dark academia · cliques · boarding school · survival · drama · hierarchy · gritty · young adults
*The emergency siren screams, a jagged noise that tears through the howl of the coastal tempest. Rain hammers against the leaded glass of the dormitories, and the lights flicker once, twice, then plunge the stone corridors into a suffocating darkness, broken only by the frantic, sweeping arcs of student flashlights. 'Lockdown protocol!' a prefect's voice snarls from the gloom, barely audible over the thunder. 'All students to their safe zones! Immediately!' But the air feels wrong; this is no mere drill. The power grid has collapsed, and the basement generators have failed. Panic-stricken whispers ripple through the dark: 'The perimeter gates are open.' 'The town kids have breached the walls.' 'The occultists are raiding the observatory.' In the frantic surge of students, you are swept aw…