Round Five - Thriller/Horror, Ranked 7th

The days went by normally at camp with the same routine going on; eight hours of meditation, 24 hours of no phone, talking, reading or writing, and breakfast, lunch and snack served for four days—no dinner. There was nothing unique.

Now, finally, after those four torturous, boring days, we opened the meditation—we got our phones back and can communicate with each other.

My fellow classmates and I are just sitting together in the meditation room, making a big circle.

It's very late; however, our class leader Eli instructed us to gather in the room, saying that she has a thrilling activity for us all. Even without her being in the status, who'd decline to that after those passive days? We want an activity, no matter the annoying early morning call we'll have tomorrow.

Though, for me, I wanna sleep. I'm sleepy. But thanks to my excited roommates, I'm forced to go with them.

So here we are, gathered in the meditation room. While Eli's discussing with the instructors, my classmates lie around, chat and play their phones. It's a messy yet home-y view.

A few minutes have passed and Eli hasn't come back to us.

I'm bored. I keep on yawning.

What's she even talking about with them?

I decide to go sleep. My eyelids are drooping and my head feels heavy.

As my eyes beg for rest, I stand up, concurrently trying not to seem drunk—not that I am. I don't know why I feel so sleepy today.

I make my way down the stairs, drinking a glass of water before staring out of the building at the black sky with little stars. There're only three or four lanterns hanging on tree branches that light the way to the rooms, which require me going down many stairs from the meditation building and turn and turn. How complicated.

Being the scaredy cat I am, the lanterns are too few.

But I wanna sleep...

I put my glass on the kitchen counter and go to the sink, where I splash my face with some water. I need to be awake for the journey. This should help.

But when I stand outside, everything goes black for a second and I blink. A few more times, I blink. It's then I realize how dark the night is with only a few lanterns lighting the surroundings. The lights are faint, which doesn't help the darkness.

However, I should man up. I want my sleep. And darkness won't take it away. No way.

With determination immersing myself, I take a step down the stair. I can do this.

I descend the stairs, my surroundings hardly perceptible. I can hear my heart incessantly pounding in my chest.

Crickets sound nearby along with croaks, followed by some other sounds of night insects.

I breathe in and out, trying to calm myself and stop the horrifying thoughts coming to my mind.

Oh, come on, Canary. You've only descended the stairs and you're scared already? Coward.

So I start taking many steps forward, descending another flight of stairs with my quickened heartbeat and the chilly wind that cools against my skin.

I'm on full alert. My body tenses, my ears open, and my eyes adjusted to the dark. Anxiety occupies my mind as I walk cautiously.

The big trees shelter the path, and through the small gaps of the leaves, I can see the few stars above wink in a tantalizing way, probably laughing at me.

I walk through, my eyes flickering to left and right. My heart thudding, shivers spider-walked down my spine.

Only the interacting insects can be heard. Everything's going fine until I hear it. A whisper. Whispers. Somewhere nearby. I hold in my breath.

"Psst. Cana. Canary. Hey."

I whip my head around, trying to find the source of the voice. Or was it even a voice? It came from a nearby bush.

"Psst. Cana. Hey."

A breeze blows past my ear and my heart tries escaping its cage as it realizes the voice carried with it.

My blood runs cold, and I contemplate on going back to where everyone else is.

I look back, just to see that I'm already far away from the building and closer to the rooms, which I haven't yet sighted. No going back, then.

I'm just about to continue my walk when I feel something peek over my shoulder, its breath tickling my neck. I stand still, unable to breathe.

Slowly and robotically, I turn around. No one's there. Just the plants, gravels and darkness. I swallow. I'm not gonna start hallucinating.

Then, something tugs at my shirt.

"Hey, hey, Cana."

I jump, my insides exploding, flipping around. It's just plants, gravels and darkness. But I feel shadows looming all over the place. They definitely aren't the trees. I can feel them really close, and it's scaring me.

So I do the most sensible thing: I run.

I run for my life, my sleepiness long gone. All I care now's to reach the haven of my room.

My heart thunders and my body trembles, cold sweats rolling down my forehead and the chill of the wind trailing goosebumps on my skin. I feel the shadows following me.

Then I see the rooms. Finally. I run down the stairs despite my ragged breathing. When I reach the ground, I look back. There's actually nothing. At all.

"Canary..." a voice sings.

I turn around, my blood still pumping fast. There aren't any lanterns around, but I know nothing's there.

Trying to calm myself, I walk to my room.

You're safe once you're in. You're safe once you're in, I chant in my head.

With my trembling hands, I fumble for the key in my jacket's pocket, before inserting it to the keyhole and turning it. Once I hear a click, I turn the knob. As I feel something comes over, I quickly open the door and throw myself in, locking the door behind me. The thundering of my heart's the only thing I can hear, and I try to slow my breathing.

But as I look up, a shadowed figure stands before me. Close. Towering. I don't know who he is.

And when I see the thing that glinted in his hand, I let out a bloodcurdling scream.

I tried.