“What’s wrong?!” Kale shouted as he ran over to Hage who had fallen over.

Hage sat on the hallway floor, pointing his finger straight into the dark room, the door still creaking as it opened fully. His mouth chattered like he was trying to say something, but nothing came out.

Kale stepped towards the doorframe and turned his head, looking into the abyss. A chill ran through Kale’s body as his eyes locked on with a set of intense eyes within the room. The eyes felt familiar, however the face and body did not. In fact, what he saw didn’t even appear human.

The creature stared at Kale and Hage, and then its eyes adjusted swiftly to Vei and Topaz as they came into view, both of them were just as terrified. No one moved an inch, they only observed what stood within the room. After about ten seconds, the intercom turned on, notifying the students that it was time to return to their dorms. As the alert came to an end, the thing inside stepped forward and then promptly rushed for the door.

The others screamed and tried escaping backwards, but Vei fell to the floor in panic. Hage seemed to accept his fate and didn’t even move, while Topaz flew down the hallway and back towards her dorm. Kale on the other hand, stood with a lack of emotion.

Kale kept his eyes on the creature as it approached them, and just as the being came to the door frame, it reached with its fur covered arms out towards the doorknob and slammed the door shut while staring at Kale. Those eyes were definitely familiar.

Vei and Hage both exhaled at the same time in relief.

“Uhh, I’m going to head back to my room now,” Hage said and darted down through the hallway, slipping as he booked it even faster on the turn.

Vei brought herself to her feet and stared at Kale who still stood unwavering. “What was that…?”

“I feel like I’ve seen that thing before, well not quite that… I don’t know how to explain.”

“Maybe that’s why it didn’t attack us. Maybe it knew you.” Vei said, her arms shaking.

“I don’t know. Should we try to open the door again?” Kale asked.

Vei looked at him, mortified. “Are you crazy?!”

He looked at her and felt that perhaps he was crazy. Why did he get the urge to stare that beast in the face again? Kale stared at the door and stepped closer.

“Don’t.” Vei stepped back, and then her footsteps echoed down the hall.

Before he knew it, he was alone in the haunted hallway once again, but this time he wanted to hear the groan of the beast. He had seen its face, there was nothing to be afraid of. Its eyes told Kale that he didn’t want to hurt him, he could sense it. It had been more afraid of the students.

*****

Kale laid in his bed next to Zair as he waited to hear the groans of the beast, yet nothing came. What was it that he saw? As he continued pondering his thoughts, a knock sounded on his door.

“Who is it?” Kale asked, opening a slit on the window for sound to travel through.

“It’s me, Arlo, just figured I’d check in on you and make sure you don’t plan on sleeping in the bathroom again,” he laughed. “Well, I’m gonna let myself in, I need to talk to you about something else as well.”

Arlo let himself in and Kale returned to his bed and made himself comfy.

“I heard you did a little exploring earlier.”

“How’d you hear of that?” Kale said, stretching his arms above his head. “Then you must have seen it too!”

Arlo sighed. “I’ve seen many a things. And I’ve seen him too.”

“Him? Does he have a name?”

“See, now this is where things get tricky for me. I’m going to have to tell you to keep quiet about what you and your friends saw. They are all getting the same lecture right about now. You cannot tell any of the other children.”

“We don’t even know what we saw! Was it a monster? To be honest, I wasn’t even scared of him at all. I kind of felt bad for him, he seemed scared.”

Arlo scratched his chin and gave a slight smirk. “Ah, am I really to believe that? Says the boy who hid in his bathroom all night because of the noise?”

“Heh, it’s true though! I felt like I’d seen him before!”

Arlo’s body twitched for a second, then retained his composure. “No more talking about this incident. If you bring it up again, I’m sure even your friends will scold you.”

“What do you mean?”

Arlo chuckled, “You’re lucky that I’m the one in charge of you.”