Chapter 10 – "No One Sleeps"
> Location: The Library – 11:44 PM
They barricaded the doors with shelves and desks.
No one spoke of sleep.
But exhaustion clung to them like a second skin.
Naomi was the first to drift off.
Then Clara.
Then, one by one… the others.
Only Malik stayed awake.
Guarding. Watching.
Until the lights flickered.
Then died.
---
INT. LIBRARY – NIGHTMARE SEQUENCE – 12:03 AM
Naomi's eyes opened — but not to the library.
She was back in her childhood bedroom.
Same sheets. Same posters.
She smiled in confusion.
> "How did I get here?"
Then, her closet door creaked.
A voice came from inside.
> "I told you I'd find you."
Her sister stepped out.
But her eyes were hollow.
Her mouth was too wide.
And her feet didn't touch the ground.
> "You left me there, Naomi.
So now, I'll leave you here."
---
INT. CLARA'S DREAM
She was underwater.
Floating in her childhood pool.
Except the water was black.
Bodies floated beside her.
Not moving. Not dead.
They were watching.
She tried to scream.
Only bubbles came out.
A voice inside her head whispered:
> "They never drown here.
They just wait for you to stop fighting."
---
INT. ZOE'S DREAM
She sat at the kitchen table.
The note was there again.
But now it said:
> "You wrote this, remember?"
She looked down.
Her hands were bleeding ink.
Words spilled from her skin.
The walls began whispering.
Each voice sounded like hers —
but not quite.
Like memories from a life she never lived.
---
INT. LIBRARY – REALITY – 1:15 AM
Malik stood over his friends.
They twisted in their sleep.
Eyes open. But unseeing.
One of them whispered, over and over:
> "Don't wake up. Don't wake up.
He's watching. He's inside."
Malik backed away.
From the corner of the room…
Lou stood.
Not a child.
But something shaped like one.
Her shadow reached the ceiling.