The last thing I remember was the hallway.

  I told the others I’d go to the restroom first.

  Just for a minute.

  Then I’d meet them at the parking area where parents usually waited after school events.

  Then—

  I woke up with a sharp ache in my head.

  My vision blurred as I pushed myself upright, fingers brushing against cold stone.

  I winced.

  There was a dull throbbing near my temple.

  Maybe I fell and I slipped.

  A sinkhole, maybe?

  That was the first logical thought that came to me.

  It might be the school was old.

  Maybe the ground collapsed.

  Maybe I hit my head when the floor gave way.

  But when my eyes adjusted.

  This was not a collapsed hallway.

  I wasn’t surrounded by broken tiles or concrete now.

  I was sitting in the middle of a stone corridor.

  If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Not modern stone.

  Ancient.

  Rough walls stretched on both sides, carved from massive slabs of rock.

  Every surface was covered in engravings...

  The symbols, spirals, humanoid shapes with elongated limbs, strange circular patterns that looked like suns or eyes.

  The carvings reminded me of something from a history textbook.

  Early civilizations.

  Before structured language.

  Messages without words.

  “I… where am I…?”

  My own voice sounded small.

  Swallowed by the corridor.

  The air felt dry, still, and heavy.

  I stood slowly, ignoring the pulse in my skull.

  My move echoed too clearly, as if the space around me was much larger than it appeared.

  This wasn’t school.

  This wasn’t even close.

  “May we speak for a moment…”

  The voice came from everywhere.

  And nowhere.

  I froze.

  My heart slammed violently against my ribs.

  I though a trap...?

  It had to be, I think.

  Everything since the disappearances had felt staged like something was herding us.

  “I’m not—” My voice cracked. “I’m not alone here, am I?”

  No answer.

  The corridor suddenly went dark.

  Not dim or shadowed.

  Black.

  A total black.

  I couldn’t see my own hands.

  Then—

  Footsteps come.

  Slowly.

  Coming closer.

  My breathing turned shallow.

  My body locked in place.

  Every horror scenario I’d ever imagined rushed into my head at once.

  This was how people died.

  Alone... disoriented, and no witnesses.

  If something attacked me now, no one would know.

  The steps stopped right in front of me.

  I squeezed my eyes shut.

  Don’t move.

  Don’t scream.

  Don’t give it what it wants.

  A faint light flickered.

  Not above.

  Not around.

  But in front of me.

  I opened my eyes slowly.

  A silhouette stood there.

  Tall.

  Still.

  Human.

  The light strengthened just enough to reveal a face I knew too well.

  Connor.

  For a second, my brain refused to process it.

  This was stress.

  A hallucination.

  A concussion.

  I rubbed my eyes hard.

  Once... twice...

  He was still there.

  Standing calmly in the endless black, as if this was the most normal place in the world.

  “You…” My voice barely came out. “Connor?”

  He didn’t look injured.

  Didn’t look afraid.

  His expression was unreadable, quiet, almost thoughtful.

  I staggered to my feet fully, my pulse racing faster for a completely different reason now.

  This was impossible.

  Of all people.