**[SYSTEM INITIALIZING...]**
**[SIMULATION 14: COMMENCING]**
Trey materialized in a dimly lit school hallway, the buzzing of fluorescent lights above flickering in and out. His hands trembled slightly, fingers curling around the strap of a backpack slung over his shoulder. The walls were lined with rusted lockers, some slightly ajar, revealing books and torn paper within. The air smelled faintly of mildew and something metallic.
A voice called his name.
"Lukas!" A girl with short, choppy black hair rushed toward him, her breath labored as if she had been running for a while. "What are you doing here? We need to leave! Now!"
Trey's mind swam, adjusting to the identity forced upon him. Lukas. His name was Lukas here. But why did it feel wrong?
"What's going on?" he asked, his own voice unfamiliar to him.
The girl glanced over her shoulder, fear dilating her pupils. "They locked the doors. They're playing the game again. If we don't hide—"
The PA system crackled to life, a distorted voice slicing through the static. "Attention, students. The next round begins now. You have sixty seconds to find a place to hide. If you fail... you know the rules."
The girl grabbed Trey's wrist. "Come on!" she whispered fiercely, yanking him toward a classroom door. He let her pull him, his pulse hammering against his ribs. What the hell was happening?
As they darted inside, Trey caught movement in the corner of his eye—a student, frozen in the middle of the hallway, looking around frantically. A moment later, the ceiling lights flickered off completely.
Then the screaming started.
Trey barely had time to register the sound before the girl slammed the door shut, locking it. He heard heavy footsteps thudding outside, something dragging along the floor. Shadows slithered through the gaps beneath the door, unnatural and alive. The air grew thick, suffocating.
A gurgling noise, then silence.
Trey clenched his fists. "What the hell is going on? Who's doing this?"
The girl was trembling, barely holding it together. "It's them. They turn the school into a hunting ground. Every month. They pick the weakest, the ones they don't like, and they make them... disappear. No one questions it. No one remembers them afterward."
Something slammed against the door. Hard.
Trey stumbled back. The girl clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a whimper. The doorknob rattled violently, as if someone—something—was testing its strength.
Then, a chuckle.
Low. Mocking.
Trey's breath hitched as he realized the sound was coming from **inside** the room.
His stomach dropped.
Slowly, hesitantly, he turned his head toward the far end of the classroom.
A figure stood in the corner.
It hadn't been there before.
The lights flickered, revealing more of its shape—tall, unnaturally stretched, its face wrapped in what looked like a sack made of stitched-together school uniforms. It took a step forward, its feet making no sound against the tile.
The girl sucked in a sharp breath. "No... no, no, no—"
The figure lunged.
Trey barely had time to react before it was upon them, impossibly fast. The girl screamed as the creature's fingers—long, bony, and covered in fresh blood—wrapped around her throat. Trey tried to move, to help, but something cold and invisible latched onto his limbs, rooting him in place. His heart pounded in his chest as he watched the girl's body convulse, her mouth gaping in a silent cry as the creature **absorbed** her into itself. Flesh melted. Bones snapped. Then... she was gone.
Trey fell backward, hitting the desk behind him. The thing turned its faceless head toward him, tilting it slowly, as if savoring his terror.
The classroom door burst open.
Silhouettes flooded inside, students in tattered uniforms, their faces obscured by burlap masks. Trey barely had time to register them before something struck the side of his head.
Everything went black.
**[SIMULATION TERMINATED]**
**[ERROR DETECTED: SYSTEM INSTABILITY]**
**[WARNING: MEMORY ANOMALY PRESENT]**
**[RESETTING SIMULATION]**