CHAPTER 2 - THE MONSTER*

*CHAPTER 2 - THE MONSTER - EXTENDED*

_In the blink of an eye, everything changed. No light, no sound, no portal. Just blink - and you're not where you were._

_The 15 students of class 11/C suddenly fell from their desks onto the concrete schoolyard. Not fell, slammed. Like someone picked up the classroom and shook it out like a rug._

_Without understanding what was happening, they all experienced the same shock. Same cold concrete on knees, same dust in mouth._

_A buzzing panic suddenly erupted in the yard, 15 voices at once._

"What the hell is going on?!" someone shouted, that was Erkan, holding his elbow, bleeding.

_Another, Simge, grabbed the concrete in disbelief, scratching it with nails:_ "Is this a dream? Pinch me! Someone pinch me! Is this a dream?!"

_From the back, a trembling girl's voice rose, Beyza, hugging herself:_ "I'm scared... Mom... I want my mom..."

_What was truly strange wasn't just this teleportation. It was what came after. The outside world of the schoolyard was completely frozen. No sound of a car from the main road where there are always cars. No human noise from the neighborhood where aunties always shout. Not even a whisper of wind, even though trees were there. Nothing. The city was shrouded in a deep, absolute silence. Like someone pressed mute on the world. Like they were inside a snow globe._

_The kids turned around and looked at the massive building. The school was a symmetrical structure with blue-white outer walls and a tiled roof, consisting of 5 floors and a basement. The place they were in was a copy of their own school, but completely deserted. No lights in any window. No janitor. No flag waving. A dead copy._

_Right then, everyone's gaze locked upwards at the same time. Instinct. Like prey feeling predator._

_In one of the windows on the 3rd floor, where their classrooms were, specifically 11/C window, a black figure appeared just behind the dirty glass. Not standing close, standing far back in the classroom. This shadow was humanoid but made entirely of abstraction, no face, no clothes, just black, standing completely still, watching them. It became even more distinct in the middle of the deep silence because it didn't move while everything else was panic._

_In the midst of the collapse in the yard, the first to act was Haydarcan. This 175cm tall young man with black straight hair falling over his forehead and a tan complexion, always the "I don't care" guy, didn't think for a second before turning toward the building's entrance door. His intention was clear; he was going to get his bag left in the classroom on the 3rd floor. Because his vape was in it, his money was in it._

_Seeing him, Beyza quickly stepped forward, grabbing his sleeve. The 155cm tall girl with shiny brown hair, fair skin and brown eyes warned him again in a trembling voice, eyes still on that eerie shadow on the 3rd floor that seemed to look directly at her:_

_BEYZA:_ "Don't go inside, it's very dangerous! Didn't you see that thing? That thing in our class? Please Haydarcan, don't!"

_Haydarcan stopped and hissed at Beyza over his shoulder with a mocking tone, yanking his sleeve away, annoyed that a girl is telling him what to do:_

_HAYDARCAN:_ "Cut the crap. There are no such things as monsters. They're all just products of imagination. Movies. You watch too much TikTok, Beyza. It's a trick. Someone is projecting."

_Right then, Kerem from the group stepped forward, protective over Beyza. With yellow, spiky hair, fair skin and hazel eyes, the 180cm tall boy stood in front of Haydarcan and asked harshly, getting in his face:_

_KEREM:_ "Then how do you explain us being teleported here? Is that a product of imagination too? Explain that, scientist? How did we go from desk to concrete in one second?"

_Haydarcan didn't back down. He squared his jaw and replied, making up theory on spot, because he hates being wrong:_

_HAYDARCAN:_ "I don't know... Maybe our government is conducting a simulation experiment on us. Maybe we're currently in an advanced virtual reality world. Like that Black Mirror episode. Maybe we are in a test."

