Incident

“Why did you want us to go out with those guys?” Iris kept asking me.

“Just going with them once doesn’t mean people will think we’re their friends,” I whispered back.

I don’t actually look down on people like that. But I do want to avoid being teased by my very limited circle of friends. I just hope this isn’t a mistake. I hope we actually find something.

On the outskirts of town, past the train station, the urban scenery gradually gave way to something greener—thicker, more overgrown.

Julian, one of the guys—the one with the shaved head and square glasses—was wearing very slim headphones with a metallic-colored cable that gleamed in the light. The ear cushions looked comfortable, or at least I assumed so, since he hadn’t taken them off during the now twenty-minute walk.

The other two girls seemed distant. They didn’t try to talk to us. Ever since we joined them, they’d subtly drifted away.

“I had no idea you were into this kind of stuff,” one of the boys said shyly. “I’m Marcos.” He raised a sweaty hand to greet me.

Not wanting to be rude, I shook it.

Then I had to wipe my palm on Iris’s shirt.

“Hey! What are you doing?!” she complained. “You’re going to stain it!”

After several more minutes, we reached what looked like a ruined building, covered in moss and surrounded by small wild creatures. Not bears or anything like that—just squirrels and large rodents.

The inside was filled with trash. The walls were cracked beyond repair.

“How long has this place been like this?” Iris asked.

“Not long,” Julian replied. “It was built two years ago.”

“It looks like a bomb went off in here.”

We struggled up the stairs. They were in terrible condition—you could see the inner structure exposed.

Then the one leading us suddenly stopped.

“Here it is. Look.”

On the wall, there was a bloodstain.

No—more than that.

It had the shape of some kind of symbol.

No one could make sense of it.

My skin prickled if I stared at it too long.

We went deeper into the suffocating darkness that swallowed the building. The smell was nauseating. Iris still looked irritated with me.

When we stepped through what was supposed to be the emergency exit on the third floor, the atmosphere shifted.

It became heavy.

As if dark thoughts began resurfacing—the kind everyone has. The kind that make you lose track of time and don’t realize where they’ve been leading you. The kind that make you want to regret everything when the rope is already tight around your neck.

I felt nauseous. I wanted to throw up. This place repulsed me.

My face was probably pale from trying not to vomit up my entire lunch.

We stopped to rest. Everyone seemed equally affected. One of them offered me water.

While we leaned back against the wall, I noticed Marcos standing frozen, staring at a section covered in strange symbols. Counting the one downstairs, there were five in total.

“Marcos,” I called. “Is something wrong?”

“He said my name.”

“He?”

A purple mist flooded the room.

A rough, deep voice welcomed us.

“Oh… children…”

The entity approached softly.

“Children…”

It revealed itself.

It had the body of a man.

Distorted. Tall. With exaggerated limbs. Its teeth protruded like blades.

It stood in the center of the room.

Then it began to dance.

Slithering and circling around each of us, making faces and sounds like a circus clown.

Again.

And again.

And again.

I looked at the others.

Fear wasn’t enough to describe their expressions.

Terrified? Far beyond that.

How do you even explain a being like this?

I glanced at Iris and made a subtle gesture.

“Let’s get out of here,” I whispered.

While the rest remained hypnotized, we slipped away on tiptoe.

We descended the stairs. Neither of us spoke.

What are you even supposed to say in a situation like this?

“Sorry,” I suppose that’ll be the first thing I say once we get home.

Iris’s face showed something I had never seen before. She’s always so cheerful, carefree, lively. Sometimes I forget she’s capable of looking like this.

It was foolish of me to think people are always what they seem.

Then—

Screams.

From upstairs.

From the ones we left behind.

We stopped.

We looked at each other.

Guilt reflected back at us.

“Should we go back for them?”

Without thinking, Iris grabbed my arm.

“It’s too late for that.”

We covered the last few meters to the exit.

When we pushed the door open, our hearts trembled again.

“You really are inconvenient,” a pale woman was waiting for us. “Ah, Cloe… you’re such a nuisance.”

The woman—or rather, creature… monster?—stepped in front of us.

Which could only mean this place was important to them.

“I’ll see if I can rescue at least one,” she sighed. “My cousin usually doesn’t leave even the bones.”

With a vertical leap, she vanished from sight. Like a rocket. The force of her jump made the ground tremble.

Screams echoed from the upper floors.

It sounded like a slaughterhouse.

Then the sky, tinted red, and a sharp whistle made us freeze.

From the bushes, a figure emerged.

“LET US GO!” Iris screamed. “I’ll call the police!” She was desperate.

So was I.

But I couldn’t speak. Fear sealed my throat.

A man wrapped in bandages limped toward us.

He held a gun in his left hand.

With what little courage I had, I stepped in front of Iris.

What are you doing?!

It was my fault she was here.

I wanted to fix it somehow.

But my legs were shaking so badly I’d probably collapse before feeling the bullet.

I just hope she can find help in the seconds I buy her.

A gunshot—

Where am I?

Everything is black.

I hear someone’s voice in the distance.

“Cloe!”

My eyelids feel heavy. But if I force them open, I can see just enough.

The man is chasing Iris.

He’s about to catch her.

I hope he doesn't. .

Oh God.

Iris was right.

We never should have come here.