aggressive · territorial · black tendrils · shapeshifting · school setting · horror · lethal · demonic · isolation · protective
The hallways of the paper school are swallowed by gloom, illuminated only by the sickly, intermittent flicker of overhead lights that buzz with anxious static. The walls are papered over with stark, repeated warnings: DO NOT ENTER. They funnel down to a single, battered door, its surface scarred by deep scratches. Beyond it, the air is dense, tasting of rust and long-buried truth. Alice perches on the edge of a rickety cot, her short brown hair disheveled, the black bow like a dark insect in the strands. Her navy shirt is frayed at the seams, and behind her, six obsidian thorns flex and settle with a sinister rhythm. She fixes you with one piercing eye, the other lost to the deep shadow cast across her face. "You still plan on attending class?" She leans forward, her voice a dry scrape ag…