⚠️ Content Warning:
This chapter contains themes of fear, supernatural horror, and implied violence. Reader discretion advised.
The hallway felt colder after the officers left.
Kai's legs felt like lead as he trudged back toward the classroom, the counseling referral slip the officers had given him crumpled tightly in his fist. It felt like they thought he was insane—confused in some childish, harmless way.
Their words echoed in his head.
Stress from the move, kid. Happens to the best of us.
One of them had even smiled—tight and uncomfortable, like he was hiding something.
"You can return to class now," the older officer had said. "Try to focus on your studies."
As if studying could erase claw marks from his memory.
Kai nodded anyway. He always nodded when adults wanted him quiet.
He wanted to scream that what he'd seen wasn't some woodland animal, but a nightmare made real—smoke and claws and eyes like burning coals. But he kept his mouth shut. In a town like this, speaking up felt like inviting trouble.
The classroom door creaked open, and every head turned toward him. Whispers buzzed like flies. Kai ignored them and slumped into his seat beside Noah.
Noah's eyes were wide with unspoken questions.
"You okay?" Noah whispered as the teacher droned on about history.
"So?" Noah asked softly. "What'd they say?"
Kai swallowed. "They said it was nothing. That I imagined it." He hesitated. "But I saw… something else. Smoke. Claws. It wasn't an animal."
"Well…" Noah shrugged. "I don't think it's an animal either. Especially not in an alley. It could be some messed-up psychopath, playing a sick joke—dressing up like a monster."
Kai stared at him blankly. "A joke?... Do you think I'm lying?"
"What? No," Noah said quickly. "I believe you. I mean, the same thing happened to a boy named Evan Marrow. He was the first victim. Everyone in town hoped he'd be the last."
He shook his head sadly. "This kind of thing has never happened before. My family's been here for over a century."
"Let's just hope it ends," Kai murmured.
He prayed it would. Whether it was a monster or a human pretending to be one, he hoped whoever—or whatever—it was would be caught… or would just die.
"Hey," Noah nudged him. "Let's hang out after school."
Kai nodded. "I'll have to tell my parents first. You know… after this incident."
"Yeah, sure," Noah said with a small laugh.
Kai hesitated. "So… about that rumor you wanted to tell me."
Noah opened his mouth. "Yeah, yeah, so the thing is, people believe that—"
"Noah," the teacher interrupted gently, "please. Not again. Let the boy rest. He's been through enough."
"Yes, ma'am," Noah said, turning back with a grin.
Kai chuckled quietly with him.
For a moment, everything almost felt normal.
Almost.
The principal entered his office and slumped into his chair, exhaustion and frustration weighing heavily on him.
"Those bloody teens," he muttered bitterly. "Can't they go a single day without making someone else's life miserable?"
He grabbed a handful of tissues and began scrubbing at the white paint smeared across his sleeve and collar. It refused to come off completely, leaving faint streaks behind.
"I'll make them regret this," he growled under his breath. "Not suspension. Not detention."
His jaw tightened.
"Expulsion."
The word lingered in the air, sharp and final.
The principal threw the tissue onto his desk in frustration and slicked his hair back with his palm. He leaned into his chair, exhaling sharply through his nose. The office felt stuffy—warmer than usual—yet a chill prickled at the back of his neck.
He loosened his tie.
"Where's Madeline?" he muttered, addressing no one in particular. His secretary was never this hard to find.
The clock on the wall ticked loudly—too loudly—each second stretching longer than the last. Outside the window, the sky had darkened, heavy clouds gathering as if rain were about to fall.
"Ridiculous," he scoffed, straightening the stack of papers on his desk. "Rumors. Hysteria. Children feeding on fear."
He pressed the button on the intercom.
No response.
He frowned and pressed it again. Still nothing.
With an irritated sigh, he stood and stepped out of his office, heading toward his secretary's desk. Her chair was empty. The computer screen was dark. Her bag was gone.
"Ugh—where the hell is this woman?" he called out, irritation masking his growing unease.
He turned to the coffee machine, poured himself a cup of hot coffee, and walked back into his office.
His eyes flicked to the window.
