The door to the unknown is now open, and Chloe has already taken half a step inside, not fast enough to heed Anette’s warning. On the other hand, all I can think of for those mere quarters of a second, is that terrible moment Liam fell into that void. Without thinking it through, and before I have time to process my own actions I grab Chloe’s vest and pull her back to the hallway, as she lets out a scream covering her head. She lands on her buttocks, clasping her head. “Are you okay? What happened??” I hurriedly ask as I kneel next to her. “I…Something jumped me! I saw it!” She says in between shaky breaths still holding her head. (Honestly, I didn’t have much time to see what happened, as I was a lot more focused on grabbing Chloe…) I turn to look at the others, and their reactions. By the time I turn to them, Max is already kneeling next to her with her arm over her shoulders, trying to calm her down. “Did you guys see anything?” I come out and ask, quickly standing up. “I… don’t think I did…” April replies looking skeptical. “I didn’t see anything but I momentarily felt something for sure.” Anette also replies, sounding a lot more sure than April did. I turn at the classroom that previously was our home base and all I see is an empty space without desks and a small box laying at the center. “Could that possibly be the key?” I inquire, pointing at it with my index finger. “It is possible, yes.” Anette replies once again, as she and April edge closer to me and the classroom. As Chloe seems to have regained her composure, she and Max also joins us and we’re all now standing clustered together at the doorway. (There’s no sign of what scared Chloe though…) I think to myself. “Uhm Chloe, if you don’t mind me asking, what exactly was it that you saw?” I ask as nicely as possible (For some reason, she scares me okay? Don’t judge!) “I don’t know what it was… it was like a shadow… and it jumped at me…” She says, still looking uncertain. “Whatever it was, it’s clearly gone now.” Max points out. “Who says it won’t come back when someone tries to enter the room again?” I play the devil’s advocate. “I highly doubt it.” Anette voices, looking quite certain. “I didn’t sense anything sinister from that particular event. The room itself though, feels quite sinister.” She explains, but still sounding somewhat vague. “So, do you think it was a warning of some sort?” April suggests something that is quite plausible. “It could have been…” Anette thinks it over. “A warning? Why warn us? I didn’t get the feeling that the school wants to play nice. Liam didn’t get any warnings either.” Chloe looks completely against that suggestion. “We could have missed Liam’s warning. We didn’t know anything about the traps back then. And it’s not necessary that the warning was set up by the school anyway. It could have been something else.” Max joins the speculations. “Something as in… another ghost? Another good ghost perhaps.” I join her as well. “I think I’ve had my fair share of ghosts though… good or not.” April admits in a low voice. (Wow, miss perfect is complaining in front of her classmates. SUPER RARE!) I think to myself as Max’s fingers snap me back to reality. “Okay but what do we do about that?” She then points at the box, looking at Anette. “I feel danger inside the classroom, we shouldn’t enter without checking.” She replies, looking deep into thought. “Okay then.” I nod and walk across the hallway, away from everyone. I quickly unhook a poster from the notice board and walk back to the others, item at hand. “Nothing beats the good old fashioned way.” I say, as I throw the poster not too far from where I’m standing. Centimeters before it can hit the floor though, large spikes shoot out from the floor panel beneath and impale it. (If that was one of us, we’d have been gutted!) I whistle in amazement at the sight. “So, this is the part where we turn around and never come near this room again, right?” April calmly asks, her eyebrow slightly twitching. Everyone else just looks at the scene, bewildered. “Jack, can you throw something at that panel over there too?” Anette speaks up. “Sure.” I say as I repeat the process from before and send another poster flying to the wanted destination. As soon as the poster leaves my hand I brace myself, but funnily enough the poster safely lands on the floor panel Anette wanted. “So there are trapped floor panels and safe floor panels…” Max says scratching her chin. “Yeah, but how do we know which is which?” I inquire logically. “That one over there looked different than the one with the spikes.” Anette explains. As soon as she says that, I bring myself closer to the classroom and examine them more thoroughly. “It’s like… a different shade of gray?” I quizzically state. “Yes. And with my… powers I can feel that its aura is different.” Anette further enhances my understanding. “Great! If Anette can sense the differences and we can look at the panels and see which is which, then we can get to that box without breaking a sweat.” Max claims optimistically. “Is it really worth getting though? We have no clue what might be inside…” Chloe hesitantly objects. “True. But what else could be in a middle of a room full of traps, inside THIS school we’re