened, and the air became dense with whispers—low, echoing chants. A shadow figure materialized at the back of the room, taller and more defined than the others. Its face, pale and hollow, seemed to shift between familiar features—one moment like Charles, the next like Sofia.
The creature raised a finger to its lips, mimicking a shushing motion. The whispers grew louder, the room trembling. Barto instinctively shielded Sofia, his body tense.
Ellie gripped the broomstick, stepping forward. "Stay back!"
The creature's grin widened, and suddenly, it morphed into Ellie's exact likeness. The real Ellie froze, staring at her double.
The shadow-Ellie tilted its head, eyes glinting with malice. "What's wrong? Afraid of yourself?"
Before anyone could react, it lunged, slashing with elongated, clawed fingers. Barto tackled the creature, pinning it to the floor, but its form melted into black mist, reforming behind him.
John swung his makeshift weapon, but it passed through the entity as if it were smoke. The shadow-Ellie cackled, its voice distorted and layered. "You can't fight your own fear."
Dami shouted, "It's mimicking our doubts! If we don't believe it's real, it can't hurt us!"
Barto stood his ground, focusing on the thought: This isn't Ellie. This is just fear.
As his conviction grew, the figure flickered, its form warping. Ellie, realizing the trick, shouted, "You're not me!"
With a piercing shriek, the creature shattered into pieces, vanishing like dust. The air cleared, and the room returned to its previous stillness.
Sofia leaned against the wall, catching her breath. "It's using our emotions to create versions of us—versions that reflect what we fear about ourselves."
Barto glanced at Sofia, still wary. "We need to keep moving. That thing is just a distraction."
As they regrouped, Barto couldn't shake the feeling that the school itself was alive, feeding on their paranoia. One of them had been replaced—but which one?