nightmares

bugs

The long, empty hallway echoed an aura of abandonment, sorrow, and horror. Yet during the day it became infested with lively teenagers, most of which adored nothing but drama and updates about their favorite celebrities. Although this hallway had a mask of safety, the mask was nothing but a bloody cardboard version of said mask, and never could stay standing for long. Once the halls that were cursed with stress and anxiety were empty and dark, a cardboard school project would fall. These projects couldn't take the consistent beating during daytime hours and would fall down as soon as the people around them could no longer unintentionally hold them up. The same students' nightmare would apply to this hallway's cardboard mask. Spirits would wander down this unique hallway in the small school. They wandered, looking for something to do. They too could get bored, and as you should know, boredom isn't fun.

One day this school had a dance on a Friday afternoon. Most of the students came early since they never left the school. They didn't want to bother leaving school just to come back a few hours later. One girl came with a group of friends. They weren't dressed up too nice, but they dressed well enough for the event.

"I'm going to catch up with you guys later." The brown-haired girl spoke. She was taller than the one with black hair but shorter than the blonde one.

"Are you sure? It's probably going to start soon." The blonde one spoke.

"Yeah, most everyone is already here, Cecilia. Most of them just stayed after school." The one with black hair said.

Afraid, yet afraid to admit it, Cecilia refused when her friends offered to stay with her, or even comfort her during the event.

"I just gotta go use the bathroom.. and check my phone," Cecilia said with a slight, fake giggle.

Her friends finally gave in and asked her to come back soon. Cecilia agreed and they left her to walk into the gymnasium.

The sun had now set, and for the first time in a long while, only a single person was alone in this hallway. Nobody could see her, as the gym doors didn't have the luxury of windows. It might have been dangerous, yes perhaps if the girl had stayed alone in her spot. She had no idea of the horrors that were waiting to come for her, maybe if she did she would've ignored her anxiety and faced her fears in the gymnasium.

Cecilia walked into the large bathroom. It was a simple standard school bathroom, but not for long would it's contents be so simple. Cecilia sighed as she checked her phone. The time, 6:47 p.m. She turned the screen off and faced the large mirror. Her anxiety and fear built up inside her head as she thought, 'What if I take too long in here? What if I'm late? What if something happens and I hide in here for the entire dance?'. These ideas horrified Cecilia, so she leaned against the wall with her eyes closed, desperate to calm down. In the eery quiet, she heard a noise. A small one, yes it was, but enough to invoke horror in her. She opened her eyes to see a roach, a single roach, crawling across the empty floor before her. More thoughts suddenly plagued Cecilia's thoughts, 'What if there's more of them? What if they're all around the room? What if one crawls over my hands?' What if a bunch of them get on me all at once?'

Cecilia wasn't usually afraid of bugs, but on this special occasion, the wind could've made her faint in fright. Her mind had now wandered, like the spirit in the hallway, to more things. The spirits knew by now that there was a scared girl nearby. They could easily find her if they wished. She closed her eyes tighter than before and hoped to calm down. 'Did I feed my cats before I left the house? Did I lock the door? What if someone breaks in? What if they steal my stuff? What if they hurt my cats? What if when I do go into the dance, they laugh at me for being late? What if they think I'm sick because I've been in the bathroom for so long? Would it just be better to not go?' More and more thoughts crawled across Cecilia's mind. They were like a roach in the bathroom, disgusting, useless, and something that would unusually scare Cecilia.