The hall no longer felt like part of a school.
It had become something else entirely an enclosed stretch of darkness filled with bodies that refused to behave like the living.
The group had already crossed the threshold, already committed to this route, and there was no turning back without running straight into the things that hunted them.
The doors behind them were shut.
Ahead, the hall stretched forward in uneven light, phone torches trembling in shaking hands. The emergency lamps overhead flickered weakly, illuminating only short distances before the darkness swallowed everything again. Every sound carried too far breathing, shuffling footsteps, the occasional suppressed sob.
Josh moved with the group, Mira pressed close at his side. She held his arm tightly, not out of affection but necessity, as if letting go would cause them to vanish into the crowd and never find each other again.
He didn't blame her. He couldn't, he had this urge to protect her.... Well the body had the feeling.
The smell was everywhere now. Blood, decay, something sour and old layered beneath it all. The floor was slick in places, forcing everyone to step carefully, though panic made that difficult.
A stumble here could mean being trampled or worse.
Somewhere ahead, a muffled cry cut off abruptly.
The group slowed.
Security personnel raised their weapons, scanning the darkness. One of them motioned forward, cautious but tense. The politicians and senior staff were pushed toward the middle again, faces pale, stripped of the confidence they had worn so easily on stage earlier.
Josh's heart pounded, but his mind felt strangely sharp.
He didn't understand it at first. The fear was still there, coiled tight in his chest, yet beneath it ran something else...awareness.
He noticed patterns in the movement around them, the way the sounds shifted when they drew closer to certain areas, how the darkness itself seemed thicker in some places than others.
The memories of his other life stirred uneasily.
Guild missions. Night raids. Corridors filled with things that should not move but did, or were they his mind felt a little cloudy with also the situation he is in.
He swallowed.
Mira leaned closer, her voice barely audible. "I don't like this place."
"Neither do I," Josh replied quietly.
They advanced again.
Then it happened.
A figure near the front was yanked upward without warning, lifted screaming into the darkness before anyone could react. The sound echoed horribly, cut short by a wet crunch that turned stomachs and froze blood.
Panic surged.
Students screamed, pushing backward, crashing into one another. A few tried to run, only to be forced back by the press of bodies behind them. The guards shouted orders, trying to restore some semblance of control.
Josh didn't move.
Not because he was scared, but because something inside him had gone utterly still.
He felt it then, like a pull or striring, he thought it might be his system...
[ABILITY: UMBRAL THREAD (PASSIVE)
FUNCTION: Perceive and influence entities through shadow presence
LIMITATION: Requires physical or emotional anchor
CURRENT ANCHOR: ACTIVE]
The darkness near his feet shifted, subtle enough that no one else noticed. It wasn't visible, not truly. More like a sensation, thin extensions stretching outward, brushing against the space around him.
They looked like.....Threads.
Instinct guided him, as his thought flowed with the new profound power.
He didn't command the darkness, he nudged it to his will.
The thing above them twitched, its movements stuttering for half a second, as if confused. That moment was enough for the guards to fire, forcing it to retreat deeper into the ceiling shadows.
No one noticed Josh.
Mira gasped softly, her grip tightening. "It- it stopped."
"Lucky timing," Josh said, forcing his voice to stay steady.
They moved again, faster now.
The hall narrowed slightly ahead, shadows pressing closer as the light thinned. The sounds grew worse-dragging, chewing, the low, wet noises of feeding. Josh's jaw clenched as fragments of information surfaced from memory: stories, fiction, warnings from a hundred half-forgotten sources.
These were Zombies, they were also here too.....
It was what he thought as they were something close enough that the difference no longer mattered, as he couldn't see them clearly.
Another student screamed to the left as one of the creatures lunged out of the darkness.
Josh reacted again.
This time, the thread stretched farther, slipping around the creature's movement, tangling its intent rather than its body. The thing hesitated, head tilting unnaturally, as if listening to something that wasn't there.
It turned.
Not toward Josh-but toward another moving shape in the darkness.
The guards shot it down seconds later.
Josh staggered slightly, pain flaring behind his eyes. Mira noticed immediately, shifting closer, supporting his weight without saying a word.
"You okay?" she whispered.
"Yeah," he lied. "Just... a little dizzy."
The truth was simpler and more dangerous.
Whatever this was, it wasn't free, it drained him mentally.
He could feel the strain now, a pressure building the longer he relied on it. And somewhere deep inside, a quiet presence acknowledged the change-not with praise, not with instructions, but with cold certainty.
This ability was really crucial, as it seemed hasn't explored everything yet
And he could guess that it could grow.
The group reached another junction, one path leading upward, the other disappearing into deeper shadow. The guards hesitated, arguing in sharp whispers. The sounds behind them were getting closer again.
Josh lifted his head and look ahead he tried seeing ahead of him through the dim light way.
He found out he could feel and see a little on what and where the shadows are.
The shadows ahead felt thinner, Less dense.
"This way," he said suddenly, pointing upward.
A guard glanced at him. "Why?"
Josh hesitated for a fraction of a second, then shrugged weakly. "Just... a feeling."
It wasn't a lie.
After a tense moment, the decision was made.
They moved.
As they ascended, faint light filtered down from above-moonlight, pale and distant. Josh felt the threads recoil slightly, weaker here, less responsive.
He understood without being told.
Light weakened them, as he found one of the weakness in this new ability of his.
They didn't stop moving until the sounds below faded into something distant and uncertain.
Only then did people begin to cry.
Mira finally loosened her grip, though she stayed close, her shoulder pressed against his. She looked up at him, eyes shining with unshed tears.
"You saved me back there," she said quietly.
Josh shook his head. "We saved each other."
It was the only answer that kept his secret safe.
And as the night stretched on, with danger still lurking below, Josh thought as he tried to process what he just gone through,
Whatever he had found himself,
He won't be able to get out safely as it seems.