Chapter 2

A quick question from Victoria made him wake up, chasing away for a second the thoughts that plagued him. He took a few steps forward as he answered his girlfriend, regaining his composure, but when they stepped out onto the inner plaza and he glanced sideways toward the café, his heart skipped a beat and he shuddered, causing Victoria to startle with him. All the chairs, those that lay locked away, were in place behind the tables.

—Were they put away? Were they like that before we went upstairs? —asked Diego, trying to hide the way his hands were shaking.

—No... I don't remember. No, they weren't like that —answered Victoria astonished.

"No, impossible, who ordered them so fast? No, we must be confused, the others would have said something by now", suddenly Victoria took Diego by the hand.

—Are you all right?

—Yes, just... aaam.... —Diego was looking for the right words to explain what was happening to him, but he didn't need to.

—I feel something strange too. Let's get out of here quickly, I want to get to your house.

Diego nodded and without letting go of her hand they continued walking behind the others. The ideas came and went, in a constant loop until they reached the exit of the faculty; a wide door of thick metal, beautiful although somewhat old-fashioned and neglected.

—None of the guards are here —Estefany said strangely after crossing the door, wide open.

—They must be busy with something —excused Gabriel without thinking too much about it.

—But they left the entrance gates open.

—They knew we were up there, they must have left them that way so we could get out.

—Mmm... —Estefany's tone was suspicious as she looked around.

To the right he saw a green space where only the silhouette of some dry trees could be distinguished and to the left, through a wall with small holes, she could see the court where they were training, turned into a lonely and threatening space, only illuminated by a solitary lamp. No vehicles were passing on the street and no people were passing through the roofed corridors of the university. In the parking lot in front of the central library building there was not a single car parked, and in the distance the silhouette of the faculty of economics and social sciences building could be distinguished, with only one light on.

"The university is too dark, too lonely even though it's Monday", Estefany thought immediately. The time passing slowly only increased that desolate feeling, until a small, flickering light caught her and Victoria's attention; the only light in all that huge building.

—Where are all the people? —Estefany insisted after a few seconds, trying to stay calm while her hair stood on end as she felt a cold breeze.

—They went to dinner, Estefany —Edgar replied, playing down the situation.

—Hey! Don't answer her like that! She's right, everything is so lonely, it's not even twelve o'clock at night —Victoria defended her as they walked.

Someone else would have answered; either Edgar with more sarcasm or Diego seconding Victoria, but sudden sounds coming from the grass to the right made them bite their tongues.

They were loud clicks that could not be missed. Everyone turned with more or less disguise, peering into the darkness. Although the roofed corridor was illuminated, it could not be seen what was hidden in the small staircase. After a few seconds, the clicking stopped.

The group sighed with relief, laughing a little at how paranoid they were.

They tried to move forward, but as if it had been waiting for them to move, a creature rushed out immediately, running completely across the road in front of them hiding in the shadows on the other side. Victoria squeezed Diego's arm tightly and the others slowly backed away.

—What was that?! —asked Victoria in fear.

—It was just a rat —answered Gabriel, trying to appease them all.

—The size of a rabbit —growled Estefany, trying to locate it with her eyes. The clicking had returned.

—A Rat! Ha! That thing ran on two legs —Victoria whispered, but only Diego heard her.

—Well, calm down, the university is wild, we should record a reality show —joked Edgar before continuing walking.

If Edgar was nervous, the truth was that he didn't show it, although his desire to play down the strange atmosphere that had begun to suffocate them was evident. That is why he led the way and did not stop until they reached the crosswalk in a few seconds, and seeing that no one was coming in any direction, they tried to cross, but they did not finish reaching the other sidewalk when the bugle and the roar of an engine were heard close to them. They all took long strides to finish exiting the street, turning around at once to see a car speeding ahead, continuing on its way out of the university.

—What's wrong with him? —asked Gabriel, red with rage, knowing that a stumble by one of his students could have led to a fatal accident.

—Calm down, we're all fine —Diego calmed him down, although it was true that everyone was quite nervous—. Let's keep walking.

Dark shadows loomed over the campus of The Central University of Venezuela, engulfing the bushes and the roadway... this new open and roofed corridor was no exception. Although in the morning it teemed with life, full of students reviewing classes on their chalk boards or resting on their green benches, at that hour the Hall of Flags was silent, with a gloomy aura reinforced by the constant flickering of the fluorescent lights and the white noise of the old and broken horns, where the university radio once sounded.

It seemed to extend to infinity, since the end was not distinguishable; only a deep black spot that, they supposed, was the steep ravine that marked the boundary between the university and the rest of Caracas.

"The road is long, but if we hurry everything will be fine, it's okay, calm down" Diego said to himself while he controlled the trembling of his hands and legs so as not to worry Victoria even more. She was still clinging to his arm, but this far from bothering him gave him strength, it let him know that at least he was not alone, that he was not the only one aware of the strange things that were happening "She is a brave woman, if she is scared it is because she has also noticed strange things".

No one was saying anything, but everyone was alert; Gabriel had his fists clenched, looking in all directions with dissimulation, Edgar and Estefany were staring to the left, fearing that at some point someone or something would jump out of the shadows and Victoria was turning back insistently, uncomfortable at the idea that the supposed rat was following them.

The only one with his eyes straight ahead was Diego, who couldn't wait to get out of that endless corridor, trying not to pay attention to anything else but controlling the palpitations of his heart... sad reality. No matter how hard he tried to ignore the surroundings, only he noticed when a light at the end of it all seemed to go out, and then another and another and another.

—The blackboard —Estefany exclaimed.

His words corresponded with the lights going out in the background, so Diego was startled, though only Victoria noticed.

—What's wrong? —Victoria looked at him, but he shook his head as everyone surrounded Estefany.

Estefany didn't need to explain, she just pointed her finger at the board. The strange illustrations and cryptic symbols drawn in white chalk stunned them. Among the scribbles, circles and letters in strange languages they only managed to recognize what looked like a person in front of their reflection, nothing else.

—Did the others have things like that? —Gabriel turned around, counting the other three chalk boards they had passed.

—I'm not sure, did you see them, Edgar?

—I don't know! I was watching to make sure no one was coming, not looking at the boards.

—But don't get defensive, Edgar —Gabriel pointed out to him—. I think we're all getting nervous for no reason.

There was a brief conversation among everyone as Gabriel tried to calm them down. As soon as they could, each one pointed out small details that had managed to make their hair stand on end, but nothing that could not be justified in a simple way, at least until...

—It's going to be all right —a childish whisper intermingled with the white noise of the broken horns.

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