Stuyves-haunt High School

On a very special day, a student walked up the stairs of the Tribeca Bridge, and instead of the usual hustling, bustling students, she was greeted by an empty and eerily quiet walk. As she reached the heavy metal doors, Principal Yu pulled them open and greeted her with a bright, yet somewhat sinister smile.

“Hello! Come in, come in! Or else you’ll be late,” said Principal Yu. “I’ve prepared a wonderful surprise for you.”

The student nodded awkwardly as she walked through the doors. She was ready to swipe her student ID, but the scanner ladies were nowhere to be seen. She turned around to look for Principal Yu, but he had vanished. It was only then she realized that it wasn’t just the scanner ladies that were gone. There wasn’t a single soul in sight. The lights were dimmer than usual and every step she took echoed through the hallway.

As she walked to the surprisingly working two-to-four escalators, heading up to her first-period AP Pre-Calc class, the flickering light on the fourth floor that was fixed over the summer seemed to be broken again. Following her usual routine, she tried to open her locker under the harsh flickering light when she felt a breath on her neck. She whipped her neck around only to find the empty hallway behind her. She turned her attention back to opening the locker and as she pulled open the door, a creature with a nightmare-inducing face jumped at her. She screamed and scrambled away quickly, but the little creature moved towards her with increasing speed. She shut her eyes and soon felt a soft velvety fur rub across her face.

“Mr. Snugglebottoms the Fifth of Fluffle Kingdom? What are you doing here?” she exclaimed, opening her eyes. “You should be at home with mom. I bet my friends put you here to scare me,” she fumed.

She picked up her cat and grabbed her notebooks from her locker. She walked quickly to her classroom, only to find it empty. The door locked behind her and the lights dimmed completely. The blinds were let down and only a little sunlight peeked through the gaps. Suddenly, her math teacher Mr. Rubinstein appeared behind her in a vampire costume. He started singing “vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo while approaching her slowly. She was impressed at first before realizing the oddness and severity of the situation and ran towards the door. Thankfully, it was unlocked now and she ran up the escalator to the sixth floor.

Mr. Snugglebottoms jumped out of her arms and strutted down the hall into Ms. Yang’s classroom. Following her cat, she walked in and saw that all the plushies that adorned her English class were identical replicas of her beloved cat other than the giant duck. This would have been pure bliss if not for the fact that all the cats stared at her with strange looks in their eyes. The duck was the only one looking away as its head tucked into the corner of its wing. She could neither move nor look away from them. While in this trance, she saw out of the corner of her eye that the duck was moving. It got up and slowly approached her. She tried desperately to run, but it felt as if something was holding her in place. The duck got closer and closer, now staring at her in the eyes and almost directly in front of her. Suddenly, it darted towards her and tackled her to the ground. Her heart nearly leaped out of her chest, and after a moment of lightheadedness, everything faded to black.

When she woke up, she was tied to a chair with her mouth gagged in a dark room. She hurriedly looked around and saw nothing but darkness. As her eyes adjusted, she saw the silhouettes of some people. She realized she knew these people—they were her friends, family, and even some teachers. 

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” they screamed, turning on the lights and bringing out a cake while untying her.

“I hate my birthday being on the same day as Halloween,” she sighed.