Clara hadn't realized just how many others lived in Dorm 6A until the disappearances began.
The dorm wasn't isolated — at least, not at first glance. Other girls lived in the long, echoing hallways. They laughed, listened to music too loudly, slammed doors in the early hours, and complained about classes and cafeteria food like any other students. It almost felt normal…until it didn't.
It started with Rachel from Room 12.
One morning, she didn't show up for class. By evening, her roommate Lani was pacing the hallway, eyes red from crying, whispering frantically to anyone who would listen that Rachel never came back after going to fill her water bottle.
Then it was Zara and Hope — both from Room 3. They were last seen giggling in the stairwell at midnight, daring each other to sneak into the basement. The next morning, their room was empty, their beds cold. No one saw them leave. No one saw them again.
"I thought it was just us," Maya whispered to Clara, her voice barely above a breath. "But it's spreading."
Clara nodded, eyes scanning the hallway. It felt tighter than usual, darker. "We're not just haunted," she said. "We're being hunted."
The school tried to dismiss it all. They claimed the missing students had "checked out early" or were "with family." But Clara saw through it. The fear in the principal's eyes, the way security guards now avoided looking too long at the dorm's entrance — it was obvious. The school knew something was wrong. They were just too afraid to admit it.
And still, no one stopped the disappearances.
Room 6A was becoming a place of whispers and tension. Girls started locking their doors, refusing to leave after sunset. Group chats buzzed with rumors — some blamed cult activity, others said it was a serial killer. A few insisted it was a prank.
Clara and Maya knew better.
"They're vanishing," Clara said one night, her hands clenched tight around her mug. "One by one."
Maya looked toward the door. "What if we're next?"
A sharp knock at their door made them both jump.
Clara approached slowly, her heart hammering. She opened it just a crack.
It was Chloe — a quiet girl who lived at the far end of the hall. She was pale, eyes wide with terror.
"I heard you've seen things," she whispered. "I have too."
Clara let her in quickly. Chloe didn't waste time. She dropped her bag, pulling out a small recorder and a crumpled map.
"I record the whispers. At night. I can't sleep without something playing. That's when I heard it — the voices. They're not just in our heads. They're real. They speak in riddles…lure people away."
She hit play. A cold, static-laced voice emerged from the tiny speaker.
"Come play where the light forgets to shine…Follow the door within your mind…"
Clara's blood chilled. "That's what Delilah heard. The voice."
Chloe nodded. "I think it gets stronger the more people fear it. It waits…chooses the weakest link."
Maya whispered, "It's feeding."
Clara turned to the map Chloe had brought. It was hand-drawn, the layout of the dorm, with red Xs marked over certain rooms. Five so far.
Five gone.
Clara circled her own room.
"If it's feeding on fear," she said, "then we have to stop giving it power."
"But how?" Maya asked. "We're terrified."
The door creaked again. This time, there was no knock.
The lights flickered.
And for a moment, every shadow in the room twisted toward them — bending unnaturally, like they were watching.
"Turn it off," Maya hissed.
Chloe shut the recorder. The air grew still again.
"Someone's going to disappear tonight," Chloe whispered.
They didn't sleep. Not really. They kept the lights on, huddled together in the middle of the room, surrounded by salt lines Chloe insisted on pouring around the bed.
At 2:43 a.m., the fire alarm blared. Screams echoed from the hallway.
Clara and the girls rushed out — doors swung open, students panicked, flooding into the corridor.
Then came the silence.
No smoke. No fire.
Just…gone.
Melanie — the girl from Room 9 — had vanished in the chaos.
Her roommate sobbed in the hallway, pointing to an empty bed that had been filled just an hour before.
Clara stared at the empty room as realization struck her.
"It's using distractions," she said. "Noise, panic — to isolate people. That's how it takes them."
And then, she saw it.
For just a second.
A tall, shadowed figure at the far end of the hall.
Eyes like burning coals.
Watching.
Waiting.
It vanished when Clara blinked.
The hallway lights returned. Students were ushered back into their rooms. But everyone could feel it — the dread clinging to them like a second skin.
Back in their room, Clara turned to Chloe and Maya. "We can't wait anymore. If we don't act, we're next."
Chloe nodded grimly. "Then we find out what it wants. And how to end it."
Outside their window, a thick fog began to roll across the campus grounds, covering the moonlight like a curtain.
And behind it…something moved.