Yejun glanced around, making sure no teachers were in sight before following Doyun down the hallway. He had a feeling Doyun was heading toward that door again, the one from yesterday. But for some reason, it felt farther away now… weird. For a solid thirty minutes, Doyun just goofed around, chatting with the school's ghosts like it was completely normal. Honestly, it felt surreal. Yejun had seen them floating around before but always figured he was just seeing things, or maybe hallucinating. Turns out, nope. Real ghosts. And right now, they were talking to one.
This ghost was different though. His name was Alexei—Alexei Knyazev. And if his name didn't scream Slavic already, his vibe definitely did. He wore something vaguely traditional-looking and Russian. Not exactly cold or distant, but he spoke like someone who wasn't really there, like he was halfway in a room writing poems or something. Doyun was throwing questions at him like it was an interrogation.
"So, Alexei, by chance have you noticed anything strange on this floor? Or in the school in general?"
Alexei paused for a moment, a little smirk playing on his lips.
"Ah… yes. There has been, actually."
He floated lower as he spoke. Yejun, who'd been scanning the hallway before, perked up. Could Alexei actually know something?
Doyun raised his brows. "So…?"
Another pause. Alexei smirked again, more dramatic this time.
"Aya… you ask many questions. Are you always this nosy, or just with ghosts?"
Doyun sighed. "Just answer the damn question." Alexei finally nodded, mumbling,
"Well, I'm sure you've noticed stuff but… there's a lot you don't see as a student. Here's some advice: don't trust people." Still no straight answers. Until, finally, Alexei continued.
"Ey, well, you see, I have been noticing more strange things this year." Doyun nodded, encouraging him to go on.
"This floor, the fifth floor stuff's been happening here. I've seen shadows… things passing by in the corners. And there's this girl. She keeps passing through that door…"
Yejun froze. He knew who he meant. He shoved Doyun aside and stepped up to Alexei. "Nari?" Alexei tilted his head. "I'm sorry, Nari what?" "The girl's name. It's Nari, right?"
Alexei shrugged. "I don't know her name."
Damn. Okay, no name, but maybe…
"How does she look? Have you noticed anything about her?" Alexei suddenly lit up. "Ahhh, yes! She always carries a small notebook around. Not like a school one, it's like a journal? At first, I thought diary, but no… I caught a peek once. It looked like notes. Facts. I don't know exactly." Yejun leaned in, waiting. Alexei went quiet. "But what?" Yejun asked. "What did the notebook say?"
"I don't read English well," Alexei muttered, floating a little higher, "and her handwriting is… not easy."
Are you serious? Just when they were close to getting actual info…Well whatever not like he can change it.
"And where does she go?" Yejun asked. "You said she disappears through a door?"
Alexei nodded and pointed.
That door. The locked one. The one from Yejun's dream. How the hell did Nari get through it? It was always locked. Doyun stepped closer—Yejun thought he might try opening it, but no. He just crouched like he was about to pick something up… but didn't. He was observing.
Yejun joined him, and Alexei floated over too.
Then Alexei saw it first. Yejun took a second, his vision, yeah… not the best.
It was another piece of mirror.
"Don't touch that," Alexei warned.
Of course Doyun ignored him. He picked it up.
Suddenly, Doyun stiffened. He saw something—like a flashback, but it never happened. His reflection in the mirror. Bleeding. It looked like him… but wasn't?
And then, pain.
The glass pierced his finger, nothing too deep, but enough for blood.
"Shit," Doyun breathed. "Dude… I just got a vision or something. My reflection—it was in the mirror. Bleeding."
Yejun stared, unsure what to even say. Alexei broke the silence. "Tch. Durak. I told you not to touch that." (Durak means idiot in Russian)
"What does that even mean?" Doyun muttered, rolling his eyes.Yejun turned to Alexei, thinking fast. "Wait! Since you're a ghost, can't you go through walls? Just go through this door!"
Alexei's answer came fast. "I can… but not this one. There's a force stopping me."
Yejun blinked. "Wait, that can happen?"
But Alexei was already gone.
Like… fully vanished. What the hell? Now it was just Yejun and Doyun. They glanced at each other, then quickly looked away. Doyun, obviously the genius of the year, said, "Should we try breaking the door?" "What? Hello? No! Are you stupid? We're not even supposed to be up here. If we break the door, we're so screwed." Doyun wiped his bloody finger on a tissue from his pocket, Yejun side-eyed him. Couldn't magic fix that or something? Doyun stepped up to the door again, gave it a good tug.
Still locked.. So how did Nari get in? If Alexei was telling the truth… Doyun muttered a low, annoyed "Whatever," and turned, walking the opposite direction. "Come on, we're gonna look around." Yejun sighed. "God, you're dumb." "Oh, by the way, who's Nari?" Yejun rubbed his eyes. It was so dark in here. "Just… a friend. She's a little weird though. Like Alexei said—she always has that notebook. She said something once about feeling like someone's been watching her—"
Then it happened.
A creak.
Both of them stopped.
This wasn't like before, no teacher footsteps. No voices.
Just… something.
A shadow.
Down the hall.
Dragging a bag.
_________________________________________________________________________
-Author
Sorry if the chapters seem confusing, it should sum up by the end though (which aint soon💔)
Thank you for reading this chapter!