Cafra felt it long before anyone said a word. The hallway remained unchanged. Same dark walls, cold floor, the suffocating silence, but the group felt smaller. He counted them once, then again. One was missing. No footsteps fading into the distance. No scream. No sound at all. It was as if the man had never been there to begin with.
Cafra: "Hey Efrain, did you also notice something doesn't feel right?"
Efrain: *nods "Let's just wait. Right now we can't do much. And we don't want to cause everyone to panic."
Cafra: "Alright."
They continued walking. No one suggested stopping this time. No one complained about thirst of fatigue. The flashlights swayed in uneasy arcs, their weak beams barely cuts through the darkness revealing nothing new. Every step forward felt heavier than the last, as if the room itself resisted their movement. Cafra glanced back more than once, half expecting to see if someone will vanish the moment he look away.
Then, it happened again. A voice that had been beside them moments ago was gone. One less flashlight bobbed in the darkness. No echo of footsteps running away. No sign of struggle. Just an empty space where a person had been walking. The group froze, fear finally sinking it's claws into them. Whatever was happening in this place didn't need noise. It didn't need warning. It was simply taking them one by one.
Visitor1: "Guys, something is here with us. Taking us one by one."
Cafra: "I know. Stay alert and stay close to the group."
Cafra held on to his bamboo sword. Prepared to whatever is coming.
Visitor1: "What do you guys think they are doing with the ones they already took?"
Visitor2: "Who knows. Maybe they take their organs to sell at the black market."
Visitor1: "Hey! Don't make that kind of joke. I don't want to die."
Visitor2: "It's the only thing I can think of. Unless they are holding them hostage for a ransom. Especially most of the people who disappeared were tourists."
Out of nowhere a shadow jumped right through them. They couldn't see anything but two red shining eyes. Cafra drew his sword. Efrain looked at him. Knowing he is no ordinary victim.
Cafra: "Stay close together. That thing might be the one who took the others."
Efrain: "How good are you at fighting?"
Cafra: "Not the best. But I think I can handle this one."
Efrain: "Then don't hesitate."
The monster didn't move. It hovered in the darkness. No breathing, no footsteps, just observing. Then, it shifted. The temperature dropped so suddenly that Cafra felt it in his bones. His breath fogged in front of him. The walls seemed to stretch, swallowing the edges of the light.
Cafra stepped forward without thinking. He swings his bamboo sword through the air, slicing through the shadow, and met nothing. The monster's red eyes blinked out. A heartbeat passed. Then a scream tore through the hallway.
Visitor2: "HELP!"
The sound cut off mid cry. A flashlight clattered to the floor, rolling until its beam pointed straight up, illuminating nothing but dust drifting in the air.
Visitor1: "We need to run! We can't stay here!"
Cafra: "Stop! It's too dangerous. We don't want to split up. If we scatter, it'll just pick us off faster."
Cafra tightened his grip on his bamboo sword. His palms were sweaty.
Cafra: "Nobody runs. If you run, you're dead."
No one argued. Fear had finally stripped them of the strength to talk back. The hallway stretched on, impossible long. The walls no longer felt solid, more like shadows pretending to be stone. With every step, the lights flickered. Something unseen brushed past them. Cafra could feel it. Not just fear, pressure.
He glanced at Efrain. Efrain walked calmly at the center of the group, shoulders relaxed, eyes half lidded. Too calm with all the tension going on.
Cafra: "Hey, you seem to be too relaxed. Are you not scared?"
Efrain answered but didn't look at him.
Efrain: "I am."
Cafra: "That doesn't sound convincing."
Efrain faintly smiles, then vanished.
Efrain: "Fear doesn't always look loud."
They continued to move. They heard another scream, farther this time, distorted, as if the hallway itself bent the sound. It didn't belong to anyone in their group.
Visitor2: "That wasn't close... was it?"
Before Cafra could answer, the lights went out. Every flashlight they are holding. All at the same time. Darkness swallowed them whole. Someone cried out. Another stumbled. Cafra felt bodies collide, hands clutching at clothes, at arms, at nothing.
Cafra: "Everyone don't move! Just stay still!"
The darkness wasn't empty. Something brushed Cafra's shoulder. It was cold. He swung blindly, but didn't hit anything. Then, red eyes ignited all around them. Not one pair, but many. They floated at different heights, distances. Some are near, some impossibly far. The hallway no longer felt straight. It curved, twisted, folded in on itself.
Visitor1 screamed. It stretched, warping into something inhuman before snapping into silence. One of the red lights vanished. Then another. Whatever was it that room wasn't killing them all at once. Like it's having fun taking it's time.
Cafra: "Efrain... we're running out of people."
Efrain: "I know."
Cafra turned toward him.
Cafra: "Why are you still so calm!? We need to do something!"
A shadow lunged. It moved faster than before, a mass of cold intent aimed straight at Cafra. The red eyes flared brighter, filling his vision. Cafra raised his sword. Too slow. The shadow is already in front of him. Then, the shadow froze mid air. The red eyes flickered, confused. The shadow struggled. They heard a snap and a flame appeared out of nowhere and gave light in the room. Cafra looked behind to see where it came from.
Cafra: "Efrain? You too?"
Visitor1 and 2 looked as well. They were in shock of what they saw.
Efrain: "Sometimes, you gotta clear your head first before you think of a plan that will successfully work."
Efrain conjured a flame from his fingertips. The two visitors was amazed by what they saw.
Visitor1: "You can do magic? You can use that to kill all the monsters in this room."
Efrain: "Easier said than done."
As they speak, they took a look at the monster. It was caught in a very thin threads, wrapped around the monster from every direction, crisscrossing through its body like a web woven in mid air. The monster struggled, trying to escape. It twisted its body, changing its shape unnaturally, trying to slip back into the darkness. But it couldn't.
Efrain: "So.. This is what you guys look like. Everyone, don't let your guard down just yet. There are more of them surrounding us."
Cafra: "Why didn't you say that you have abilities? We could've teamed up earlier."
Efrain: "I had to wait and think first. I don't just jump into the fire without a plan."
The monster screamed. And more monsters screamed around them. They don't know how many surrounds them, but are prepared to fight. Efrain reached on his back, under his cloak, he handed the other two a weapon.
Efrain: "Here. Take this. You guys gotta protect yourselves."
Visitor1: "But we don't know how to fight."
Efrain: "There is always a first time for everything."
Cafra: "You guys got this! Just try not to run away from each other. We have to stick together."
Cafra takes a stance, preparing for an attack. Next to him, Efrain, removed his cloak, showing daggers around his waist. He pulls out a push dagger from his forearms.
Efrain: "Are you guys ready?"