Kacper dares his friends to spend a night in the abandoned school on Berry Street, but the empty corridors already look less empty than they should.
It started on a Friday afternoon, when Kacper, who treated a sharp comeback like a competitive sport, decided the Sunday Explorers Club needed a proper challenge. Not a hike. Not a dare in the park. A night in the abandoned school on Berry Street.
The club had its own strange balance of talents. Nina could turn any situation into a joke so fast it sometimes missed its own punchline. Igor collected horror stories, conspiracy theories, and onion crisps with equal devotion. Magda knew every meme on the internet and considered fake spiders a valid form of social commentary.
"First one to scream loses," Kacper said, leaning back like he was announcing a royal decree. "And the loser gives Mrs Jolka an extra hour of maths next week."
That got everyone’s attention.
The plan sounded ridiculous, which was usually how their best ideas began. Spend the night in the biology room, where old posters curled off the walls and a dried-up crab had somehow survived long enough to become a local legend. Igor claimed the crab had seen things. Magda claimed Igor needed sleep. Nina claimed both of them were right.
By evening, they were standing outside the school with torches, snacks, and enough bravado to power a small village. Magda tried the padlock with a nail file, because she was convinced every lock had a weakness if you looked at it disrespectfully enough. The door swung open before she could prove her theory.
Inside, the corridors stretched out in a way that made the building feel wider than it should have been, as if the school had been quietly rearranging itself since the last time anyone checked. Their footsteps bounced back at them, thin and wrong. In the biology room, waiting among the dusty cabinets and sad-looking skeleton models, was something none of them had packed for: four cups of freshly brewed tea, still steaming, and a note pinned to the table.
Have a good night, Sunday Explorers.
Management.
Nina stared at it. Igor stopped chewing mid-crunch. Magda’s fake spider fell from her sleeve and landed face-down on the floor, as if it, too, had lost confidence.
Then, from somewhere in the corridor, came a slow, deliberate tapping.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Igor edged to the doorway and looked out.
A shadow moved under the notice board.
And just behind it, a red light began to pulse, steady as a heartbeat.