The hallway to the refectory smelled of soy sauce and chicken as the students walked in for lunch. It was culture week and Chinese cuisine was on the menu for that afternoon.
Esther took a tray and pushed it down the counter, looking away. She was so pre-occupied with her chemistry test results, she didn't do well at all and she was so worried that this could taint her otherwise excellent result.
"Fortune cookies are at the very end, serve yourselves." The lunch lady announced with a smile.
Esther grabbed a plastic-wrapped cookie like everyone else, all stacked in a glass bowl.
But something caught her attention.
One cookie, sat apart from the rest, it had a number boldly written in red ink, "27", glaring at her from the wrapper.
She paused. No one was picking it though it really looked deliciously different. A whisper in her mind told her,
"Do not touch it."
But her hand moved instinctively.
She broke it open and unrolled the tiny paper.
You are the next one.
"Next one for what? She wondered.
Her breath hitched, was this a joke or something? Esther looked around to see if anyone else was receiving such strange fortunes?
No, everyone else had the usual: "Luck is on your side" or "A smile opens every door."
She folded the note, slipped it into her pocket, and sat down next to her friend, Naomi who was opening hers.
"What did yours say?" Esther asked, trying to sound as casual as can be.
Naomi grinned. ''Soon, you will walk into unexpected cash."
"I wish this was true, I really could do with some cash."
Esther forced a laugh.
"Mine was......weird."
Naomi raised a brow. “Weird? How.... how do you mean?”
Like "You are the next one." She spoke slowly.
"The next one? For what? Naomi asked with a confused expression.
"I...I really don't know."
"Hey, come off it! You are not taking this seriously, are you?" Naomi asked jokingly as she peered into her face. "Because I'm not!"
But that night, sleep eluded Esther. The words sounded ominous but as much as she tried to shrug it off as nothing serious, she couldn't.
She lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.
As she prepared for school that morning, her hands shook. She felt different, as she stared at her reflection in the dark window.
And then—a tap.
She jumped.
A figure was standing outside.
Her heart slammed against her chest.
She backed away slowly.
But the figure... was Naomi.
Esther opened the window. “What the hell? You scared me!”
Naomi climbed in. “Sorry! I had to see you this morning before classes, to check on you. You okay huh?”
Esther eventually spoke. “I think I might be in danger.”
Then she continued, almost in a whisper, “I think I’m dreaming things.”
Naomi stared. “Like what?”
“I saw a corridor somewhere, then a red door underground. I heard screaming… and my name whispered by someone.”
"Then we must let the school authorities know about this."
The Next Day
School was tense, whispers echoed in every hallway. Two students were rushed to the sick bay, after collapsing during assembly, a new teacher fainted during roll call.
Naomi and Esther met in the library.
“Don't you think it's time to tell?" Naomi whispered.
Esther's voice cracked. “Tell what exactly? That I'm having hallucinations?
Naomi's silence was louder than words.
A noise made them jump.
Someone stood in the library doorway, a teacher.
But not just any teacher. Mrs. Okon, one of the oldest teachers in the school.
She locked eyes with Esther. “You have something that doesn’t belong to you.”
“What do you mean?”
“The fortune Cookie 27. It should have never been opened, you broke the seal.”
"How was I to know that, besides it was just a cookie." Esther said, suddenly irritated.
“What happens now?” Naomi asked, wide-eyed.
She smiled sadly.
“It wakes up.”
"W-ha-t? They both chorused.
Mrs. Okon’s eyes darkened. “It wakes up,” she repeated. “The thing behind the red door."
Esther's voice shook. “What thing? What are you talking about?”
Naomi stepped forward to stand by her friend. “What are you saying?”
Silence.
“Cookie 27,” she continued. “Once opened, it binds to the soul of the opener and the door begins to crack.”
“What door?” Esther asked. She was unsettled by now.
She looked around, then gestured for them to follow. “Come. I’ll show you before it’s too late.”
Down a narrow corridor behind the library, a rusted steel door stood sealed with chains. A red 27 was scrawled in faded blood.
“This door was sealed in 1984,” after someone opened Cookie 27 and unleashed it. An evil hunger.”
Esther stepped forward. “I broke the seal?”
Mrs. Okon nodded grimly. “It’s chosen you now. The prophecy always comes as "You are the next one.”
Naomi stepped beside her. “Can't we...stop it?”
“There’s a ritual that can,” she said, leading them to the music room.
"Then, let's get right into it!
“You must face it in the Dream Corridor, and resist it” she warned as she drew a circle with chalk, placing incense and red candles by it.
Esther sat in the circle and closed her eyes.
She was in a long corridor of black doors but one glowed red.
"Esther,” a sweet feminine voice called out. She turned—and saw a shadow, dark and hollow.
“You don’t belong here,” the shadow said lunging at her.
Esther clenched her fists as she fought back with all her might.
The red door creaked open as the shadow screamed and turned to ash.
Inside the door, was a mirror. She stepped through it.
Back in the real world, Esther gasped awake. The candles blew out.
“She’s back,” Naomi said.
Mrs Okon nodded.
“Destroy the cookie. Bury it.”
Naomi frowned. “Who left it out in the first place?”
Mrs. Okon didn’t answer but Esther saw her hand tremble.
Two weeks passed, the school was calm again, but Esther had changed. She was quieter, distant, sharper.
That night, Esther returned to the basement. The chains were gone. The door open. Her blood curdled with fear.
Inside, dust—and a folded red note.
You brought it back. Just like I did in 1984. Mrs. Okon
She turned. Mrs. Okon stood behind her.
“You were the last one,” she said limply. “In 1984. You fed it to me.”
“I guided it,” she admitted. “It needs a bridge, that was my role.”
She clenched her fists. “But why me?”
“You were chosen because you’re strong and intelligent. You would figure out how to open the door wider.”
“I destroyed it.”
“Hahaha,” she said. “It came back with you, through the mirror.”
The lights flickered. Something moved in the shadows.
Mrs. Okon stepped back. “It has chosen you now, you’re the new Keeper, the next guide.”
“No! You deceived me!”
But a whisper stirred within her.
More cookies must be baked.
One Year Later
Holy Wells High reopened with a new cafeteria.
Culture Week returned.
A new student cracked open a fortune cookie.
Welcome. This journey had just begun.
Across the hall, Esther sat watching.
Smiling.
All images are AI generated.
Thank you for reading.