Echoes of the Lost Elf-Chapter 37 - 36 : Haunted

The cafeteria buzzed with the usual lunchtime energy—students chattering, trays clattering, and the occasional food fight brewing at the far end of the hall. Historias sat with Kael, Zephyr, and Leon, idly stirring his soup while Nyx curled up on the table, swishing her tail.

Adriana plopped onto the bench across from them, setting down her plate. "Have you guys heard the latest rumor?"

Leon perked up. "Oh? Spill."

Adriana leaned in, lowering her voice just enough to make it dramatic. "There's a haunted dorm somewhere in the academy."

The group collectively blinked.

"Haunted?" Zephyr echoed.

"Yeah," Adriana continued, glancing around as if someone might overhear. "Apparently, a lot of creepy things happened there before they shut it down—like weird writings appearing on the walls, the sound of children giggling that suddenly turns into deep growls, and sightings of some figure dressed in a priest's robes."

Leon shuddered. "Oh yeah, that's not creepy at all."

Adriana wasn't done. "And students who lived there? A lot of them started losing their minds. Some even... tried to jump off the building." Her voice dropped lower. "After that, they shut the dorm down and moved the students somewhere else. No one's allowed to go near it anymore. They even put a guard there, but apparently, the guy quit after one night."

Zephyr let out a nervous laugh. "A guard got scared off? That's kinda concerning."

Kael frowned. "Where exactly is this dorm?"

Adriana hesitated. "Well... that's the thing. No one knows."

Leon blinked. "Seriously?"

She shrugged. "Children stumble upon it by accident, usually in the middle of the night. But when they try to find it again the next morning, they can't remember where it was."

Silence settled over the group. Then, Historias spoke.

"I might know where it is."

It was past 2 AM, and the academy was bathed in an eerie stillness. The only sounds were the occasional rustle of the trees and the distant hoot of an owl.

Historias lay on his bed, one arm draped over his forehead, drifting between sleep and wakefulness.

Then, Nyx suddenly stirred. Her fur bristled, tail flicking sharply. She stood up, ears twitching as if hearing something beyond his perception.

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

Before he could react, she bolted—sprinting across the room, leaping onto the balcony railing, and then—

She jumped.

From the eighth floor.

Historias exhaled slowly, pushing himself up with a sigh.

"Of course."

He strolled over to the balcony, peering down. Nyx was already on the move, dashing across the academy grounds, her sleek black form blending into the night.

Without hesitation, he followed.

Leaping over the railing, he landed gracefully on the stone pavement below, silent as a shadow. Nyx was fast, slipping between buildings and weaving through narrow pathways with inhuman agility.

"Annoying," he muttered, stepping into a shrouded corridor he'd never paid much attention to before.

She led him through forgotten spaces, old stone staircases, and a passage that shouldn't have existed. The deeper they went, the more wrong everything felt. The air turned damp, heavy with the scent of dust and something... rotting.

Then, finally, Nyx stopped.

They stood before a dormitory long abandoned.

The building loomed before them, silent, untouched by time yet utterly decayed. Cracked windows lined its walls, some shattered, others fogged over with grime. A thick layer of ivy crawled up the stone, twisting unnaturally, as if something unseen had guided their growth.

The air here was still—too still.

Nyx sat down before the entrance, her glowing golden eyes locked onto the rotting wooden door. She didn't move. She barely even blinked.

Historias tilted his head.

That's when he felt it.

Something watched him.

The sensation was subtle at first, like a whisper at the edge of his mind, but then it sharpened, pressing against his senses. The heavy silence turned suffocating, as if the world itself had stopped breathing.

Then—

The door creaked open.

A cold, unnatural wind slipped through the gap, carrying with it the faint scent of burnt wood and old blood. The darkness inside wasn't normal—it was thick, deep, like looking into a void.

Nyx's fur bristled. She let out a low growl.

Historias stared at the entrance.

A lesser man would have felt a chill run down his spine. A lesser man might have stepped forward, drawn by curiosity.

Historias?

He turned on his heel, picked up Nyx, and left.

"Not worth my time, I have class tomorrow," he muttered.

The door groaned behind him as if disappointed.

But it did not close.

It simply... waited.

Flashback Over

Back in the cafeteria, the group was staring at him.

Leon spoke first. "Wait. You didn't go in?"

"No," Historias said, sipping his tea. "Seemed like a massive waste of time."

"You—!" Adriana nearly choked. "You found the haunted dorm and just left?"

"It was two in the morning," Historias deadpanned. "I had class the next day."

There was a long silence.

"Oooooh," Zephyr said finally. "Yeah, fair."

Adriana facepalmed. "Unbelievable."

Leon leaned forward. "Okay, but do you remember where it is?"

"Of course," Historias replied. "The part where everyone forgets its location sounds like mind magic."

Adriana slammed the table. "Then we have to go check it out!"

Kael nodded. "If it's dangerous, we should at least confirm what's inside."

Zephyr fidgeted. "Uh... maybe we shouldn't go?"

Leon smirked. "I thought you were scared of zombies, not ghosts."

Zephyr scowled. "I'm not scared!" (He was.)

Adriana grinned. "Then it's settled! We go on Friday night. Historias, you'll guide us."

Historias sighed dramatically. "And just like that, my peaceful weekend is gone."

Nyx let out a low purr.

For some reason, he too did not want to go in.

............

Friday night. 12 AM.

The academy grounds were unnervingly quiet, the usual distant hum of student activity absent at this ungodly hour. The moon hung high, casting silver light over the stone pathways as five figures stood in front of Aedis Dorm—their agreed-upon meeting point.

Nyx sat in the center of the group, her tail flicking once before she stood and began to walk.

"There she goes," Adriana murmured.

"Guess we follow," Leon shrugged.

And so they did.

The journey was disorienting.

They moved through twisting pathways, down corridors that felt wrong, past buildings that seemed to loom taller than they should. The further they walked, the heavier the air became. The cold crept in—not the kind that numbed flesh, but the kind that seeped into the bones, whispering a quiet dread.

Minutes stretched into an eternity.

"How long have we been walking?" Zephyr muttered, rubbing his arms.

Kael frowned. "Feels like hours."

Historias, leading just behind Nyx, glanced around. "We're almost there."

The others glanced at him.

"How do you know?" Adriana asked.

"Familiar sights," Historias answered simply, eyes sharp as he traced the path they had unknowingly taken. The bends in the stone pathways, the eerie stillness in the air—yes, he had been here before.

Then, Nyx stopped.

And so did they.

There it was.

The abandoned dormitory.

It stood exactly as it had before—rotting, forgotten, utterly wrong. The ivy along its stone walls curled like grasping fingers, and its shattered windows reflected nothing but darkness.

And the door?

Still open.

A gaping void, waiting.

...........

POWER STONES Please!!!!!