in?” Max replies, unfazed. “Agreed. There’s a 90% chance this box holds the key. I’d take the chance.” I confidently smirk. (Damn, where did I find all that confidence?) “Anette can you guide me? I’m going in.” I state, with my newfound confidence hitting an all time high. (I could be heading straight to my death, but here I am, acting like the cool character. Seriously what’s wrong with me?) “Are you certain, Jack? I can guide you but I was thinking of going myself…” Anette warns me, hesitation in her voice. “Yep I’m 100% sure. As long as you can guide me that is. Besides, in the off-chance something happened at you, the rest of us would have been royally screwed.” I reply, stating something that probably no one had thought of. “You know you don’t have to volunteer just because you’re the only guy here, right?” Max tugs on my sleeve. “Hah, I’m pretty sure I’d volunteer even if I was a girl.” I reply smirking at my best friend, and she quickly smiles back. “Okay then Jack, whenever you’re ready.” Anette voices and I walk ever-closer to the threshold. (I’m about to do something extremely stupid aren’t I?) Anxiousness washes over me and my previously-displayed confidence is all but gone. “Take each step slowly and don’t forget to check the floor panels yourself.” Anette explains to me as she is about to guide me through my suicidal plan. “Got it.” I say, trying to sound as confident as before. At first, Anette guides me to the panel I threw the second poster. It’s not too far and with one long leap I’m able to land exactly on it. (It feels way smaller than it looks…) I say tightly locking my feet together. “Now, go to the one that’s two panels to your left.” She keeps guiding me safely. “Yes, that one.” She nods and says with a reassuring tone as I step onto the second panel. “Now, two in front of you and one to your right… No, not there!” She raises her voice, and I immediately stop my foot midair and pull it back. For a moment I feel like I’m losing my balance but I quickly dig both feet into the ground and try to stay as still as possible. I take a deep breath and squeeze my shirt exactly above my rapidly beating heart. (That was a close one…) I think to myself as I look back at the panel I almost stepped on and quickly realize something: There are three different styles of floor panels in this room, not two. But only one is safe. “GO JACKY!” Max on the other hand is cheering me on, trying her best to encourage me. I look back at the girls and notice that each of them wear a different kind of troubled expression. “Ready when you are, Anette!” I shout out my readiness for her to hear and the challenge is back underway. In the same fashion as before, Anette guides me through the room along a complicated, winding path that finally ends at the center of the classroom.  (I made it!) I immediately reach out for the box sitting on the floor. “Is it safe for me to touch it? It won’t explode on my face, right?” I ask, pulling my hand back a bit. “Don’t worry. I don’t sense any immediate danger for you. “Okay then.” I quickly pick up the box. It’s pretty light, but something clearly slides inside when I tilt it. “Guys, I’m pretty sure there’s a key in here!” I excitedly announce. “Great! Now come back here, but don’t rush!” Max reminds me. Just like the way I reached the center, I go back to the entrance of the classroom with Anette guiding me every step of the way. Before I know it, I’m finally back safe and my rapidly beating heart can finally relax. “Here you go, leader.” I hand the box to Max, and heave a sigh of relief right after. “Great job Jack!” She says while quickly tearing it open and pulling out and mid-sized key. Its ornate design perfectly matches that of the lock, on the door to the roof. “That’s it! That has to be it!” She happily exclaims, holding it out to us. “Nice!” I join in the celebrations and soon everyone’s spirits are visibly elevated, as we can all relax, even for a brief time. “One down, three to go, guys! Let’s continue with our search! Who knows, maybe we’ll find another one by the end of the day!” Max optimistically announces as we all nod our heads and agree marching onwards, on our usual formation. As I leave Max and Anette into the lead, and I hang back, Chloe seems to lag behind in the same fashion as me, matching my walking pace. “Hey, Jack.” She suddenly calls out to me, and I try to reply as naturally as possible. “Uhm, yeah?” I tilt my head to her. “Just wanted to say… thanks for earlier. For pulling me back I mean.” Chloe spells out quite hesitantly, but I can feel the sincerity in her voice. “Hey no worries, we’re a team… after all.”  I reply, trying to match her sincere tone. “But I-“ Before she can finish her sentence Max interrupts her “Shhhh, keep it down guys.” She says in a low voice signaling for us to stop walking. We immediately stop in our tracks and look onwards. “What’s wrong?” I match Max’s tone. “Do you hear that?” She asks and everybody falls silent. Amidst the silence the faint sound of footsteps begins to echo through the hallway. With each passing second the footsteps grow louder and all I can think of is the creature that we encountered last night as I hold my breath. Who or what is behind those footsteps?