I Killed The Main Characters

Chapter 170: Build Up [3]

The dorm room of Princess Elara was usually her haven.

A warm, serene retreat where the faint patter of rain on the window often lulled her to sleep.

Tonight, as the princess lay cocooned in her bed, a heavy silence had settled over Silvercrest Hall.

One that seemed to seep into her dreams and make them strange, fragmented.

Elara's eyelids fluttered open briefly.

Her room appeared as it always did.

Soft amber light spilling from the sconce near her desk.

The rain-streaked window casting faint shadows across the ornate furnishings.

But as she blinked again, the vision faltered.

The light seemed to dim, the warm hues replaced by something cold, something… wrong.

Her heart quickened as she sat up.

Blinking furiously, hoping to shake away the distortion.

But it only grew worse.

Her once-pristine room now looked aged and desolate.

The walls cracked and peeling, the window smeared with grime.

The sconce flickered weakly, casting jagged shadows across the rotted floorboards.

A chill seeped into her bones as the sound of creaking echoed faintly in the air, though nothing moved.

'What is this?'

Elara thought, her hands clutching the threadbare blanket that had replaced her silk coverlet.

Her breath fogged in the sudden cold.

And the rain that usually lulled her seemed to have stopped entirely.

The silence was oppressive, thick like a shroud draped over the dormitory.

And then, the voice came.

"Elara…"

It was faint.

Barely more than a whisper.

But it sent a jolt through her chest.

The voice was melodic, almost kind.

But there was something else beneath it—something sharp, something… hungry.

"Elara… come…"

The princess froze, her eyes darting around the room.

She called out hesitantly, her voice trembling.

"Who's there?"

No answer came, only the echo of her own voice.

Stretched and distorted until it sounded like a stranger's.

And then, the whisper again.

"Come to me… I'm waiting…"

The words slithered through the air, curling around her ears like tendrils.

Against every rational thought, she found herself rising from the bed.

Her bare feet meeting the icy, splintered floor.

Her instincts screamed for her to stay, to lock the door and wait for the dawn.

But her legs moved of their own accord, as though the voice itself had taken control.

As she stepped out of her room, the hallway of Silvercrest Hall was unrecognizable.

What was once a gleaming corridor of polished wood and golden light was now a shadowy expanse of decay.

The walls were lined with faded portraits whose subjects seemed to watch her with hollow, accusing eyes.

Cobwebs stretched across the ceiling.

And the floor creaked with every step, as though it might give way beneath her weight.

"Elara…"

The whisper came again, louder now, echoing down the hallway.

She turned her head sharply, but saw nothing.

"Where are you?"

She called, her voice shaky.

"Closer… so close…"

The whisper seemed to dance around her.

Coming from everywhere and nowhere at once.

She gripped the edge of a rusted railing as she descended the staircase.

Her heart pounding in her chest.

The portraits lining the walls seemed to warp as she passed.

Their faces twisting into expressions of pain and malice.

"Where is everyone?"

She whispered to herself.

Her voice barely audible over the pounding in her ears.

Silvercrest Hall was always bustling with the chatter of students, the clatter of footsteps, the hum of life.

But now it was deathly silent, save for the whisper that beckoned her deeper into the darkness.

At the foot of the staircase, a door creaked open on its own, revealing a hallway she did not recognize.

It stretched impossibly long.

The dim light of flickering candles barely illuminating the way.

Shadows danced along the walls, their movements unnatural, almost alive.

"Elara…"

The voice was clearer now, sweeter, dripping with a strange allure that sent shivers down her spine.

She could hear it calling to her, promising safety, warmth, answers.

Against her better judgment, she followed, each step echoing eerily in the emptiness.

As she walked, the shadows grew bolder, elongating and shifting.

Taking on vague humanoid forms that seemed to watch her with unseen eyes.

She tried not to look at them, tried to keep her gaze fixed ahead.

But the sensation of being followed, surrounded, was overwhelming.

The hallway ended abruptly, opening into a massive, dilapidated atrium.

The ceiling was shattered, exposing the night sky, though no stars shone.

Instead, an oppressive darkness loomed above, heavy and impenetrable.

The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and decay.

"Elara… this way…"

The voice was impossibly close now, coming from just beyond a pair of ancient, rusted doors that seemed to tremble with anticipation.

She hesitated, her hand hovering above the corroded handle.

"Don't be afraid…"

The whisper cooed.

Her fingers closed around the handle before she could stop herself.

And the door creaked open with a deafening groan.

Beyond it was the academy grounds, but they were not as she remembered them.

The manicured gardens were overgrown with blackened vines that twisted and writhed like living things.

The sky was an unnatural shade of deep red, casting a bloody glow over everything.

"Where am I?"

Shee murmured, stepping out into the chilling air.

"Home…"

The voice replied, almost lovingly.

"Come, Ellara… you're so close now…"

Her steps carried her toward the forest at the edge of the academy.

A place students were forbidden to enter at night.

The trees loomed like skeletal sentinels, their bare branches clawing at the crimson sky.

As she entered the forest, the temperature dropped further.

Her breath visible in the air.

The path was narrow, winding through the dense trees that seemed to close in around her.

The voice was all she could hear now, guiding her deeper into the woods.

"You'll understand soon."

It whispered.

Her pulse quickened as the trees began to thin, revealing a clearing bathed in an eerie, pale light.

At its center stood an ancient cemetery.

The gravestones crooked and weathered, their inscriptions long faded.

A dense fog clung to the ground, swirling around her ankles as she stepped closer.

The voice was louder now, almost jubilant.

"You've found it, Elara… you've found me…"

Her eyes scanned the cemetery, but there was no one there.

Only the graves, the silence, and the unbearable sense of being watched.

"Where are you?"

She demanded, her voice trembling.

"In every shadow… in every breath…"

The voice replied.

Its tone shifting, becoming darker, more menacing.

The ground beneath her feet seemed to shift, the fog rising like a living thing, curling around her legs, her arms, her throat.

She tried to scream, but the sound was swallowed by the oppressive silence.

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