Echoes of Red [BINI AU]

Chapter 17

Third Person's Point Of View

As they moved down the corridor, a group of weird students suddenly appeared, their eyes vacant and movements jerky.

The students spotted them and began to chase, their footsteps growing louder and more frantic.

"Takbo!" Mikha shouted, pushing Stacey and Maloi ahead of her.

The three of them sprinted, but the students were gaining on them.

Maloi and Stacey got trapped in a dead-end hallway, the students closing in on them.

In a split-second decision, Mikha veered off, shouting to draw the students away from her friends. "Nandito ako! Mga kumag!" she yelled.

The group of students changed direction, pursuing Mikha as she ran up the stairs. "Please, Find Sheena!" Mikha shouted to Stacey and Maloi. "Ako bahala sa kanila!"

Maloi hesitated, ready to follow Mikha, but Stacey grabbed her arm, shaking her head. "We don't have time! We need to find Sheena now!"

With a heavy heart, Maloi just followed Stacey, the two of them started searching for Sheena's room, but it was difficult with more weird students in the hallways.

Meanwhile, Mikha was panting as she ran, spotting a room and trying desperately to open it.

The door was locked.

"Please, someone open the door!" Mikha yelled, banging on it as she felt the students' presence closing in.

She looked back in fear, seeing the students almost upon her.

Just as panic threatened to overtake her, the door suddenly opened, and Mikha fell inside.

A woman quickly shut the door and barricaded it, both of them panting with fear.

The woman swore under her breath, "Tangina naman, 'di naman kasama sa scholarship 'to."

Mikha looked at her, recognizing the girl.

It was one of Sheena's interns, a senior student named Maraiah Queen Arceta, also known as Aiah.

Aiah grabbed Mikha's arm, dragging her toward the window. "We have to go now, stop spacing out, please," Aiah said, slapping Mikha lightly to snap her out of her daze.

Mikha finally opened the window as they heard the door battered from the other side. "You go first," Mikha urged Aiah.

Aiah hesitated, but Mikha pointed at the door, her voice firm. "Oh? Gusto mo bang ikaw na lang ang mahuli?"

Aiah climbed onto the table and through the window, trying her best not to fall.

Mikha followed quickly, both of them scrambling to get away from the impending danger.

"Be careful," Mikha warned Aiah. "We need to move fast."

Meanwhile, Maloi and Stacey finally found Sheena's room.

Maloi pounded on the door, nearly breaking it in her desperation. "Sheena, open up! It's us!"

The door finally opened, and Sheena stood there, looking confused. "What is going on?" she asked, letting them inside.

They quickly barricaded the door with whatever they could find.

Sheena's confusion was evident, but Maloi and Stacey looked like they had just escaped a war zone.

"Some students went nuts and started chasing us," Maloi explained, her voice shaking. "Some are covered in blood."

Sheena's face paled at the mention of blood, fear creeping into her eyes. "This can't be real..."