The Shadow in the Corridor:

It changed into almost 9:00 p.m. while Ayesha stayed in the back of at faculty to complete her undertaking. The corridors were unusually quiet, the form of silence that pressed towards her ears. As she walked in the direction of the exit, the fluorescent light above flickered, humming faintly. She paused, her footsteps echoing too loudly within the vacancy.

For a second, she notion she noticed movement on the some distance quit of the corridor—a shadow stretching throughout the wall. however when she blinked, it became long past.

The primary come across

She shook her head, convincing herself it became just exhaustion. but as she reached the staircase, the shadow regarded once more, sliding across the wall like liquid darkness. It didn’t suit her movements. It didn’t belong to her.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. A message from her buddy: “still at faculty? Don’t stay too overdue.” She typed again fast, her palms trembling, however before she could hit send, the hall lighting fixtures went out completely.

The Whisper of Silence

Darkness swallowed the hallway. Ayesha pressed her back in opposition to the wall, her breath shallow. The silence become not empty—it changed into alive. She could listen faint whispers, just like the rustling of pages in a closed library.

Her cellphone’s flashlight cut via the darkish. The beam landed on the opposite wall, where the shadow stood nevertheless, waiting. It wasn’t shaped like a person. It changed into taller, stretched unnaturally, its edges blurred as though it belonged to something unseen.

The CCTV Room

collecting courage, she ran toward the safety office. The shield had left hours in the past, however the monitors have been nonetheless on, recording every corridor. She rewound the photos. Her heart froze.

at the display screen, she noticed herself walking down the corridor. in the back of her, the shadow accompanied—long, deliberate, and detached from any source of mild. while she became in actual existence, the footage showed her on my own. The shadow simplest appeared whilst she wasn’t looking.

The warning

Her smartphone buzzed once more. This time, no sender changed into indexed. only a single line: “Do no longer look lower back.”

She dropped the smartphone, her pulse racing. The hall out of doors the office became sparkling faintly, as if the shadow itself changed into leaking light. She desired to run, however her legs felt heavy, rooted to the ground.

The very last stroll

Summoning every ounce of courage, Ayesha stepped into the hall. The lighting flickered again on, one by one, main her towards the exit. every step echoed louder than the final.

The shadow followed, stretching across the partitions, growing taller, darker, greater described. She refused to appearance lower back. The warning repeated in her mind: Do now not look back.

on the end of the hall, the exit door stood open. She ran through it, the night time air hitting her face like freedom. whilst she turned to shut the door, the hall was empty. No shadow, no flickering lighting—simply silence.

The Lesson in worry

the next morning, she back to highschool. everything looked everyday. students filled the corridors, giggling, dashing to class. however while she glanced at the CCTV reveal again, she noticed it—her shadow walking at the back of her, even in daylight.

She realized then: the shadow wasn’t tied to the corridor. It changed into tied to her.

✨ Every now and then the most haunting presence isn't always the only that lurks in dark hallways, however the one that follows us silently into the mild. fear does now not usually vanish with dawn—it lingers, stretching across our lives like a shadow we can't escape, reminding us that the unknown is in no way a ways behind.