Suddenly, Helen heard a scream—it sounded like the voice of her best friend, Sacium! Or was it Ryan? Without hesitation, she sprinted toward the source of the sound. If Ryan was there, Sacium must be too! The thought gave her the strength to push forward.
Helen arrived at the scene to find her entire class gathered. There were exactly 30 members, including their teacher. Her eyes scanned the crowd, searching for the one she secretly admired. Meanwhile, Ryan began taking roll call.
"Everyone, gather here so I can check our members," Ryan instructed.
"Ryan is right," the teacher added. "Everyone, group up!"
Ryan began counting:
1. Ryan (5'7")
2. Linus (5'11")
3. Andrew (5'9")
4. Aaron (5'8")
5. David (5'7")
6. Jesse (4'11")
7. Aiden (5'10")
8. Bernie (5'7")
9. Rose (5'3")
10. Harry (5'6")
11. Charlie (5'3")
12. Nicole (5'6") ...
Ryan suddenly hesitated, his face growing pale with worry. Sacium was missing.
"Sacium? SACIUM! Has anyone seen him?!"
Silence.
A group of troublemakers, led by Aaron, broke the tense atmosphere.
"Oh, come on! Who cares?" Aaron scoffed. "Anyway, does anyone know where we even are? At least we're not standing in front of a machine droning on about assignments."
Laughter erupted from his group. But Ryan wasn't in the mood.
"Shut up!" Ryan snapped. "I know this place, and you do NOT want to make too much noise here!"
Before anyone could react, a towering, thin figure lunged at Ryan, striking him with such force that he slammed against the wall, nearly unconscious.
A horrifying entity stood before them—tall, gray, with a skeletal frame devoid of facial features. Its long arms stretched unnaturally, capable of reaching far beyond walls to snatch its prey. Its movements were jerky and unnatural, yet it possessed terrifying speed and strength.
They called it Entity 6: The Stretching Horror.
Aaron's group, usually full of bravado, stepped forward to fight. But Aaron knew they were no match. He quickly blended into the crowd, avoiding the conflict.
The others weren't so lucky.
The first attacker lunged, but with a single swipe, Entity 6 obliterated his skull. The rest froze in horror. Then, in a blur, the creature impaled another through the stomach, tearing him in half.
A deep, distorted voice echoed from its speaker-like head—it was Aaron's voice.
Entity 6 (Aaron's voice): "Come on, guys! It's weak now! Don't let it win! Are you all cowards?!"
Four more rushed forward, but their female classmates grabbed them, desperate to stop their foolish charge. They wouldn't let their loved ones die.
But it was too late.
The first pair was crushed in its jaws. The second was torn apart, split at the waist. The third was dragged into the walls, their bones shattering like twigs. The last two tried to flee, but the creature rolled them up like a ball and swallowed them whole.
Ryan couldn't let this continue. He launched himself off the wall with a Superman Punch, striking the creature in the face and forcing it back.
Aaron saw the opening. He didn't want to help Ryan, but he knew if Ryan died, they were all doomed. He joined the attack, delivering a powerful side kick as Ryan landed another crushing blow.
The combined impact bent the creature's body backward, leaving it motionless.
The survivors hesitated, their breath ragged from terror. Slowly, they approached to help Ryan and Aaron.
Helen wanted to help, but fear held her back. She simply watched as Ryan and the teacher took stock of the survivors.
Ryan grimly announced, "We've lost ten people..."
Then, an unsettling sound reached Helen's ears—loud, wet chewing.
She turned—and her heart stopped.
Sacium was hunched over the remains of Entity 6, gnawing on its flesh.
Relief turned to horror.
"Sacium! You're alive!" she almost cheered, but then—
The chewing. The slurping. The blackened stains on his torn clothes. His bruised, battered body.
Ryan and the others turned, their expressions twisted in disbelief.
"WTF, bro?! What are you doing?!" Ryan shouted.
Sacium looked up, completely unfazed. "Finishing it off."
Ryan shook his head. "It was already dead, man!"
"No, it wasn't. It was still alive," Sacium insisted, tearing off another chunk.
Ryan took a step back. "You've lost it."
Everyone stared at Sacium as if he had become something inhuman himself.
Before anyone could react further, everything suddenly went dark.
One by one, they all collapsed.
---
Helen drifted into unconsciousness, dreaming of healing light.
Four hours later, she was the first to wake up.
"Oh... I'm awake..."
She stirred and noticed another person moving.
"Jesse! Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah... I think so. And you?" Jesse replied groggily.
"I had a weird dream," Helen admitted. "I dreamed my wounds were healing."
Jesse blinked. "No way. I had a dream too... but in mine, I longed to see the truth."
He turned toward a wall at the far end of the room.
"Wait a second... I can see the patterns on that wall!
Helen's eyes widened. "Your vision improved?!"
Jesse nodded. "I think so."
A sense of urgency returned. "We need to wake the others!"
---
Thirty minutes later, everyone was awake. Seem like everyone have weird dream.
The teacher took charge. "Alright, class, it seems like Ryan knows the most about this place. Let's listen to him."
Ryan stepped forward, his voice firm. "Listen up! This place exists outside our reality. It's divided into different levels. We need to find an exit—and most importantly, we need to survive."
A heavy silence settled over the group.
Then, Ryan raised his hand. "Alright, let's move!"