SERAPHINA'S POV
My idea of payback is possibly the cheesiest thing Artemis will ever see in his life. I plan to do something grand enough to shake the feeling of being indebted to him.
What do I do instead?
I plan a modest snack table featuring the best items the school's vending machines can offer, complete with a side of ketchup and my laptop for another scary movie night.
Compared to the elaborate hangout he planned before, mine feels like child's play.
But I guess he'll just have to take what he gets?
By the time I'm done setting up, I can't help but notice how shabby and empty the table looks from my perspective. It makes me wonder how he managed to order pizza and stock up on all those snacks before.
Exhausted, I decide to leave things as they are.
Just then, a knock on the door jolts me from my thoughts, and I head over to answer it.
"Heads up, Artemis. It's not the best, but just know it's all worth three hours of hard human effort," I explain as I pull the door open.
To my surprise, no one's there.
I raise an eyebrow and scan the hallway in both directions, but it's empty-no one in sight but me. Deciding it must have been my imagination, I close the door.
But then, the knock comes again: three times, each separated by a second, making the situation all the more ominous.
I turn around and pull the door open again, and just like before, no one's there.
"The hell..." I mutter under my breath, clicking my tongue as I slam the door shut.
Almost on cue, another knock resounds.
"Artemis, if that's you, cut the games; this isn't funny," I say, choosing to ignore it this time.
I move toward my new bed and take a seat. Yet the knocking continues, each knock growing louder with every second I ignore it.
One.
Two.
Three.
"Artemis, I mean it. Stop!" I yell, but it doesn't stop.
Instead, whoever it is reaches for the doorknob roughly, trying to get the door open while knocking more erratically. Each thud sends a shiver down my spine, and my heart races with a growing sense of unease.
I remain silent, sitting on my bed and moving backward for the first time, feeling a little frightened, while wondering what the heck is going on.
Just then, it all seizes at once - the knocking and shaking of the door knob - leaving an eerie stillness that's even more unsettling than the previous chaos.
I'm greeted with nothing but silence again, a crippling, bone-curling silence that echoes in its own way. It is so thick it feels suffocating.
With great caution, I move towards the door once more, placing one foot ahead of the other in slow, calculated steps.
My heart pounds in my chest with each cautious movement, and every nerve in my body is on edge. Until I'm standing right in front of it.
"Artemis, this is your last chance to fess up, or I'll get really mad," I say in a hushed tone, my hand trembling as it reaches for the doorknob.
The moment I touch the doorknob once more, I feel a chill that wasn't there before, and then, without warning, the lights in the room go out, leaving me in complete darkness.
The only source of illumination is a faint sliver of the moon's light reflecting through the window.
"Shit," I swear under my breath, my heart racing even faster. I fumble for my phone, abandoning my door mission.
Now, I'm certain that this is some sick joke planned by Artemis and his friends. It clearly has him written all over it, along with the typical trick of cutting the lights to get me scared.
I watch horror movies way too often for something as petty as this to get to me.
I find my phone and turn on the lights, scanning my surroundings. That's when I notice the most precarious and crazy thing I've seen all day.
Where the fuck is my shadow?
It sounds bizarre just thinking about it. Who looks for their shadow? Everyone just knows that it's always there, a constant companion.
But it isn't.
Mine isn't.
As I peer around me where the cloak of darkness should be, resembling my silhouette, it's...absent.
"Maybe I've finally lost my mind," I whisper.
Maybe all the stress has gotten to me, and I'm now delusional, imagining things that aren't there. Or perhaps this is another nightmare.
I must've laid back for a nap while waiting for Artemis, plunging into that usual, weird vivid dream where up is down and down is up.
However, something black shifts in the corner of my vision just as I hear my name whispered, carried by a wind-like rush.
"Sera..." It caresses my ear, sending a shiver down my spine.
Pointing my light in that direction, I draw closer, chasing after what seems to be my own shadow. What is happening? I'm definitely losing it.
The shadowy form darts into a corner like a squirming rat. I go after it, shoving things aside, but before I can touch it, it slips away again. My heart pounds as I desperately try to wrap my head around this.
