I was trapped underwater surrounded by mirrors. My own reflections filled the space, laughing at me, their hands reaching out, trying to drag me into their world.
Cairo was somewhere else, trapped in walls that pressed closer and closer, trying to crush and consume him. Hands clawed at his legs. He could feel the hate inside them raw, burning.
We both realized it too late: this was a mistake.
We shouldn't have come here.
We should've left things the way they were.
But no we wanted proof. Proof that what we saw yesterday was real.
Cairo struggled to fight off the arms pulling at him as the walls closed tighter. I thrashed in the water, drowning inside my own reflection my lungs filling, my body trembling.
We were both trapped in different places, but we could feel each other's pain. The regret. The fear. The slow understanding that maybe this was the end.
Nami ran through the tunnel, her footsteps echoing. She didn't care about anything she just wanted to find us. Six hours had passed since we went in. The clock read 12:00 a.m.
Then she remembered what I told her:
"Olive oil, water, and salt."
She mixed them, poured the mixture at the tunnel entrance, and instead of running she ran in. No flashlight. No torch. Nothing.
But for her, time passed differently. Six hours outside… only seconds inside.
Then sunlight a single thin beam broke through the tunnel. The light hit the walls, hit the water, hit us.
And then
everything went black.
When I opened my eyes, I was lying near a waterfall.
Cairo woke up in the middle of a town road.
Nami found herself standing in front of her house, her hand stretched toward the door.
We didn't understand it, but we knew if not for the sunlight, we would have died.
I walked home through the woods, brushing off the dirt. Eventually, I reached the road, following it back to town.
Cairo woke to the sound of horns.
"Hey kid! Get out of the road!" someone shouted.
Cars honked. A man stepped out, glaring.
"You trying to die? Yo...This isn't the city! Move!"
Nami's doorbell rang.
Her sister white-haired and half-asleep opened the door.
"Nami? What are you doing out this late? I thought you were"
"Don't worry," Nami interrupted. "I just got lost."
Her sister frowned. "Lost? You've lived here all your life."
"I said drop it!" Nami snapped and ran upstairs, slamming her door shut.
Her sister stood in silence. "What's wrong with her…?"
The next morning, we all went to school. If not for the sunlight, we'd have been just a story another mystery whispered in the hallways.
I walked with my hands in my pockets, pretending not to care.
Cairo passed me without a word.
Nami ignored me too, talking with other girls.
We weren't the same anymore.
Something inside us had changed that night.
Class felt endless. I listened to the teacher's voice until I drifted off. When the bell rang, I left my bag half open and wandered through the rain.
Cairo sat under a roof on the other side of the building, playing the bass.
Nami searched for an umbrella near the teacher's office, then curled up and fell asleep.
The rain fell harder.
The school emptied.
By six, the sky was still dark, the storm unending
and the silence felt wrong.
Like the tunnel was calling us back.
6:57 P.M.
Rain still fallin' heavy. Sky lookin' mad dark
like it got beef with the earth or somethin'.
The whole school? Dead quiet. Not a sound. Just that tap-tap-tap of rain beatin' the windows like it tryna break in.
Then
BOOM!
Clock hit 7:00 p.m. sharp.
And that's when everything flipped.
Nami
She wakes up all slow, brushin' off her skirt like, "Damn, how long I been sleepin'?"
Looks around
school empty, rain still cryin'.
It's 7 already. Whole place wrapped in darkness like the night swallowed it whole.
Me (Renji)
I'm still sittin' in my class, eyes glued to the window. Watchin' raindrops race each other down the glass.
Didn't even blink. Didn't even move.
Just me… and that rain that won't quit.
Cairo
He stops messin' with his bass guitar. Stares outside.
Rain slowin' down now soft, but weird soft, like the calm that comes before something bad.
He walks down the stairs, sneakers splashin' on wet floor.
Head down. Hands in pockets. Not sayin' a word.
Meanwhile
I stretch, grab my bag, and step out my class. The hallway smell like wet dust and chalk.
Every step echoin'.
Sounded like someone walkin' behind me… but nah, it's just me, right?
Right?
We both walkin' different halls, different vibes but somehow we movin' toward the same spot.
The main gate.
The way out.
And then it happens.
We both bust out from different sides at the same damn time like fate just hit copy-paste on us.
Now we're standin' there, in front of the school doors.
Cairo look at me, real quick. Then turn his face away, like,
"Ayo, I ain't even tryin' to talk right now."
And Nami?
She walk straight ahead, not even looking'
BOOM!
She hit somethin' invisible.
Like wham!
Face-first.
She steps back, touch the air in front of her
and the air… moves.
Nami: "What the hell… this ain't no wall."
Her hand press against nothin', but it ripple like water.
A force field.
An invisible wall trappin' us in the school.