It started with a nosebleed.
Dre was fine one second… then suddenly staggered into a desk, gripping his face.
"Dre?" Lena reached for him.
Blood ran from both nostrils—dark, thick. His eyes rolled back.
He collapsed.
But Dre wasn't unconscious.
He was somewhere else.
---
Dre's Vision
He stood in the middle of a giant stone room—walls carved with symbols that moved when he blinked. They pulsed like breathing skin.
In the center of the room: a circle of people in robes, kneeling.
Chanting.
One stood above them, faceless. Tall. Its hands too long.
It pointed at Dre.
> "You are not one of us," it said. "But you opened the door."
The ground split open.
He fell into darkness.
---
Back to Reality
Dre gasped awake, eyes wide. "They buried it. Under the school. Long ago. They thought it would stay dead."
"What?" Lena asked, shaken.
"I saw it. A ritual. They fed it people. It's not just a ghost. It's something ancient."
Lena backed up. "How the hell would you know that?"
Dre looked at her—eyes full of fear.
"Because it showed me. And it said it's awake now."
---
Last Line:
Outside the classroom, the intercom crackled on.
But no one was in the office.
A deep, distorted voice spoke:
> "We are missing one. Return him."