Kale, Hage, Topaz, and Vei sat around a table in the dining hall, this time Kale had decided against ordering ice cream. He wanted to save his points like the others, and at the moment, he had a single point which he acquired from finishing his tasks in gym class. 

“Hey, Kale, you said you were going to talk to me more about your haunted hallway!” Hage said, talking with his mouth full of food. Vei and Topaz leaned in, equally as enthusiastic about hearing what Kale’s response would be.

“Oh yeah, I heard something groaning! Like a monster ready to eat!” 

“And you’re sure no one else was in that hall?” Vei asked.

“Yeah… Hage told me that I am the only one that lives in that hall, and I never seen any other kids around there. Only adults, when they come to get me or watch the halls. And there were none of them yesterday! I heard the noise once when I was walking down the hall, and all night when I tried to sleep.”

Topaz’s eyes sparkled. “We need to go there together!” She glanced at all the others. “We should go right now!”

Hage grinned, but Vei retorted, “How would we get around without getting caught, Topaz?”

She brought her finger to her cheek, and glanced at a wall covered in posters about Nhajan military. “I’m not sure, but there has to be a way right?”

Kale shook his head. "I don’t think so, there are usually guards in my hallway, I’m not sure why they weren’t there yesterday."

“If the rooms in that hallway are empty, surely one of them could be unlocked, right?” Hage said.

“Even if they're unlocked, I heard they have cameras in every room, but I don’t know if I believe it. Me and Topaz haven’t found one in ours, and we searched a lot.” Vei said, glancing at the corners of the ceiling.

Kale’s face scrunched up. “People think they are watching us?”

“Yeah, it’s just to make sure we are healthy, is what the other students think the reason is,” Vei said.

“So, if we aren’t worried about cameras, after class we should sneak down the hallway and try to open every door.” Hage grinned.

Everyone nodded. And Kale was happy, he didn’t have to experience the terror alone.

*****

“It’s down this way.” Hage led the group through the maze of hallways. Kale followed Hage as well, still not having a complete grip on the layout of the school.

“It already feels creepy down here,” Topaz said.

Hage turned with a confused look. “This is just the start of the boys' rooms. It’s not scary.”

Vei laughed. “I think she means your guys' art on the walls.”

Kale took a look around, examining the art that was posted all around. Before, he had only given them a slight gaze. Looking further into them now, most of them appeared to be brightly colored superheroes beating up scary looking monsters.

“What’s scary about superheroes?” Hage asked.

“Just the monsters with them, I guess,” Topaz said. “I couldn’t imagine facing a monster like those.”

“Well good thing monsters aren’t real,” he said.

Vei cocked her head to the side. “How can you be so sure? Aren’t we currently on the search for a monster?”

“No, no. This is haunted. By a ghost,” Hage corrected her.

“Couldn’t a ghost be considered a—” Topaz’s words were cut off by an ominous groan.

They had reached the entrance to the haunted hallway, and everyone halted their movement.

“That’s the noise I heard all night,” Kale said and leaned himself forward enough to take a peek down the hallway. “No one’s there.”

Vei and Topaz crept up towards Kale, and also looked down the empty hallway, however, Hage stepped backwards, afraid of going any further.

“Well, let’s go,” Topaz said as she walked ahead of the group. Vei followed immediately, side by side. Kale turned and looked at Hage who was a few meters behind him.

“Come on Hage, let’s follow them. It’s not as scary in a group.” Kale tried convincing himself, but he too, was a bit frightened.

Hage twiddled with his fingers for a moment, then finally gave a firm nod and walked up to Kale.

They all stared down the hallway as they walked in formation. Two in the front, two in the back. No sounds could be heard besides the echo of their footsteps.

“See this isn’t too bad,” Topaz said. “Now which door do you guys think the sound came from.”

Kale had no idea, but he remembered a general direction of the groan when he walked alone down here the day before. He pointed to a cluster of four doors.

“Hmm, okay, let’s try them out first,” Vei jumped ahead of Topaz, and jogged up to the door.

“Vei, be careful,” Hage said.

“I know, but we have to hurry. Didn’t we say we were gonna try to find an unlocked door right away? And if we can find the exact door with the creepy noises then we could solve this mystery before we have to worry about sneaking around during restricted hours. We only have a few minutes until Ms. Kanole calls for us to return to our dorms.”

“Yeah, let’s get this done faster! Kale and Hage you guys grab a doorknob too! We’ll open them at the same time until we find an unlocked one.” Topaz said, jogging up to Vei.

Hage hesitated, but Kale nodded to him and pulled at his arm. The four lined up door to door and looked at each other, before they all pulled at the door knobs at once. Every single one made a locked jingle, except Hage’s which opened right up. He fell back and screamed.