The fog came without warning.
One second the room was still clear, although filled with panic, and the next, a whitish-gray fog began to stream in from the gaps of the doors, creeping over the marble floor like a living thing. The fog moved with purpose, unlike natural fog that spreads randomly. It moved upward, wrapping around the students' legs, rising to their waists, to their chests.
"What is this?" Adrian screamed, his hands batting at the fog but it had no effect. The fog continued to rise, thicker, denser.
Then the flashlights started to die. One by one. No one was doing anything, yet the batteries that had been replaced just hours ago suddenly ran out. Phone lights dimmed, screens flickered, then died completely. In a matter of seconds, all artificial light sources were extinguished.
"No, no, no!" Ryan shook his phone frantically. "My battery was full! Why did it die?"
The lights on the walls began to go out. One. Two. Three. One by one, in sequence, as if being played by an unseen hand. The golden-yellow light was pulled back into the darkness, leaving room after room in emptiness.
"DON'T LET THE LIGHTS GO OUT!" Veronica shrieked, her voice hoarse. "PLEASE!"
But nothing could be done. The last light, the large chandelier in the middle of the room, flickered. Once. Twice.
Then it went out.
Total darkness enveloped them. Not the usual darkness of a moonless night. This was absolute darkness, so thick that Damian couldn't see his own hand even when he held it right in front of his face. It was as if the darkness had substance, heavy, pressing from all directions.
The fog, unseen but felt, cold and damp, crept onto their faces, entering their mouths and noses with every breath.
"Cedric!" Damian called out in a whisper, his hands groping in the dark. "James!"
"Here!" James' voice, sounded close but the direction was confusing in the total darkness.
Damian's hand found something, someone's arm. He gripped it tightly, then felt around for the other. His fingers met another hand that was shaking violently.
"Cedric?" he whispered.
"Yes," Cedric's voice was so faint, barely audible. His whole body was trembling like a leaf in a hurricane.
"Don't let go of my hand," Damian said, his voice loud and firm even though his own heart was pounding rapidly. "Both of you. Don't stray too far from me. No matter what happens."
"I'm not going anywhere," Cedric whispered, his voice cracking. "I can't even move. I'm too scared to move."
Around them, screams filled the darkness. The voices of the other students, panicking, terrified, calling their friends' names. The sound of running footsteps, hitting something, falling. Crying. Screaming.
"ADRIAN!" Lisa's voice from somewhere to their left. "ADRIAN, WHERE ARE YOU?"
"HELP! SOMETHING TOUCHED ME!" another voice, a male Damian didn't recognize.
"GET ME OUT OF HERE! PLEASE!"
The chaotic noise echoed in the large room, colliding with each other, creating a horrific symphony of human fear. Damian could feel a panic attack beginning to creep up, his chest tightening, his breath shallow. But he forced himself to stay focused. He had to stay focused. Cedric and James were depending on him.
Then, one by one, the screams began to stop.
Not gradually. Not fading away. But stopping. Cut off mid-scream. Like someone clamping a hand over their mouth. Or like they had suddenly vanished.
"ADRIAN, I—" Lisa's voice was cut short. Silence.
"HELP! I'M—" cut off. Silence.
One by one. Voice after voice disappeared from the darkness. Like being erased.
Damian felt Cedric's grip on his hand tighten, so hard it almost cut off his circulation. On the other side, James was silent but his hand was also gripping tightly.
The breathing of the three of them sounded too loud in the spreading silence. Damian could hear his own heart beating fiercely in his ears.
And then, total silence.
No screams. No crying. No sound of footsteps or falling bodies. Only a silence so absolute it felt like a physical pressure on their eardrums.
Damian waited. Ten seconds. Twenty seconds. Half a minute.
Just silence.
"Guys?" he finally whispered, his voice sounding too loud in the stillness. "Are you still there?"
"Yeah," James answered hoarsely. "I'm here."
Cedric didn't answer. But Damian could feel his hand still gripping, still shaking. He was too terrified to speak.
"Why is there no sound anymore?" Damian asked, more to himself than the others.
"Maybe," James paused, swallowing. His voice sounded strange, choked. "Maybe they're dead."
A moment of silence. The words hung in the air, heavy with their implication.
And then, another voice. Not from James. Not from Cedric.
A woman's voice. Soft. Melodious. Like someone was singing softly, but there was something wrong with the tone. Something twisted, dissonant.
"Perhaps so."