The shadow twisted, as if considering her question. Then, a voice, deep and resonant, but not like the spirit that had spoken through Lucas-it was older, darker, like something from the depths of the hellish earth-echoed through the room.
"I am Ago...
Mrs. Marques knelt beside Lucas, her hand trembling as she checked his pulse. It was weak but steady. Relief washed over her, but it was short-lived as the air in the room seemed to thicken again, and a strange tension buzzed in the corners, unseen but felt. She glanced at the other students, their wide eyes filled with confusion and fear, unsure of what had just transpired.
Gabriel was still fumbling with his phone when it slipped from his grasp and clattered to the floor. He cursed under his breath as he bent to pick it up, but as he reached for it, his hand froze. A cold breath, like fingers of ice, swept over the back of his neck. Slowly, he turned his head, his body locked with fear, and his eyes landed on something that shouldn't have been there.
At the back of the classroom, just behind the fallen bookshelf, a shadowy figure stood. It was tall and dark, more a silhouette than a person, its form shifting like smoke. No eyes, no face, just a mass of darkness that seemed to suck the light from the room. Gabriel's mouth went dry, his breath shallow, and he felt his heart hammering in his chest. "Guys..." he whispered, his voice barely audible. "Do you... see that?"
No one answered him. They were too focused on Lucas, still lying on the floor. But then Calamansi, who hadn't spoken since the strange possession of Lucas began, slowly lifted her head, her eyes wide and glassy. She turned toward where Gabriel was staring, and when she saw the shadowy figure, she gasped loudly, jolting the rest of the class into awareness.
"Over there!" she hissed, pointing shakily. "Behind the bookshelf!"
Chad whipped around in his chair, his cocky demeanor completely shattered as his eyes followed Calamansi's trembling finger. And then he saw it too-the figure looming like a nightmare, its presence thick and menacing. For the first time, Chad was completely speechless. His bravado had been no match for whatever this was.
Mrs. Marques, still kneeling beside Lucas, heard Calamansi's words and followed their stares. She froze, her heart pounding in her ears. There was no rational explanation for what she was seeing. The shadow twisted and writhed, its form unclear, as though it was made from the very darkness in the room, pulled together into something... alive.
Suddenly, the lights flickered again, this time more violently, casting rapid shadows that seemed to dance and pulse with the figure at the back of the room. The temperature dropped even further, and an oppressive silence filled the air as if every sound had been sucked out of existence. Then, without warning, the figure lunged forward with impossible speed.
Students screamed, chairs scraped against the floor as they pushed back in terror, but the shadow halted just short of Mrs. Marques. It hovered there, pulsating with an ominous energy, as if waiting for something. Mrs. Marques stared up at it, her body paralyzed by fear, but then, with great effort, she forced herself to speak.
"Who... who are you?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
The shadow twisted, as if considering her question. Then, a voice, deep and resonant, but not like the spirit that had spoken through Lucas-it was older, darker, like something from the depths of the earth-echoed through the room. "I am Agouro... the harbinger of doom."
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