The sky had darkened faster than he remembered. Thick clouds rolled overhead, swallowing the morning light. The room dimmed, shadows stretching unnaturally along the walls.
The air grew cold.
He paused.
The heater was still on. He could hear it humming faintly.
Then why was his breath fogging?
He let out a short laugh and dropped back into his chair, setting the coffee on the desk. Pulling out his phone, he scrolled aimlessly, trying to shake the creeping unease.
He reached for his coffee—
Tap.
The sound echoed faintly from somewhere in the office.
He froze.
"I am in no mood for a prank," he snapped, his voice sharp as he glared at the empty room.
Another sound followed. Not a tap this time—but a soft scrape, like something being dragged gently across wood.
He clenched his jaw, irritation rising. Endless pranks. Every single day. It was almost as if the students despised him—wanted him gone. Forever...
He exhaled sharply and lowered his gaze to the desk.
Something was there.
Something that hadn't been there before.
A ring.
It sat perfectly at the center of his desk, catching the dim light—a bright gold band crowned with a red gemstone, cracked straight down the middle.
His brow furrowed.
"That wasn't—" He stopped himself, his voice dropping. "This isn't funny anymore," he muttered. "These stupid pranks…"
But even as he said it, a cold knot tightened in his chest.
Because no one had walked into his office.
And no one had left.
Madeline!" He jabbed the intercom button again, but it only crackled weakly before falling silent.
The lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Shadows in the room's corners deepened, coiling like smoke that clung stubbornly to the floor, refusing to dissipate.
The principal shot to his feet, his chair scraping harshly against the tile. "This isn't funny," he snapped, though his voice trembled at the edges. "Whoever's behind this will be expelled. Do you hear me?"
The ring pulsed.
Just once.
A faint whisper grazed his ears—not quite words, not quite sound, but an insistent pressure, as if something ancient leaned into his mind, urging him to touch it.
His hand shook as he reached for the ring on the desk. It wasn't his will driving him; an invisible force tugged at his fingers, compelling him forward against every instinct screaming to pull away.
The instant his skin brushed the cracked gemstone, the air plummeted—not gradually, but in a savage drop, as if the office had plunged into a deep freezer.
His breath hitched. "What the—"
The crack in the gem throbbed.
A slender wisp of black smoke escaped, twining lazily around his fingers. It wasn't warm; it was a bone-chilling void, an emptiness that sapped the very heat from his flesh.
He jerked his hand back, heart slamming against his ribs.
But the smoke persisted.
It spilled over the desk and slid to the floor, spreading outward in slow, deliberate waves.
"That's enough!" he shouted, panic finally breaking through his authority. "I know this is a prank! You can stop now—just a suspension! Two weeks, that's all!"
His laugh came out thin and shaky. "Who am I kidding… I'll report this. I'll call the police—"
He breathed hard, sweat forming on his forehead and dripping down his neck. The office had become freezing cold, but sweat still soaked his shirt collar.
Behind him, the smoke began to rise.
Not fast.
Not violently.
Purposefully.
It stretched upward, folding in on itself, shaping into something tall and wrong. Frost crept along the edges of the desk, crawling like veins of ice.
The principal turned slowly, dread knotting in his gut.
Amber eyes ignited within the darkness.
Long, slender claws emerged, glinting faintly as they reached toward him.
His eyes widened as he stumbled back, colliding with the desk. His once-hot coffee spilled, now an icy slurry pooling across the surface.
The shadow grew taller, its smoky arms twisting like hunting vines. A long slender claw grabbed his throat hard, squeezing without mercy.
He screamed—a loud, hopeless cry that rang through the hallways.
He gasped for air, his face turning blue as the creature squeezed tighter. Its mouth opened wide like a black hole, sucking out his soul in a burst of ghostly light. Then, sharp claws slashed his chest, pulling out his blood in red streams that dried to dust in the air.
This time, the shadow got braver. It ripped his dried-up body apart, tearing flesh and bones, and ate his shrunken organs in a wild frenzy. Body parts scattered on the floor, and the room smelled like burned nothing.
The principal's final, gurgling cry faded into silence.
Yet the smoke lingered, around lazily waiting for something or someone...