Chapter Twelve
Shadows in the Book Room
Math class was quiet.
Ita sat beside Kiel, pencil in hand, notebook open. The sunlight spilling through the high windows painted stripes across their desks. Kiel tapped his pen idly, still grinning from some joke he whispered earlier, but Ita only half-smiled. Calm. Focused. Grateful to be beside Kiel, safe, yet the ache of jealousy lingered faintly in his chest.
Their teacher, Ms. Han, looked over her glasses at Ita. Her gaze lingered just a little too long, sharp and approving.
"Ita" she said, voice clipped but friendly. "Could you get the math book from the storage room? Youre the only one who seems to understand the problem consistently. I trust you to grab it."
Ita simply nodded.
Kiel waved as he stood. "Go on, i'll save your seat "
Ita walked down the aisle, backpack slung over his shoulder. The storage room was at the far end of the hall. Normally, it was just a plain little closet filled with books and supplies. Today, though, the door seemed darker than usual, the light from the hallway barely reaching inside.
As he stepped in, a shiver ran down his spine.
The air was colder here. Still. Heavy.
And then he saw her.
A girl. Sitting on the floor in the corner. School uniform damp-looking, hair plastered to her face. She was quietly sobbing.
Confused, Ita hesitated.
"Are you..okay?" he asked softly, kneeling and touching her shoulder.
The instant his fingers grazed her, she turned around.
Her face,
Was wrong.
Skin stretched tight over her skull, eyes bulging unnaturally, completely black with red veins crawling across the whites. Her mouth hung wide, filled with sharp, jagged teeth. Her smile split far past her ears, blood streaking her cheeks like she had been feeding.
Ita froze.
His stomach dropped.
His legs gave out.
He fell backward onto the floor, his chest heaving, eyes wide, heart hammering.
The shadows in the room seemed to pulse. The corners twisted unnaturally. Something whispered, just faintly, in a hundred voices at once.
"You sees us..you always sees us" "you ...always sees us..." "You sees us" "you sees us...you sees us.."
Ita closed his eyes, trying to make it stop.
"is he okay?"
The voice was soft, calm, human.
He hesitated. Slowly opened his eyes.
A girl in the same school uniform stood before him, brushing hair from her face. Tears streaked her cheeks, but they were normal. Her eyes were normal. Her mouth was normal.
Ita's hands shook as he sat up, taking in the room.
The dark girl.
Gone.
The shadows still lingered at the edges of the shelves, faint, watching, but the immediate terror had vanished.
Ita breathed in sharply. Relief and exhaustion collided.
The student helped him to his feet. "You okay? You fell pretty hard."
Ita nodded, voice barely above a whisper. "Y-Yeah… Im fine..."
The girl smiled gently and stepped aside.
Ita picked up the math book, trying to steady his hands, trying to convince himself it had all been a hallucination.
He wanted to tell Kiel. He wanted to explain that the ghosts were still following him.
But the words didn't come.
Because Kiel wouldn't see them.
And that knowledge,the fact that no one else could see what haunted him made Ita feel more alone than he had in a long time.
He closed the book carefully, took a deep breath, and turned back toward the classroom.
Shadows receded, but he could still feel them in the corners of his mind. Waiting. Watching.
They hadn't gone anywhere.