The Shadow That Devoured Its Owner
Our faces bore different shades of shock as we stepped out of Melissa's room. Rone had maintained a composed expression in front of Melissa, trying to reassure her, but the moment we slipped out of the dormitory, she bit her lip, her face crumpling as if she might burst into tears at any second. Rozalia hung her head, her face drained of color. Aurora let out a deep sigh, her usual cool demeanor shattered. Elaine stared at the wall with a complicated expression.
"Melissa's condition..." Rone finally forced her mouth open to say something, but the words died there.
"It's far more serious than we imagined," Aurora said, her voice laced with a faint tremor. "We've always resolved ghost stories under Teacher's guidance, and if things went wrong, we'd just regress and make it all never happen. It never really hit home... but ghost stories are such horrific disasters for ordinary people."
As they said, we'd all been deeply shaken by Melissa's appearance. We'd encountered plenty of bizarre incidents through our Paranormal Investigation Club activities, but this was the first time we'd seen a human form twist so directly. And if we failed to resolve the ghost story, that would be the gruesome curse she'd carry for life.
It seemed the students were only now truly realizing how cruel and horrific the ghost stories they faced really were.
A heavy silence settled over the hallway.
After a while, lost in our thoughts, the students seemed to calm down a bit. Elaine looked up at me cautiously. "Teacher... what now? Are we going to investigate the Shadow Plastic Surgery ghost story more?"
I shook my head. "No, the investigation ends here. And club activities for today are over too. Everyone, dismissed."
Elaine's eyes widened. Rone, Rozalia, and Aurora all stared at me in confusion.
"Pardon? What do you mean?" Rone stepped forward, demanding an explanation with a hint of anger.
"Didn't you see Melissa's state? Dismissed like this?!"
"I know exactly what I saw," I said firmly. "That's why we're dismissing—for tonight."
The students' eyes widened in unison, surprise rippling across their faces. Confusion, doubt, and a flicker of "No way..." crossed their expressions.
As they stood stunned and speechless, I dropped the bombshell. "Tonight, we resolve the Shadow Plastic Surgery ghost story."
Elaine stammered, "T-Teacher... have you come up with some method?"
I nodded. "Yeah. An idea to resolve the Shadow Plastic Surgery ghost story."
The method was based on Melissa's testimony, Elaine's initial research on the Shadow Plastic Surgery ghost story, and my reconstruction of that information.
I explained the solution I'd devised as I spoke. At first, their worried faces—fearing I was just charging in recklessly without a plan—gradually brightened as they listened.
"It's not guaranteed... but it's worth a shot."
"No! Teacher's solution seems really convincing!"
"I think so too! Let's prepare right away!"
"...Rone. To encounter the Shadow Plastic Surgery ghost story, we have to wait until night. That's why Teacher said to dismiss early today."
"...Oh."
Rone let out an awkward laugh at Aurora's point. The mood lightened. All that was left was execution.
...
Night deepened, and pitch-black darkness swallowed Everlight Academy once more. The buildings, buzzing with daytime energy, now lay silent and lightless in cold stillness. An eerie, chilling tension filled the air.
In that ominous quiet, we headed back to the fourth-floor hallway.
Rone couldn't hide her anxiety, still thinking about Melissa. Elaine shone her UV light carefully, scanning the surroundings. Rozalia's face lacked her usual confident smile, and Aurora's sharp, haughty demeanor had softened under the strain.
We'd gathered in the dead of night at the academy to resolve the Shadow Plastic Surgery ghost story. I'd swapped night duty with another teacher, making our infiltration easy. The students had used the shortcut Emma mentioned to evade the dorm monitors and slip out safely.
Who'd have thought we'd use that shortcut so soon? Less than a day after taking Emma's request, we were sneaking into the nighttime academy to lift Melissa's curse.
Arriving at the fourth-floor hallway—the site for Shadow Plastic Surgery—I turned to the students. "Alright, let's get ready."
At my words, they began preparations to resolve the ghost story. This time, Rozalia was on regression duty. Her "imagination" could introduce unwanted variables into the plan, and Elaine and Rone had just strengthened their gifts, leaving them without resentment to spare.
The remaining three stayed on the fourth floor to prepare.
Soon, preparations complete, we held our breath and waited. For the time when Shadow Plastic Surgery would begin.
The Shadow Plastic Surgery ghost story didn't activate just from the fourth-floor hallway. Time was the other key condition. Precise location and precise time—that was the core of the Shadow Plastic Surgery ghost story.
It was like a ritual. Almost like a séance, manifesting only when specific conditions aligned.
