The thick stone door bent outward. A loud crack echoed in the dark basement.
The glass in the center of the door shattered. It did not just break into pieces. It exploded into a thousand tiny, sharp shards. They flew through the air like freezing rain.
"Get down!" Lina screamed.
She threw herself over Kai. Mira and Seren dropped to the floor. Nia threw her hands up, creating a shield of bright blue light to block the flying glass.
The shards hit the shield and melted into black water.
Then, the hands came through the broken door.
They were pale and wet. There were so many of them. They grabbed the edges of the stone frame and pulled.
One by one, the reflections stepped into the basement.
They did not look like monsters at first. They looked like normal students. Lina saw the face of a boy who had vanished last year. She saw a girl who was supposed to have graduated. But their eyes were completely flat. Their skin was too smooth. And they all had the same terrible, empty smile.
"Do not let them touch you!" Kai yelled. His voice was raw and broken. He pulled Lina up. "If they touch your skin, they take your face! They take your life!"
The nearest reflection lunged at Reyon. It moved too fast. Its arms bent at wrong, unnatural angles.
Nia pushed Reyon out of the way. She thrust her hands forward. A blast of bright blue magic hit the reflection in the chest.
The reflection let out a sound like breaking ice. It shattered into a hundred pieces and fell to the floor.
But two more stepped over its remains.
"There are too many!" Nia cried. Her blue light flickered. She was using too much magic.
"We have to run!" Lina shouted. She grabbed Kai's hand. She pulled him toward the stone stairs.
Mira and Seren helped Reyon up. Reyon was stumbling. He looked at his feet. Without his shadow, he looked like he was floating. He was so weak he could barely stand.
"Move, move, move!" Lina chanted.
They hit the first step. The basement was filling up with the pale, wet figures. The air grew freezing cold. The smell of the deep, dark lake was choking them.
Behind them, the reflections began to climb the walls. They did not use the stairs. They crawled up the stone like spiders, their limbs twisting in unnatural ways.
Seren let out a terrified sob. She clamped her hands over her ears. "They are so loud," she cried. "Their echoes are screaming. They are all so angry!"
"Keep running, Seren! Don't listen!" Lina yelled.
They reached the middle of the stairs. A reflection dropped from the ceiling right in front of them. It was wearing the face of a teacher. Its jaw hung open too wide. It reached out with wet, pale fingers.
Kai let go of Lina's hand. He picked up a heavy, broken piece of stone from the floor. He swung it hard, smashing the reflection's face.
The thing shattered into black water, splashing all over Kai's uniform. He didn't stop. He kept pushing them forward. "Up! Get to the top!" he urged.
They scrambled up the last few steps. Lina reached the heavy iron door at the top of the basement stairs. She grabbed the handle and pulled.
It was locked.
"No," Lina gasped. She pulled harder. "It is locked!"
Behind them, the sea of pale faces was climbing higher. Their empty eyes were fixed on Lina and her friends. Their wet hands reached for their ankles.
Nia ran up and placed her hands on the iron lock. Her blue magic flared, heating the metal until it glowed red. The lock melted with a loud hiss.
Lina kicked the door open. They tumbled out into the dark hallway of the ground floor. Lina slammed the door shut and dropped the heavy metal bar across it.
They lay on the floor, gasping for air. The heavy iron door shuddered as the reflections threw themselves against it from the inside.
"We made it," Mira whispered, crying into her hands. "We are out."
Lina sat up. She wiped the sweat from her forehead. She looked down the long, dark hallway of the ground floor. The moonlight shone through the tall glass windows.
But the hallway was not empty.
Standing in the shadows, blocking every exit, were dozens more reflections. They were perfectly still. They were waiting.
The basement was full. But the academy was already lost.
The night had just begun.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2026
All rights reserved.
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Next Chapter Summary for Chapter 123: Trapped on the ground floor, the group must fight their way through the academy to reach the safe rooms, but the False Kai returns with a terrifying new army of stolen faces.