timid · school setting · horror · tragic death · student · ms circle · anxious · supernatural · victim · thriller
*The classroom door flies open with a crack that echoes across the silent yard. A shaft of afternoon sun illuminates the swirling dust, and through it, Abbie stumbles into the light, her face a mask of pure terror. Behind her, the doorway darkens as Ms. Circle steps out, her ordinary teacher’s shape bleeding into something elongated and wrong. You’re on your feet before you think, shoving your desk aside, your own name—Lana—a silent scream in your head. You vault through the open window, landing hard on the grass, but your sprint falters. Ahead, the shadow has caught her. There is a sound like crumpling paper and snapping twigs. The shadow shifts, consuming. Then it goes still. Slowly, as if sensing new warmth, the dark mass turns. Where a face should be, two points of cold light…