_Kerem laughed mockingly, loud, making his tone even more serious as he responded, because Haydarcan always does this:_

_KEREM:_ "Forget our country, the technology to do something like this hasn't even been developed in the world yet. And as if the government has nothing better to do than to teleport Haydarcan into a virtual world! Yes bro, government said 'let's teleport the kid who fails math'!"

_Haydarcan, as if tired of the argument, waved his hand dismissively, turning his back._ "Ugh, I can't deal with your cowardice. I'm leaving. I'm a man, not a chicken. Does anyone want their bag while I'm there? No? Fine, die here."

_As everyone fell silent, scared to go, Kerem sighed in exasperation and turned away, pulling Beyza back._

_KEREM:_ "Go do whatever the hell you want. Don't say we didn't warn you if something happens. Don't scream for help."

_Haydarcan entered the school. The heavy iron door creaked, then slammed behind him by itself, making everyone outside jump._

_As Haydarcan stepped inside the building, he was met with the cold silence of the ground floor, colder than outside, like a fridge. The entrance floor was split into two, right and left. On the right were the stairs leading to the upper floors, dark, with one flickering fluorescent. While on the left was a narrow but long corridor leading to the school cafeteria, pitch black. Without wasting any time, Haydarcan turned right; his only goal was to quickly climb the stairs and get his bag from his classroom. He started humming to seem brave._

_As he climbed the first floor, a strange, muffled murmur that sounded like a human voice echoed from above. Not words, just "mmmmmm" like someone humming with mouth closed. Haydarcan turned his attention to where the sound came from. But there was nothing in the stairwell, just peeling paint. He swallowed and whispered to himself: "I must just be scared. Acoustics. School acoustics."_

_He quickened his pace, taking the steps two at a time, shoes echoing loud, and finally reached the third floor where the 11th graders were. The third floor corridor was longer than he remembered, lights off, only light from windows, dust floating. His classroom was at the very end of the corridor, 11-C sign crooked. He walked down the dim hallway, each step echoing, opened the door to his classroom and went in, breathing hard._

_The moment he entered, his eyes went straight to the blackboard, because something was on it. Written in large letters with white chalk, fresh, dust still falling, was a single sentence: "WE WARNED YOU."_

_Haydarcan thought it was just a stupid joke by his friends who came before him. Angrily, he grabbed the chalkboard eraser from the teacher's desk and walked to the board. He pressed the eraser down hard and completely wiped the writing away, angry, leaving a big dusty smear. But the moment he pulled the eraser back, white writing began to appear on the black surface by itself, as if writing from inside the board, bleeding through:_

_"YOU CAN'T ERASE THE PAST, HAYDARCAN."_

_Haydarcan was shocked by what he saw. His breath was caught, his hands were shaking, eraser dropped. Pulling himself together, he scrubbed the eraser on the board again, scraping at it like crazy, like mad, chalk dust all over his hands, his uniform, coughing. But when he lowered the eraser, gasping, new writing appeared among the chalk dust, smaller, mocking:_

_"WHAT'S WRONG, ARE YOU SCARED? YOU WEREN'T SCARED WHEN YOU DID IT."_

_Right then, footsteps echoed in the empty corridor. Slow, heavy, barefoot-like. Haydarcan's heart was pounding with fear, cold sweat trickling down his temples into his eyes. Just as he held his breath, holding eraser like weapon, a silhouette appeared at the threshold of the classroom door. It was his classmate Cenk. Cenk was a young man, 171cm tall, with green eyes, black hair and a tan complexion, breathing hard._

_Haydarcan let out a deep breath of relief, almost crying:_

_HAYDARCAN:_ "You scared the shit out of me! Fucking hell Cenk! Don't sneak!"

_Cenk's face was pale white, eyes wide, and he called out urgently, not even listening:_

_CENK:_ "Is this really the time? We have to get out of here right now! The thing... it... I saw it downstairs!"

"Did you hear that thing too?" Haydarcan asked, pointing at the writing on the board that now said "ARE YOU SCARED?"

