"STOP!"
Auriella didn't stop. She couldn't.
Her lungs burned. Her legs screamed. But she kept running, pushing herself harder, faster.
The security guard's footsteps pounded behind her, relentless.
"I SAID STOP!"
She didn't even know where she was anymore. The campus was a blur of shadows and stone. She'd taken so many turns, run down so many paths, that she was completely lost.
But she couldn't stop. If she stopped, she'd get caught. If she got caught, she'd get expelled.
Please, Penny. Please be okay.
She rounded a corner too fast and stumbled, her foot catching on uneven ground. The world tilted.
And then she was falling.
She hit the ground hard, the impact knocking the air from her lungs. But she didn't stop rolling—she tumbled down a slope, branches and bushes tearing at her clothes, scratching her arms and face.
She slammed into something solid at the bottom and finally stopped, gasping for breath.
Pain radiated through her body. Her hands were scraped raw. Her dress was torn.
But she forced herself to stay silent.
Above her, she heard voices.
"Where'd she go?"
"I don't know. She was just here."
"Check over there."
Flashlight beams swept across the area above her, cutting through the darkness.
Auriella pressed herself into the ground, hiding in the thick bushes, barely breathing. Thorns dug into her skin, but she didn't dare move.
The guards' footsteps moved away, their voices fading.
"Forget it. She's gone."
"We'll report it. Come on."
Auriella waited, counting the seconds, making sure they were really gone.
When she was certain, she finally let herself breathe.
"Shit," she whispered, her voice shaking. "Shit, shit, shit."
She sat up slowly, wincing at the pain. Her whole body ached. Her arms were covered in scratches. Her dress was ruined.
"Why did I leave my room?" she muttered, angry tears stinging her eyes. "Why did I agree to this?"
She reached into her pocket for her phone, her hands trembling.
The screen was shattered.
"No. No, no, no."
She pressed the power button. The screen flickered to life—cracked and barely readable, but it worked. The flashlight still turned on.
But when she tried to call Penny, nothing happened. No signal. The screen glitched and went dark.
"Great. Perfect."
She fought back tears. Please let Penny be okay. Please let Celeste have gotten her out.
Auriella stood up slowly, wincing with every movement. She was bleeding in a few places, her arms and legs scratched and bruised. But she could walk.
She needed to find a way out of here. Wherever here was.
She turned on her phone's flashlight, holding it up.
The beam cut through the darkness, revealing thick trees and overgrown bushes all around her. It looked like a forest—wild, untamed, like no one had been here in years.
But something about it felt... familiar.
Too familiar.
Auriella's stomach twisted.
She started walking, carefully picking her way through the undergrowth. Branches hung low, vines twisted around tree trunks, roots jutted out of the ground.
And then she saw it.
A wall.
Stone. Old. Covered in ivy and moss.
Her breath caught.
This wasn't a forest.
It was a building. An abandoned building with trees growing through it. Nature had reclaimed it,
Auriella's blood ran cold.
The abandoned building.
The one from orientation. The one Professor Onim had warned them about. The one that meant immediate expulsion if you were caught near it.
"No," she whispered. "No, no, no."
She backed away, panic rising in her chest.
She had to get out of here. Now.
She turned and started walking faster, her flashlight sweeping frantically across the overgrown path. She needed to find an exit. A way back to campus. Anywhere but here.
But then she heard it.
A sound.
Low. Distant. Like something moving through the trees.
Auriella froze.
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
It was just the wind. It had to be the wind.
But the sound came again. Closer this time.
A rustling. Footsteps.
Auriella's breathing quickened. She turned slowly, shining her light into the darkness.
Nothing.
Just trees. Shadows.
But the sound was getting louder.
A branch snapping.
Closer.
Her pulse roared in her ears.
"It's nothing," she whispered to herself. "It's just fear. Just your imagination."
But the sound didn't stop.
It was following her.
And then she heard it.
A low, guttural growl.
Her blood turned to ice.
That sound.
She knew that sound.
It was the same sound from her nightmares.
The thing that chased her through the forest. The shadow. The monster.
"No," she breathed. "This isn't real. This isn't real."
But the growl came again, louder now, echoing through the trees.
And then she saw it.
A shadow.
Moving between the trees.
Massive. Inhuman.
Coming toward her.
Auriella's body moved before her mind could catch up.
She ran.
She ran as fast as her injured legs could carry her, branches whipping at her face, roots trying to trip her. Her phone's flashlight bounced wildly, barely illuminating the path ahead.
Behind her, the thing gave chase.
She could hear it—heavy, pounding footsteps. The growl that vibrated through the air.
This is the dream. This is the nightmare.
But it was real.
It was real.
Tears streamed down her face as she ran, her lungs burning, her body screaming in protest.
And then—
She slammed into something.
Something solid.
Arms caught her before she could fall.
Auriella looked up, her vision blurred with tears and terror.
It was him.
The man from her dreams.
Tall. Dark hair. Sharp features. Eyes that gleamed in the darkness.
Beautiful and terrifying all at once.
she saw his eyes.
They were glowing.
Red.
Burning red.
Just like in the nightmare.
The monster.
Auriella's scream caught in her throat.
And then everything went black.