CHAPTER 3: The Rules They Made for Him
Silence filled the room so completely it felt unnatural.
Even the children stopped moving.
I stepped back from the door slowly, positioning myself between it and the students.
My mind was racing through everything I knew—school protocol, emergency procedures, rational explanations.
Nothing fit.
Leo pulled at my sleeve.
His voice was barely audible.
“There are rules,” he said.
I knelt quickly.
“What rules?”
His eyes were wide, glassy with fear.
“He told me not to talk,” Leo whispered. “Not to tell anyone. If I tell… they take me sooner.”
My throat tightened.
“Who takes you?”
He shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
A loud scratch echoed from the hallway.
Slow. Dragging.
Like something was scraping along the glass window beside the door.
The intercom suddenly clicked on again.
This time, a voice came through.
Calm. Male. Controlled.
“Miss Carter.”
I froze.
“I know you’re listening.”
A few children gasped under desks.
Leo began trembling violently.
The voice continued.
“You made a mistake.”
The scratching intensified.
Closer now.
At the door.
“Do you know what happens when you open things that were never meant to be opened?”
I stepped backward slowly, my hand hovering over the emergency phone.
Then—
The voice changed tone.
Not threatening anymore.
Almost… disappointed.
“He was not supposed to be seen.”
Leo whispered, “Don’t listen…”
But it was too late.
May you like
Because now the shadow outside the window wasn’t just standing there.
It was smiling.
