The night was eerily still as Yuki stood before the abandoned school, its hollow windows staring back at her. Behind her, her friends waited just beyond the gate, laughing, whispering, watching. They had dared her to go inside alone and ring the old bell in the tower, a test to prove she wasn’t the coward they always said she was.

She stepped inside. The air was thick with dust and decay, the silence pressing in around her. Lockers lined the halls like forgotten tombs, their rusted doors slightly open. Every step sent echoes through the empty corridors, every shadow seemed to shift when she wasn’t looking.

She forced herself forward, past broken desks and shattered windows until she reached the bell tower door, slightly open. Just ring the bell and leave. That was all.

Then she saw a figure.

A figure stood by the bell’s rope, motionless, watching.

Ice shot through her veins.

Her instincts screamed at her to run. But outside, her friends were waiting. If she turned back now, she’d never escape the word that haunted her.

"Coward"

Swallowing hard, she whispered:

Yuki: "W-Who... who's there?"