The corridors of Anden High were quieter than usual. Most students had already gone home, leaving only the lingering whispers of lockers shutting and faint echoes of footsteps.
Yet something was off. Something alive in the shadows.
---
Scene 1 — The First Disappearance
A group of students lingered in the back hallway, chatting lazily. One of them—a tall boy—suddenly stopped mid-step, his eyes wide.
> "Hey… where's…?"
The rest turned to look at him. Their friend was gone.
No scream. No sound of running. No trace at all.
Only a faint, unnatural ripple in the hallway shadows. Something twisted there, as if the darkness itself had drawn a breath.
---
Scene 2 — Signs of Predation
Another student walked past the science lab. He heard the faintest clicking, like bones moving in slow rhythm. He glanced down the hallway.
Nothing.
Then a locker door creaked open slowly—as if pushed by invisible fingers. Inside, a shadow shifted unnaturally.
He froze. The shadow elongated, writhing toward him. It moved faster than it should, snapping like some kind of living ribbon of darkness.
> "Wh—what the—?"
And then he was gone. Just like the first.
---
Scene 3 — Akira's Unease
Akira Killua, headphones around her neck, had stayed late for extra practice in the library. On her way out, she noticed the hallway unusually still—too still.
Her eyes caught the faint distortion of a shadow on the walls. It didn't match anyone. It slithered, twisted, and pulsed, then disappeared as if it had never existed.
She shivered. Something told her:
> This wasn't normal. This wasn't human.
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Scene 4 — Kylori's Silent Observation
In the far end of the hallway, Kylori sat in perfect stillness, leaning against a wall. His dark hair fell slightly over his eyes. He did not move as the unseen predator claimed students. He did not intervene, not yet.
A small ripple of shadow peeled off from beneath him—barely noticeable, thinner than a thread. It flicked toward the predator, brushing against it like a whisper. The creature paused. For a heartbeat, it hesitated, sensing something beyond comprehension.
Then it moved on.
> Patience. Let them learn fear before the lesson is given.
---
Scene 5 — The Horrifying Discovery
A janitor came across the first vanished student's locker. He saw only a faint smear of darkness on the floor, no body, no blood, nothing tangible. He muttered, confused and frightened:
> "Where… did they go?"
The hallways whispered back. Something almost alive curled at the edges of the shadows, hungering, patient, calculating.
Even Kylori's small attention—almost dismissive—was enough to remind the predator: it was out of its league. It might devour mortals freely, but this boy… the boy was beyond its comprehension.
---
Scene 6 — Akira Leaves
Akira ran into the courtyard, heart hammering. She didn't see the faint, grinning tendril of shadow that slithered along the hallway walls, moving back toward Kylori.
> It waits.
She didn't yet know what exactly waited, only that something ancient and cruel had stalked her school… and that whatever it was, it had preyed silently, leaving nothing behind.
Kylori's eyes followed her, calm, unblinking. He said nothing, did nothing. But in his mind, the predator and the school alike were just pieces on a board.
The courtyard was quiet. The shadows… were not.
Scene 7 — The Predator Strikes
The Eldritch predator, sensing the lingering humans, finally made its move. Its shadow stretched impossibly long along the walls, tendrils snapping like black lightning, weaving through the hallway toward a group of late students.
One girl froze in terror, her eyes locked on a writhing, jagged limb that seemed almost sentient. It hissed, a sound like metal scratching on glass, and lunged.
---
Scene 8 — Akira's Realization
Akira, following behind at a distance, saw the hallway contort unnaturally.
> "What the hell…?"
The shadow seemed to come alive, curling around students, suffocating light, crushing air. Her breath hitched. Panic clawed at her chest, but something stopped her feet from moving—fear, yes—but also a faint… awareness that something else was watching.
---
Scene 9 — Kylori's Silent Command
From the far corner, Kylori's form was almost statue-like. His eyes narrowed, calm as ever. He didn't speak. He didn't move… at first.
Then a ripple of his own shadow flickered outward. A tendril, thinner than a strand of hair, brushed against the predator. The creature paused mid-strike, its limbs jerking unnaturally, as if some invisible hand had pressed "pause" on its existence.
The predator twisted violently, snarling in frustration, but it could not turn on him. It had no power here.
> "Stop. Now."
No words, just thought. The predator froze, every tendril quivering. Slowly, it recoiled into a smaller, compressed shape, folding back into itself.
---
Scene 10 — The Aftermath
Students collapsed, trembling and terrified. They had seen the predator move, but none had seen Kylori intervene directly. The air felt heavy, oppressive, but strangely safe.
Akira, standing behind the group, stared at him, heart pounding.
> "How…?"
Kylori only tilted his head slightly, the faintest shadow curling at his feet. His eyes held no malice—just calm, endless depth, a darkness she could feel but not touch.
The predator was gone—or at least, it would not strike again tonight.
But the corridors were forever changed. The shadows themselves seemed to breathe, and something deep inside Akira whispered:
> He is not just a boy. He is… something else entirely.
Scene 11 — Quiet Departure
The hallways were empty again. The faint echo of footsteps and whispers of frightened students lingered like ghosts.
Kylori moved slowly, his coat brushing the floor, eyes scanning the shadows. Not a sound betrayed his presence—except the faint, subtle ripple of his own eldritch aura, a pulse that bent the edges of darkness around him.
Akira lingered near the library doors, watching him go, curiosity warring with fear. She couldn't articulate what she felt, only that something in Kylori was not human, not entirely.
---
Scene 12 — The Predator's Retreat
In the far hallway, the Eldritch predator withdrew into the black corners of the school. Its limbs coiled unnaturally. Its many eyes, sharp and unblinking, glimmered with restrained rage.
It had met something stronger than itself. Something beyond comprehension. Something it dared not challenge again.
Yet even in retreat, a whisper lingered:
> "He is the door… he is the world we fear."
The predator had learned a lesson. But Kylori—silent, elegant, untouchable—did not need to act further tonight. The fear alone was enough.
---
Scene 13 — Outside, Twilight
Kylori stepped into the dimming light outside the school. The sky bled into purples and grays, clouds drifting lazily.
A small eldritch puppet crawled along his shadow, silent, obedient, grotesque in form but calm in demeanor.
> "Tomorrow," he whispered softly to himself.
"They will learn fear. In their own time."
Akira, watching from the gate, clenched her fists. She wanted answers, but she didn't yet know what questions to ask.
The shadows behind Kylori flickered, twisted, and pulsed like the heartbeat of something enormous, something endless, something that was him.
And in the quiet, he walked home, untouched, untouchable, the living embodiment of the horrors most dared not even imagine.