The cellar was mostly dark, except for the faint moonlight brushing the stairs.
My knees pressed against my chest. I'd lost track of how long I'd been sitting there.
The walls still felt wrong — too close, like a prison with its doors open.
But I didn't dare to leave.
I could barely see what was around me, but I knew too well what was there.
The bodies sat slumped on the floor, eyes half-open like broken dolls.
I'd dragged them in myself.
Across from me was the girl. Her back rested against the wall.
Belo still hadn't woken. I'd tried shaking him, calling his name — nothing. He kept stirring like he was trapped inside a nightmare he couldn't claw out of.
My hands were still shaking.
I could still recall the sound of their bodies hitting the ground, the drag marks across the dust.
My fingers had gone stiff, numb.
This shouldn't have happened.
Maybe it didn't.
I could be dreaming about all this — before the exam, before the calls — maybe I was still talking in my sleep while Mike hit the bed again, telling me to shut up like he always did.
And this time, he just didn't hit hard enough to wake me.
But everything felt too real.
The scent of dust.
The rustle of dry leaves in the corners.
This can't be a dream.
It's a reality where I couldn't do anything — not even call for help.
The phones were busted.
And even if they worked… what would I say?
If anyone saw me now, they'd think I'd built a grave down here.
A grave for a grudge — maybe a grudge against a smuggler.
Maybe for a missing brother.
Mike.
What kind of danger had he fallen into?
And why was I the only one still awake?
Somewhere along the line, I must've stepped into that place.
And dragged everyone else in with me.
I didn't know how, but I knew one thing for sure.
I was tied to it.
And to Mike.
I glanced at the girl and replayed her words for what felt like the hundredth time.
"If he disappeared, I would be the one who'd know what to do."
Her eyes twitched before she forced them open, confusion fogging her expression.
She pressed her palms against her head and groaned. Then she bit her lip, as if pain was the only thing keeping her conscious.
"How...long have we...been here?" Her voice trembled. She crossed her arms, rubbing them as if she were freezing.
I'd forgotten about the cold. My focus had been swallowed by everything that happened.
"Probably...two...or three hours," I muttered.
Then, after a moment, I added, "Maybe more. I...don't know. Would it even...matter?"
She didn't respond. Her gaze shifted to Belo, who stirred faintly on the ground.
I wanted to check him, but something in me resisted—the fear that he wouldn't wake up at all.
It would have been better if I just slept and never wake up again.
To stay here forever...alone.
"You've been...infected," the girl said suddenly, cutting through my thoughts.
I raised my head slowly. "Infected?"
Compared to the state I was in before coming here, I probably wouldn't tell the difference.
"It's...nonsense. I don't see infection anywhere."
"It's...mental," she said, voice unsteady.
"Don't...let it reach your brain."
She grimaced, trying to sit upright, then looked at Belo. "We all...are. Your brother is fighting it."
The word brother lingered in my ears. A quick flashes resurfaced my memory of why I was here.
I was looking for Mike.
Belo came with me.
"Belo!"
I snapped out and looked around me.
Belo was there as I laid him on the ground.
I moved closer to him, panic clawing through my numbness.
'Was I ignoring Belo for the past hours? Was that...the mental infection?'
My heart skipped a beat.
I pulled him into my lap, holding him tight.
"Belo, wake up," I whispered.
'Please don't scare me. I wish I'd answered your calls. I wish you had never come here.'
His skin was cold—too cold—but it wasn't death. It was a chill that clings to you after coming back from that place.
I looked at Belo and I tried to understand how mental infection was applied.
If it affected me like that, what was it doing to Belo to not wake up?
It was not logical.
And the other unconscious bodies stayed motionless—eyes empty, frozen in some invisible nightmare.
They looked worse.
"Why would we get infected from a place?" I muttered to myself.
She dropped her gaze.
"You..shouldn't be...able to cross."
"I warned...Mike," she coughed, then continued.
"He must've...found a way...to anchor you there."
Her words came out as she struggled to speak.
Every word she uttered feels like its weighing on her breath.
'I better leave her for now she could be hallucinating, but what she said about Mike, it doesn't help.'
It always comes back to him. To his mess. I felt the walls closing in — like the air itself was sick of his name.
I shifted Belo in my arms, lifting him just enough to stand. My legs trembled as I carried him.
"I don't care what he did. I am going back to the dorm and call for help."
I took a step, then I froze.
Whatever pulled me into that place could happen again—and if Belo was safe now, I might drag him right back into it.
I laid Belo in front of her, hesitating for a second before letting go.
"Please watch him until I get back."
She nodded once.
That was enough for me. She could barely move… but I still trusted her. Someone had to watch Belo.
I climbed up the stairs, then threw one last glance back into the cellar before stepping outside.
I closed the door tightly, like keeping it shut would keep the nightmare inside.
***
The forest felt quieter than before, the silence heavy enough to swallow my footsteps.
I hurried through, dried leaves cracking beneath me until the campus lights came into view.
'I need something to help me carry them inside the campus.'
After a moment of thought, I changed my direction and headed downstairs.
Inside the gym, the clatter of weights and strained grunts stretched thin, distant but sharp enough to make me flinch.
I kept my head down, grabbed a wheelchair from the corner, and pushed it through the hall until I reached my room.
The door slammed behind me.
For a moment, I just stood there, breathing hard in the dark.
Then I started grabbing everything I could—blanket, painkillers, charger—anything that might keep things from falling apart.
But before I could open the door, someone knocked.
My heartbeat spiked.
10 p.m. No one should be here.
I dragged the wheelchair behind the door, covered it with the blanket, and cracked the door open just enough to see.
It wasn't a cleaning staff or a campus security guard.
It was Bryan, the head of the student council.
The kind of person who could make you feel guilty even if you hadn't done anything.
The last face I wanted to see tonight.
And with what I'd seen in that cellar, panic took over me.
I held my breath and forced a smile.
"Hello, Bryan. Something wrong? Can't it wait until tomorrow?"
He frowned, flipping through a notepad.
"Sorry to show up this late, but something unusual's happened today. Five students have gone missing. We can't reach any of them. I wanted to ask if you knew anything."
My breath was stuck in my lungs.
"Missing? Today?" I asked, stalling.
"Don't investigations like that take at least twenty-four hours?"
He didn't even blink. His gaze turned sharper, his tone colder.
"You don't sound too concerned, Mr. Carl. You didn't even ask who they were."
I forced myself to sound normal, but I ended too normal.
"Right. Sorry. I wasn't aware until you said it." I reached for the words like they could cover what I said.
"So—who are they? If I come across them, I'll let you know."
He handed me a printed sheet.
Four familiar faces. The same students I'd seen near the exchange.
And the girl.
Tia.
My pulse quickened.
Each name felt like a haunted line, accusing me of their disappearance.
I wanted to say it out loud what happened to these students, but I know the outcome would be worse.
I needed to understand it so I could explain it.
I scanned the page again, searching for Mike's name.
Nothing.
That's when it hit me — I was supposed to report him missing.
I was his brother. His roommate.
And I hadn't done a thing.
My fingers tightened around the paper before I realized Bryan was still watching me.
His eyes flicked over my clothes, his tone turning suspicious.
"…Why do you have dust all over your clothes?"
For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.