For nearly five agonizing minutes, I play literal tag with this shifty brat.
Just as it's about to dash away again, I stomp on it, halting it in its tracks. The human-like smear of darkness struggles, contorting itself in a desperate bid for freedom.
But there's no escaping now.
Finally, it ceases its struggle-surrendering, or so I think.
"What the fuck are you?" I try to keep the quiver out of my voice, leaning closer to examine this entity, and probably question my own sanity while I'm at it.
For a moment, it's docile, eerily quiet.
Then it begins to transform, morphing into a four-legged beast that swells in size until it nearly grazes the ceiling. Its red eyes lock onto mine, and it emits a wolf-like growl that reverberates through the room.
My phone slips from my trembling hands, clattering to the floor as I stand there, paralyzed with fear.
A voice inside me screams that this is just a dream, but what dream has ever felt this real? I can almost feel individual beads of sweat trickling down my spine.
Suddenly, it roars ferociously, snapping me out of my fear-stricken trance just in time for me to dodge its lunging strike.
The creature pursues me relentlessly, swiping at everything in its path, reducing Artemis' room to ruins in its desperate attempt to reach me. Somehow, I manage to evade each attack, diving under tables and darting into corners.
But as I make another attempt to escape, its claws graze me.
I gasp, feeling the vivid pain and smelling the fresh blood that begins to ooze from my flesh. A horrifying realization dawns on me: I'm being attacked by a shadow demon.
Frantically, I search for a weapon, my hands gripping a jagged piece of wood from the shattered wardrobe.
Poised and ready, I wait for the perfect moment to strike. That moment comes when the beast lunges for another attack.
I sidestep swiftly, stabbing its outstretched paw the second its guard drops. The creature lets out a guttural roar of pain and stumbles back, its once-aggressive movements now faltering.
Its labored breathing subsides as it shrinks in size, ultimately disintegrating into a burst of black smoke that vanishes into nothingness.
I scan my surroundings, heart still racing.
My shadow is there, unremarkable as ever, mimicking my every move as if the ordeal had never happened.
Then it comes-the knock.
A creeping red-light seeps through the keyhole, casting a haunting glow. That familiar growl vibrates from the other side of the door, sending a chill down my spine.
The beast is back-only this time, it's on the other side.
But this time, I'm prepared.
Gripping my makeshift weapon, I swing the door open with adrenaline-fueled speed, arm raised for a more powerful strike.
"Sera!"
My name echoes far louder than before and tinged with a voice I recognize. The world around me begins to crumble, shattering into a million pieces, and suddenly, I'm yanked back into what feels like reality.
The lights are on-perhaps they were never off.
I find myself standing in the hallway, a knife now in my hand, replacing the piece of wood from earlier. And there, instead of the menacing beast, stands Artemis.
His blue eyes are wide with shock as he gently but firmly holds back my knife-wielding hand.
The gravity of what I've almost done hits me.
Recoiling, I let the knife clatter to the floor, staring at it-then at Artemis-with a confusion more profound than ever before.
I look back at Artemis, his eyes holding a blend of questions and concern. It's so intense, I'm left speechless.
"Sera? Are you okay?"
"I-I..." My voice falters, and suddenly, nothing makes sense.
"What's going on?" He presses, more worried than mad.
Closing the gap between us, he holds my trembling hands in his own. That's when I realize-my whole body is shaking, rattled to the core.
He studies my face, his gaze searching for answers, until something else abruptly steals his attention. He inhales sharply.
"What happened to the room?"
His question turns my attention to the chaos behind me.
The room is utterly wrecked.
Sheets shredded, furniture shattered-as if a hurricane tore through this very space. And the snacks I'd carefully prepared? Now just crumbled remnants scattered across the floor.
"I c-can explain," I stammer, trailing him into the gutted room.
But can I really? Do I even understand what happened here?
"Did you do this?" His gaze swings back to me, loaded with new questions.
My head shakes almost involuntarily. My voice is stuck, still lodged somewhere between confusion and disbelief.
How did the room get so wrecked?
Where did the knife come from?
How did this chaos happen?
Nothing makes sense; nothing feels real.
I thought it was a dream. But what if-what if it wasn't?