_Cenk was holding the door frame, shaking. "Yes, but there's no time to talk about this now, we have to run! It's coming up the stairs! I heard it!"_

_Right then, behind Cenk, in the dim light of the corridor, a jet-black creature about 2.50 meters tall appeared silently. No footsteps. Just there. This humanoid but gigantic shadow figure towered over Cenk, its head almost touching ceiling, arms too long, fingers too long._

_Haydarcan's eyes bulged, he couldn't even scream, only whisper:_

_HAYDARCAN:_ "Cenk, behind you! BEHIND YOU!"

_Cenk slowly turned his head, slow motion, like in nightmare where you can't move fast. At the sight of that huge darkness, that void with faint red eyes, his knees buckled with fear and he fell to the ground with a thud. Haydarcan, meanwhile, was leaning against the wall with his hands outstretched, pleading to the creature, not to Cenk:_

_HAYDARCAN:_ "Please, please don't hurt us... we didn't do anything..."

_But the black creature ignored Haydarcan completely. It lunged toward Cenk on the floor, not walking, gliding. Seeing the monster moving toward Cenk, Haydarcan decided in a split second - that second that defines who you are - to leave his friend there and quickly run out of the classroom, to get away from there. Selfish, but human._

_Cenk, writhing on the floor, reaching out, shouted after him, voice breaking:_

_CENK:_ "Don't run! Help me, you asshole! Haydarcan! HELP ME! Don't leave me!"

_Before leaving through the door, Haydarcan looked back over his shoulder one last time, guilty but scared more than guilty._ "I'm sorry Cenk, should I put myself in danger too? You're on your own! Sorry!"

"Bastard! Bastard! I'll kill you!" Cenk roared, crying now.

_Without looking back, Haydarcan ran toward the stairs, down, stumbling, almost falling, and got away. His footsteps echoing away._

_Cenk, left alone with the creature in the classroom, continued to beg in terror, snot and tears mixing:_

_CENK:_ "Please don't hurt me... I'll do anything! I'll do anything you want! Please!"

_The creature grabbed Cenk's throat with its huge right hand, fingers wrapping completely around, and lifted him into the air in a single motion, feet dangling. As Cenk gasped and struggled, kicking air, the monster extended its left hand, which was glowing red hot, and placed something like a seal on Cenk's forehead, pressing hard. Sssssst! Smoke. This seal resembled a sinister devil without a tongue, eyes stitched. After carving the seal onto Cenk's forehead, the monster simply dropped him like trash and vanished into the darkness in an instant, like smoke sucked into vent._

_Cenk lay on ground, holding forehead, screaming, smoke rising from his skin._

_Meanwhile, out of breath, Haydarcan had made it down to the second floor, leaning on wall, heart about to explode. When he stopped at the top of the stairs, he couldn't believe his eyes. Standing before him, completely fine, not burned, not scared, was Cenk. Same uniform, same face, no mark? No, mark there but faint._

_Haydarcan stammered and stepped back, almost falling down stairs:_

_HAYDARCAN:_ "You... How? Weren't you behind me, man?! I saw... I saw it grab you!"

_Cenk frowned in confusion, annoyed._ "What the hell are you talking about? We ran together, are you out of your mind? I was in front of you! You pushed me!"

_Haydarcan's mind went blank, and he shouted like he'd gone crazy, grabbing his hair:_

_HAYDARCAN:_ "Screw you! You were behind me, I left you! It grabbed you! I heard you scream!"

_CENK:_ "What do you mean 'left'? Is this really what we're arguing about right now? The monster could show up any second! Are you hallucinating from fear?!"

_Haydarcan looked at Cenk's forehead. For a second, he swore he saw something glowing under skin, then gone. He blinked._

_HAYDARCAN (whispering to himself):_ "I guess you're right... I must've gone paranoid from fear... yeah... paranoid..."

_But Cenk smiled slightly when Haydarcan wasn't looking. A smile that wasn't Cenk's._

*2. Episode End*