Days of delusion

Level 1

It started as a normal day. I got up, walked my dog, then headed to work. Work felt normal too — familiar faces greeted me as I walked in, right until I reached my desk and sat down.

"Mandy, Sam's mam is here for the meeting about Lena." Enid burst into my office, then slammed the door and vanished down the hall before I could reply. We were polar opposites, me and Enid — we'd never really got along.

"Send her in!" I called out. Pointless. She was already gone.

Five minutes passed. Nobody came. Fine — I'd go get them myself. "Hey — are you Lena's mum?" I asked, slipping into that high, fake teacher voice I save for meetings.

"I am, yes." She stood. I led her to the small room near reception — plain table, chairs, the one we use for difficult conversations. Lena sat right beside her.

"Okay. Do you know why we're here?" I looked straight at her, waiting for an answer.

"No." She rolled her eyes, propped her legs on the table and started rocking her chair.

"Lena, put your feet down." Her mum nudged her legs off, then give her that sharp warning look every parent knows.

"This behaviour isn't acceptable at this school," I said, glancing between them.

"Please — don't exclude her. She's actually trying. It's hard for her." Her voice cracked. She was begging now.

Lena stood up so fast her chair scraped back. "This is stupid!"

"LENA!"

"Just LEAVE ME ALONE!" She bolted for the door. Her mum lunged after her. Oh great start to the morning, I sighed, following them out.

I walked past classrooms humming with noise — singing drifted from the theatre — until something caught my eye. Faint at first, just a shape. Then clearer.

A door. Standing in the middle of the corridor. Nowhere. Attached to nothing.

I stepped closer. It stood out sharp against everything else — how had I not seen it five minutes ago? I looked down. Light spilled out from underneath it. Like there was a whole room behind there. But there was nothing there. Just wall.

Then — silence.

The classroom beside me had been loud. Now dead quiet. I looked inside. Empty.

Next door — empty.

Next — empty.

I ran back into the corridor. No one had passed me. It was a single corridor. There was nowhere to go. Where had they all GONE?

Darkness swallowed the whole building. The lights died all at once. Everything pitch black.

Except that door. I could still see it perfectly clear. Glowing. Waiting.

My heart hammered. It's just... the other side of the corridor. Right? That's all it is.

I turned the handle. Stepped through. Closed it behind me.

The floor fell away. Not walking — falling. Spinning, dizzy, weightless.

I hit the ground. Hard.

Checked my watch. Minutes. I'd been gone minutes.

I looked up. Not the corridor. Not the school. Somewhere else entirely.

Everywhere was a bright, sickly yellow. Endless corridors stretching off in every direction.

One harsh white light burned at the centre of every hallway, receding in a perfect straight line forever.

I stood up, mind reeling. Was I dreaming? I had to be.

The walls were an off-white stained yellow, and the carpet covered everything — disturbingly clean.

"HELLO? WHERE AM I?" My voice bounced off the walls and came back empty.

Nothing.

I started walking, searching for any way out. But there didn't seem to be one. Miles of identical hallways later, I hit a wall. Blocked. Dead end.

What is actually happening?

Hours felt like they passed. I already felt crazy — trapped somewhere that shouldn't exist. The dream I'd told myself I was having? It didn't feel like a dream anymore. It felt real. Too real.

After what felt like another half hour, I saw it. Something scrawled on the wall. I stepped closer.

"open here"

I trusted it. I don't know why. I climbed the ladder and pulled myself into the vent. Every part of me screamed to run, but I still held onto that one thin thread — I'm dreaming. I'll wake up soon.

It was a tight, dark, painful crawl. But eventually — the other side.

Something caught my eye above the next door. A sign.

EXIT.

My heart soared. Finally. I could leave. I grabbed the handle and nearly ripped the door open I was so relieved.

Then I looked inside.

It wasn't the way out.

Just another one of these rooms. Exactly the same.