New student Karol notices a locked cabinet in the chemistry lab at Copernicus Grammar School. When the building empties after lessons, a strange light leaks from behind its door.
Karol had heard older students talk about Copernicus Grammar School as if it were a machine: bells, homework, tests, repeat. By the end of his first morning there, he was no longer sure. The red-brick building brooded over the courtyard like it had been built to keep secrets, with its turret over the entrance, high windows, and floors that creaked under every step.
The chemistry lab made the strongest impression. Glass cases lined the walls, the air smelled faintly of disinfectant and something sharper beneath it, and the teacher, Mrs Grzebisz, moved with the clipped certainty of someone who expected instant obedience. She split the class into teams and assigned an experiment on neutralisation reactions.
Karol, still not knowing anyone, drifted toward the nearest group. Lena was already there, quiet and observant, with a notebook tucked under her arm. Tymon stood beside her, half listening and half staring at something on his phone, as if the school itself might one day be useful to a system he was building in his head.
While they searched the cupboards for beakers and test tubes, Karol noticed a cabinet in the far corner of the room. It was older than the rest, its paint dulled almost to grey, its handle tarnished green with age. A rusty lock held the door shut, and someone had written on the surface in faded letters: Do not open.
When the lesson ended, Karol lingered under the pretence of checking his notes. He saw Mrs Grzebisz leave with the class, then turn back once, as if counting the room behind her. A moment later, she locked the door and slipped a key into her jacket pocket.
The corridor outside was deserted by the time Karol came back. The school seemed to have emptied in one breath. He pressed himself close to the chemistry door and looked through the narrow glass pane.
A faint purple light was leaking from under the cabinet.
Before he could move, a hand touched his shoulder. Karol spun around, ready to apologise or run, but it was only Lena and Tymon, both pale with the same uneasy curiosity.
"You see it too?" Lena whispered.
Tymon reached for the handle just as the door gave a soft, reluctant creak.
Inside, the room was dark except for the glow pulsing behind the half-open cabinet door. Karol felt the hairs lift along his arms. Then something inside hit the wood from the other side with a heavy, sudden bang, and whatever had been hidden there began to shift forward into the gap.