Truth or Dare

Lesson 5: Whispers of Shadows

The sound of footsteps echoed faintly through the halls as the remaining members of 11-F filed out of the classroom, their faces pale and eyes wide with shock. No one dared to speak. The note on the board had burned its message into our minds, a stark reminder that the twisted game wasn't finished with us yet. Our choices would define us now—whether we lived or died, whether we betrayed or trusted. The weight of that thought made it nearly impossible to breathe.

I walked slowly beside Mia and Felix, who kept glancing over his shoulder, as if expecting some unseen force to be stalking us. Mia's hands trembled at her sides, and for a moment, I thought about reaching out to comfort her. But what words could possibly make this better? "You'll be okay" felt like a cruel lie, and silence was all I had left to offer.

As we reached the end of the hallway, Mia stopped abruptly. "I can't do this," she whispered, her voice cracking. "I can't go back in there. Not knowing that... that whatever this is could happen again."

"We don't have a choice," Felix said flatly, his eyes dark and hard. "If we don't play, we die. It's that simple."

I clenched my fists, anger bubbling beneath my fear. "It's not a game anymore," I muttered. "It's a nightmare and who ever behind this useing us like a lab rat."

Mia nodded absently, her gaze distant. "We need answers," she said, more to herself than to us. "Who's behind this? Why us? Why now?"

"Answers won't help if we're dead," Felix shot back bitterly. "We need to focus on surviving."

As if to mock our attempts at composure, the school bell rang, startling us back into motion. We moved like automatons, blending into the shuffle of students changing classes, but our world had been fractured, and nothing about it felt normal anymore. 

We walked to our next class in silence, haunted by the thoughts that circled like vultures in our minds. The noise of the other students around us seemed distant, like we were watching life move past a pane of glass. Our little group was stranded in a different reality now, one darkened by fear, suspicion, and the sense that everything had spiraled out of our control.

As we sat down, I glanced around the room, watching the others filter in one by one. Their faces were strained, eyes darting to each other, silently asking the same question: *Who can I trust?* The tension was a physical weight pressing down on us, and the whispered voices, the quick glances—none of us missed any of it.

The teacher walked in and started talking, but her words were a low hum against the storm in my head. Mia was sitting next to me, her hands clenched so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. Rolan leg is shakeing as his eyes locked on time. Felix stared blankly at his notebook, his pen unmoving as if he, too, was locked in some dark, unreachable place.

Halfway through class, my phone vibrated, and I jolted. I wasn't the only one; I saw a ripple of movement as others checked their screens, faces paling when they saw the notification. Another message.

"Your next task awaits. Choose carefully, 11-F. Your lives depend on it."

The blood drained from my face as I stared at the screen, dread curling in my stomach. My hands were clammy, and I could feel my pulse pounding in my throat. I looked over at Mia and Felix, who had both read the message, their expressions mirroring my own horror.

My breath caught in my throat as the chilling words flashed across my screen. I read the message twice, hoping it was some sick joke.

"Who will you save: yourself or your innocent classmates? But no one is innocent, right Rose?"

It felt like a punch to the gut—like the game knew something about me, about all of us, that we hadn't even realized ourselves. I glanced at Mia, her face pale, her eyes wide with fear. Her hands trembled at her sides, betraying her attempt to stay calm. Felix, too, was shaken, his usual tough exterior cracked, revealing vulnerability none of us had seen before.