We held our breath, eyes fixed on the alarm clock I'd brought from the teachers' dormitory. The ticking second hand amplified the hallway's silence.
Beep-beep, beep-beep.
Finally, the alarm rang. The moment it sounded, Rone strode to the spot described in the ghost story: in front of the fourth window on the fourth-floor hallway.
When I'd first outlined the plan, Rone had volunteered, insisting Melissa was her precious friend and she wanted to take the lead.
With a resolute expression, she stood before the fourth window. The moment she did, moonlight poured from behind her, casting a long shadow on the hallway wall.
The shadow was uncannily vivid. Not just from the bright moonlight. It felt like another living body of Rone herself—intensely visual, brimming with presence.
The instant I saw it, I knew my plan was on track.
"Now!!"
At my shout, we moved in perfect sync. I unfolded and positioned the metal sheets to surround the wall, while Elaine and Aurora switched on their UV lights and candles in unison.
My solution for the ghost story: erase the shadow.
When I'd asked Melissa about the shadow during her plastic surgery that day, she'd said it was uncannily vivid. The ghost story named Shadow Plastic Surgery, and that unusually sharp shadow. My hypothesis: the ghost story's core was the shadow itself—or at least something possessing it.
So, how to exorcise a ghost story dwelling in a shadow? Eliminate the shadow itself!
In an instant, light from our myriad sources flooded the hallway. Candles and lamps glowed ordinarily, but the UV LED lights—grabbed from the apartment ghost story—were brutally intense. Light bounced off the metal sheets I'd brought as reflectors, turning the dim academy hallway as bright as midday.
In real life, completely erasing a shadow is tough. Even in my previous modern world. But weakening it to near-invisibility or scattering it beyond recognition? Possible.
The moment light filled the hallway, Rone's long shadow fragmented under the onslaught, fading into haze. Its edges blurred, smudging like ink in water.
Well, now. What'll you do?
If mere fading triggered resolution, perfect. But if the shadow thrashed to survive... or the ghost story possessing it resisted... we'd counter accordingly.
I watched Rone's increasingly faint shadow with tense eyes.
But what happened next was beyond anyone's prediction.
Poof!
No actual sound, but it felt like one. Like her shadow, Rone vanished without a trace.
She'd been standing there moments ago, now gone as if she'd never existed.
"..."
We all froze in the sudden turn. No one saw it coming.
In the blinding light filling the hallway, we stared blankly at where Rone had been.
Silence reigned first. Elaine's eyes bulged, body rigid. Aurora's brow furrowed in utter confusion.
Then chaos erupted like a bursting dam.
"R-Rone?!" Elaine cried, voice shaking. Aurora fought to stay rational, but horror painted her face.
As the panicked girls stepped toward the spot, I shouted desperately. "Stop! Lights out—now!"
They hesitated, then moved on instinct. Metal reflectors clattered down, UV lights and candles snuffed in seconds.
Darkness and silence returned to the hallway, moonlight the only source left. We searched Rone's spot: floor, around the window, even the ceiling. No sign of her.
Damn... I was wrong.
The shadow wasn't the source. Erasing it erased the owner too...!!
Frustration and despair hit me. I'd thought removing the shadow was the answer, but the result was a catastrophic failure.
"...We failed."
I muttered lowly. "Regress for now, bring Rone back, then we talk."
No time to waste. We trudged back to the club room. Rozalia, briefed on the failure, activated regression with trembling hands. Familiar flash—and time rewound.
...
Flash!
The familiar light brought us back to the daytime club room. Warm sunlight poured through the windows, dusty air tickling our noses.
Students shook off the disorientation from the sudden shift, quickly adapting to the familiar scene. They began analyzing the nighttime failure.
"Ugh... we failed. Was completely erasing the shadow the problem?" Elaine said, frowning.
"Maybe the core wasn't the shadow, but something else..." Aurora added, brow furrowed.
"My mistake. I jumped to conclusions about the ghost story's core. Damn... should have been more careful. Sorry."
"I-it's okay! We'll learn from it and do better next time!" Rozalia encouraged, trying to lift my spirits as I blamed myself.
"Yeah. We will. Thanks for the pep talk."
"I can do this anytime!" Rozalia puffed up proudly.
Meanwhile, Elaine and Aurora exchanged ideas, dissecting the failure. I listened quietly.
Once sorted, I turned to Rone for crucial info. "Rone, did you feel anything when the shadow faded—"
I stopped mid-call. My gaze swept the club room.
Rone was gone. Nowhere in sight. Her spot empty, no trace at all.
Something... something was wrong.