The noise of school life usually filled every corner of the building.

  Footsteps.

  Lockers slamming.

  Voices echoing through the hallways.

  But sometime during the afternoon…

  The noise began to fade.

  At first, no one noticed.

  The teacher continued explaining something on the board while students scribbled notes half-heartedly.

  Kelvin leaned back in his chair, tapping a pen against his desk.

  Chloe was scrolling through her phone under the table.

  Aerinox sat quietly, writing in her notebook.

  Then someone near the door frowned.

  “Wait… do you hear that?”

  A few students looked up.

  “Hear what?” someone asked.

  The boy tilted his head slightly.

  “It’s… quiet.”

  A few students laughed.

  “What are you talking about? It’s always noisy.”

  But he shook his head.

  “No. I mean outside.”

  The room slowly began to notice it.

  The hallway noise was gone.

  Completely gone.

  No footsteps.

  No conversations.

  No lockers.

  Just silence.

  The teacher paused mid-sentence.

  Even she seemed confused.

  “That’s strange,” she muttered.

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  Kelvin stood up and stretched.

  “Maybe everyone already left early or something.”

  “That makes no sense,” Chloe said. “It’s still class time.”

  Curiosity spread through the room.

  Finally, the teacher sighed and walked toward the door.

  “Alright, let’s see what’s going on.”

  She opened it.

  The hallway outside was empty.

  Not a single student.

  Not a single teacher.

  Just long rows of lockers stretching in both directions under flickering lights.

  The silence felt unnatural.

  “Where is everyone?” someone whispered.

  “That’s impossible,” another student said.

  The teacher stepped out into the hallway and looked both directions.

  Her confusion quickly turned into concern.

  She walked a few steps down the corridor.

  Then stopped.

  “Stay in the classroom,” she told them.

  But curiosity was stronger than instructions.

  Students slowly began standing.

  One by one, they stepped out into the hallway.

  Kelvin walked out first.

  Chloe followed right behind him.

  Soon the entire class had gathered in the corridor.

  Still empty.

  Still silent.

  Someone pulled out their phone.

  “No signal.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t have signal either.”

  Murmurs spread quickly.

  “This is weird.”

  Aerinox stepped out last.

  The moment she entered the hallway, the strange feeling returned.

  Stronger than before.

  Like the air itself had become heavier.

  Something was wrong with the building.

  Very wrong.

  Then a sound echoed from far down the corridor.

  A faint creak.

  Everyone turned toward it.

  The sound had come from the direction of the library.

  Kelvin squinted down the hallway.

  “You guys heard that, right?”

  “Yeah…”

  “Sounded like a door.”

  Chloe crossed her arms.

  “Maybe someone’s still there.”

  “Then why is the whole school empty?” someone asked.

  No one had an answer.

  Another sound echoed.

  This one softer.

  Almost like something shifting.

  Kelvin grinned slightly.

  “Well, only one way to find out.”

  “Kelvin, don’t be stupid,” Chloe said.

  But she was already walking forward with him.

  Curiosity was stronger than fear.

  The group slowly moved down the hallway together.

  Their footsteps echoed unnaturally loud in the empty school.

  Aerinox followed silently at the back.

  Her eyes stayed fixed ahead.

  Every step made the strange feeling grow stronger.

  The library doors came into view.

  One of them was slightly open.

  The lights inside were off.

  The darkness beyond the doorway looked deeper than it should have.

  Kelvin pushed the door wider.

  The hinges creaked loudly.

  “Hello?” he called out.

  No answer.

  The group hesitated at the entrance.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t go in,” one student whispered.

  But Chloe stepped forward.

  “Oh please,” she said. “It’s just a dark room.”

  She walked inside first.

  Kelvin followed.

  A few others nervously stepped in after them.

  The library was silent.

  Rows of shelves stretched into the darkness.

  Dust floated slowly in the dim light from the hallway.

  Everything looked normal.

  Almost too normal.

  Then someone gasped.

  “Wait… what is that?”

  Near the back of the library…

  The space between two bookshelves looked wrong.

  Not dark.

  Not empty.

  Just… wrong.

  Like the air itself had been cut open.

  A patch of darkness hung there unnaturally.

  It didn’t move.

  But it didn’t look still either.

  More students stepped closer.

  “What the hell is that?”

  “Is it some kind of shadow?”

  “It’s not touching the floor…”

  Aerinox felt her heart beating faster.

  The strange feeling was strongest here.

  Like something was pulling at reality itself.

  Chloe stepped closer to the darkness.

  “Don’t touch it,” someone warned.

  But Chloe leaned forward slightly, squinting at it.

  “It’s probably just some weird reflection or—”

  She reached out.

  Aerinox suddenly felt a surge of alarm.

  “Wait—”

  But it was too late.

  Chloe’s fingers passed through the darkness.

  For a split second…

  Nothing happened.

  Then the darkness exploded outward.

  The library vanished.

  The floor disappeared beneath them.

  And the world collapsed into black.