Prologue- The Beginning of the End

read this one first before any of my other chapters. but anyyway . . .Beginning of Lock down-by muah

Excitement, joy, and chaos. Those were the words that defined the last day of school.
Laughter echoed through the halls like music from a forgotten summer. Lockers slammed
with celebratory finality. Students ran, danced, shouted�"free at last. Even the teachers smiled,
relieved. It was the kind of day that felt untouchable. Like nothing bad could happen.
Then the screaming started.
Not the usual shrieks of teenage freedom. These were different. Raw. Terrified.
A teacher collapsed in the hallway, convulsing. Another lunged at a student�"eyes black
and bleeding. The fire alarm blared, but no one moved. Doors slammed shut. The exits locked.
And then, a shimmering wall rose around the school, sealing them in.
Excitement turned to panic. Joy curdled into dread. Chaos became survival.
Earlier that morning, the day had begun like any other. Students trickled in late, some not
at all. Backpacks were lighter, filled with crumpled papers and half-broken pencils. Teachers let
kids roam, played movies. Yearbooks passed from hand to hand like sacred texts. Plans were
made. Promises whispered. The cafeteria served pizza no one complained about�"for once.
Kids wandered the halls with the kind of freedom only granted once a year. Some snuck
into empty classrooms. Others sprawled across the grass, soaking in the sun, counting down the
minutes.
Then the sky dimmed.
Not gradually. Not like a passing cloud. It was instant. One moment: golden light. The
next: Gray. Heavy. Unnatural.
The intercom crackled with static. Phones stopped working. A student tried to
leave�"slammed into something invisible. The barrier shimmered, then solidified. A dome of
light, humming with energy, encased the school.
Inside, the temperature dropped. Lights flickered. Laughter died.
Students screamed. Teachers shouted. But no sound escaped the barrier.
From the outside, the school looked peaceful. Quiet. Normal.
But inside... something had awakened.
Lockers rattled. Teachers collapsed. Shadows stretched longer than they should. And in
the center of it all, the teacher who had first collapsed stood up.His eyes were black as night. His mouth stretched into a grin far too wide. Limbs twisted
at unnatural angles. He was no longer human.
From his pocket, he pulled a wooden ruler. But it wasn’t the ruler that was terrifying. It
was how he broke it. A snap. No struggle. No strain. Two jagged halves. Two weapons.
He lunged at a student. That grin still inhumanly wide. Eyes dangerously empty. The
ruler plunged into her chest�"quick, precise. A cry escaped her lips. Then silence.
She collapsed. Eyes wide. Unmoving. Blood soaking her clothes, and pooling around her.
Screams erupted from the students watching as teachers arose and began attacking them.
Their voices echoed down the halls, bouncing off the walls in chaotic waves.
But all the way down the hall, and down the stairs, in the art wing…
Sage was drawing.
She didn’t know. Not yet.
The chaos hadn’t reached her corner of the school. Not the screams. Not the blood. Not
the dome of shimmering light that now sealed them all inside.
Down in the art wing, where the walls were still lined with half-finished murals and
forgotten clay projects, Sage sat cross-legged on the floor. She was sketching�"a dragon, wings
outstretched, its tail curled around a castle. She didn’t hear the screams. Not over the hum of her
earbuds, not over the scratch of pencil on paper.
But she wasn’t alone.
Zayden sat at the back of the room, hunched over a canvas he hadn’t touched in twenty
minutes. He’d heard the first scream. Then the second. He hadn’t said anything. Not yet.
They used to talk more. Used to laugh. Used to share brushes and paint and secrets. But
something had shifted. Not a fight. Not a betrayal. Just a quiet drift�"like tectonic plates slowly
pulling apart.
Now, they barely spoke.
Zayden was tactical. Intense. The kind of quiet that made people forget he was
there�"until it mattered.
He watched Sage sketch, watched the lights flicker overhead. He didn’t speak until the
third flicker.
“Sage,” he said, voice low.
She didn’t hear him.“Sage,” louder now.
She pulled out one earbud and turned, irritation flickering across her face. “What?”
“Something’s wrong.”
She frowned. The air felt heavier. Charged.
Outside the door, the hallway was still. Too still.
No laughter. No footsteps. No end-of-year chaos.
Just silence.
Then�"a thud. Soft. Followed by a dragging sound. Slow. Wet. Unnatural.
Sage stood, heart pounding. Zayden rose too, eyes fixed on the door.
She moved to it, cracked it open just enough to peek.
The hallway was empty. But the shadows… they moved.
Not with the light. Not with logic. They stretched toward her, reaching.
She slammed the door shut.
Locked it.
Backed away.
Zayden stepped beside her. He didn’t ask questions. Didn’t panic.
He just said, “We need to find something to fight with.”
Sage didn’t know what was happening. Not yet.
But she would. Soon.
Because the art wing wasn’t safe anymore. And Sage… Sage was no longer alone.
She and Zayden were about to become part of the story.
The Fall hadn’t happened yet.

Author's Note

Ignore all grammar mistakes pls, also tell me wat you think