Chapter 18: An Unexpected Vision
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A Day Like Any Other—Or So It Seems
The school day begins normally enough.
The usual shuffle of students.
The echoing chatter of conversations.
The familiar weight of books in my backpack.
It's routine. Predictable.
And after everything that's happened—I welcome the normalcy.
For the first time in days, I don't feel like I'm walking through a battlefield.
There's still tension, still whispers at the edge of my awareness—
But they don't feel as suffocating today.
I let out a slow breath, adjusting the strap on my bag as I navigate the crowded corridors.
Step by step, I focus on holding onto this fragile sense of strength I've been trying to rebuild.
Then—
It happens.
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A Shadow That Shouldn't Exist
At first, it's just a flicker.
A fleeting shadow, something dark and angular, moving impossibly fast through the periphery of my vision.
I barely register it.
A trick of the light, maybe.
A passing student.
A shifting reflection in the windows.
That's what I tell myself.
Until I turn—
And I see it.
A glimpse of something that shouldn't exist.
My breath hitches.
A thing—tall, cloaked in something blacker than shadow.
A grim reaper's silhouette—but warped. Twisted.
It's like staring into a heat haze, its edges flickering and shifting, as if reality itself rejects its presence.
And those eyes—
Empty. Hollow. Bottomless.
A jagged whisper cuts through my mind.
Not words. Not sound.
Just… malice.
Pure, undiluted malice.
A force so heavy it presses against my chest, squeezing the air from my lungs.
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An Impossible Moment
My pulse thunders in my ears.
I blink.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
And just like that—it's gone.
The hall is normal again.
Students laughing, talking, walking past.
The world moves as if nothing happened.
As if it wasn't just there.
I stand frozen, fingers clenched around the strap of my backpack.
Slowly, I scan the crowd.
No one else reacts.
No one else saw.
They continue their conversations, their routines, oblivious.
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Doubt Creeps In
I swallow, my throat suddenly dry.
What the hell was that?
I rub my eyes, willing my heartbeat to slow.
Maybe… maybe I imagined it.
Stress. Exhaustion.
A trick of the mind after everything that's happened.
That has to be it.
It's the only logical explanation.
I exhale, forcing my feet to move, to focus on the mundane tasks of the school day.
But the image lingers.
A cold prickle runs down my spine.
A weight presses against my subconscious.
A whisper at the edge of my mind that refuses to fade.
As if…
Something is watching.
Waiting.