Chapter 1

The school bell had barely rung when Rian found himself cornered behind the deserted chemistry lab. His back slammed against the rough cinder-block wall, making his white school uniform even dirtier.

"Where's the money? You promised you'd bring it today, didn't you?"

Farel tapped Rian's cheek with his index finger. His voice wasn't loud, but there was a clear threat in his tone. Two of his friends stood beside him with their arms crossed.

"I don't have it yet, Rel. My allowance is only enough to cover my angkot fare," Rian said quietly. His eyes lowered, staring at Farel's clean shoes.

"Always making excuses, you bastard."

BAM!

A hard shove sent the back of Rian's head crashing against the wall. A sharp, throbbing pain immediately spread through his skull. The pain wasn't just from the impact, though. There was something strange happening inside his brain—a bizarre dizziness that had been striking him without warning for the past few weeks.

"Hey, Farel! You're only brave when you've got two other guys backing you up!"

The hoarse shout came from behind a cluster of bushes. Bona jogged toward them, carrying a plastic bag filled with iced tea and fried snacks. Behind him, Aris strolled casually, twirling his motorcycle keys around his finger.

Farel turned around, his eyebrows drawing together. "Why the hell are you two getting involved?"

"Obviously, because Rian's our friend. If you need money so badly, go collect parking fees at the front gate instead of extorting your own classmates," Aris replied casually.

His expression was completely innocent, but his words immediately made Farel's face turn bright red.

"You guys think you're so damn clever!"

Farel stepped forward, ready to throw a punch at Aris, but Bona instinctively moved between them, spreading his arms wide.

"Whoa, easy there, Boss Farel! These fried snacks are still hot. Wouldn't want them messing up your expensive uniform, would you?" Bona said, holding out his bag of food.

Farel slapped the bag out of his hand, sending the fried snacks scattering across the ground.

"This isn't over, Rian. If you three don't pay up by tomorrow, you're all dead!"

After Farel and his gang walked away, cursing under their breath, Bona immediately crouched down to mourn his fallen snacks.

"Oh, my tempeh fritters... I didn't even get a single bite!"

Aris snorted before draping an arm around Rian's shoulders. Rian was still holding the back of his head.

"You okay, Yan? You look pale as hell."

"Just dizzy," Rian whispered.

He grabbed Aris's arm to steady himself.

Bona stood up, brushing the grease off his pants.

"Seriously, why'd you just stand there and let him demand money from you? You should've pretended to be possessed or something. That would've scared the hell out of Farel."

"Yeah, because that's totally believable, Bonyok," Aris shot back. "Come on, let's go. The motorcycle parking lot's gonna get crowded."

The three of them walked along the side corridor, which was gradually emptying out. Rian simply listened as Bona and Aris argued about a mobile game.

Despite their ridiculous antics, Rian knew perfectly well that the two of them had deliberately come to his rescue.

As they passed the staircase leading to the abandoned storage room at the back of the school, Rian's steps slowed.

On the slightly damp corridor floor lay a pink plastic hair clip.

"Yan, come on! What are you staring at?" Aris called from ahead.

"Just a second," Rian replied.

He crouched down and reached for the hair clip, his fingertips brushing against its cold plastic surface.

The moment his skin touched the clip, the dizziness in his head suddenly intensified tenfold.

His vision blurred completely. The voices of Aris and Bona vanished, replaced by a loud, piercing buzz that made his ears feel painfully blocked.

Inside his head, Rian felt as though he were being forced to watch a corrupted video recording.

He saw a girl—a student from this very school—being dragged through this dark corridor.

She was absolutely terrified, her eyes glistening with tears.

Then a tall figure appeared in front of her.

The person was holding a pair of heavy-duty cable cutters.

Click.

Rian heard the faint, sickening sound of bones cracking, followed by a muffled scream that abruptly cut off.

An overwhelming wave of terror flooded his chest.

It felt suffocating. Cold. Nauseating.

"Ahh!"

Rian released the hair clip and collapsed onto the concrete floor.

Tears streamed down his face uncontrollably. His chest heaved as though he had just escaped drowning.

Fresh blood began pouring from his left nostril, quickly dripping onto the dusty floor.

"Hey! Rian! What's wrong with you?!"

Bona rushed over and dropped to his knees beside him.

Aris, now panicking as well, knelt on Rian's other side.

"Why the hell is your nose bleeding so badly? Did Farel hit you in the face earlier?"

"N-no..." Rian's breathing was still ragged.

His mind was spinning violently. The images he'd just seen had felt far too real. He could still feel the pain in the girl's neck, as though it were spreading through his own.

"I... I don't know. It feels like my head's about to split open."

"Let's take him to the infirmary, Ris," Bona said anxiously.

Rian shook his head frantically.

With trembling fingers, he pointed toward the wooden storage-room door beneath the staircase, only a few meters away.

The door was slightly ajar, leaving a narrow gap that revealed nothing but darkness.

"In... inside there," he whispered.

"What's inside the storage room?" Aris asked in confusion, glancing at the dusty wooden door.

"Someone... covered in blood."

Aris and Bona exchanged glances.

The casual expression on Bona's face slowly twisted into fear.

"Yan, don't mess with us. That storage room's been locked since last year."

But Aris cautiously stepped toward the door.

He nudged it open slightly with the tip of his shoe.

The old wooden door creaked loudly.

A thick, rotten stench mixed with the sharp smell of blood immediately spilled out of the room, forcing Aris to clamp a hand over his nose.

"Fuck..." he whispered.

His hand trembled as he gripped the doorknob.

"Bon, Yan... get a teacher. Right now."