2025-11-28 03:10:41Uche didn’t sleep.
Not for one second.
He sat on his bed with his back to the wall, eyes fixed on the wardrobe like it was a living thing. The room felt heavier, the air colder. Seyi slept like a dead man, unmoving, unbothered—almost too still.
Every sound in the hostel became a threat.
A cough from outside.
Footsteps in the hallway.Distant laughter.A metal bucket scraping against the concrete floor.By 5:00 a.m., Uche’s eyes were red and burning.
What kind of room is this? What program? Why me? Why the time 2:13?
He looked at the folded note again.
WELCOME TO THE PROGRAM.
No explanation.
No meaning.Just a threat disguised as a greeting.He didn’t even realize he was trembling until he tried to stand. His knees felt weak, his body stiff from fear.
Seyi finally shifted in bed, stretching as if he’d had the best sleep of his life.
“You look like death,” he said casually.
“Because this room is possessed!” Uche snapped. “Something knocked inside the wardrobe. The handle moved. Then the—”
Seyi raised a hand, not in defense, but in warning.
“Don’t talk too loudly.”
“Bro, what exactly is going on here? Why did the wardrobe open? Why was that note there? Why this room?”
Seyi looked away. “You’re asking too many questions too early.”
“This is not the kind of place you adjust slowly to!”
Seyi sighed, rubbed his face, and finally sat up. “Listen carefully. Whatever you saw last night… you didn’t see it.”
“What?”
“You heard me. You saw nothing. You heard nothing. You read nothing.”
“Guy, are you okay?”
“No,” Seyi said bluntly. “But I know the only way to survive here.”
Uche stared at him.
“Don’t ask the wrong questions,” Seyi continued. “Don’t talk to strangers about this room. Don’t bring anyone here. Don’t open the wardrobe again.”
“Why not?”
“Because the last guy who did… didn’t finish the semester.”
Uche felt his heartbeat spike. “What happened to him?”
Seyi hesitated. “He disappeared. No one knows how. Or maybe some people know, but they won’t talk.”
“Did you see it happen?”
“No.”
Too quick.Too sharp.Uche narrowed his eyes. “Why are you in this room if it’s that serious?”
“I didn’t choose this room,” Seyi said quietly. “Nobody chooses it.”
Uche stepped closer. “So why haven’t you disappeared?”
Seyi finally met his eyes.
“Who said I haven’t?”
A chill moved through Uche’s entire body.
Before he could ask anything else, Seyi stood.
“I need to bathe. We have registration today. Try to look normal.”
“Normal? After last night?” Uche scoffed.
Seyi paused at the door. “Whatever you do, don’t mention what happened to anyone. No matter how friendly they seem.”
He left the room.
Uche exhaled shakily.
This school is mad. Completely mad.
Registration day was chaos.
Hundreds of students crowded the multipurpose hall, shouting, complaining, pushing. Lecturers in oversized suits shouted instructions nobody followed. The place smelled like sweat, paper, and stress.
Uche moved through the lines like a ghost. He couldn’t concentrate. Every shadow made him flinch. Every face looked suspicious.
Everywhere he went, he felt eyes on him.
From behind pillars.
From classroom windows.From the balcony above.He couldn't tell if he was imagining things or if someone was actually watching him.
While standing in line for biometrics, a voice beside him said:
“You’re from Block C, right?”
Uche turned. A tall, muscular guy stood next to him wearing a red hoodie and a blank expression. His eyes were sharp—too sharp.
“Yeah,” Uche replied carefully.
“What room?”
Uche hesitated. “Why?”
The guy ignored the question. “Room number?”
Uche swallowed. “Forty—”
Seyi suddenly appeared from nowhere, grabbed Uche’s arm, and pulled him out of line.
“Come,” he said through clenched teeth.
“But I haven’t registered—”
“Come. Now.”
The tall guy watched them leave, expression unchanged, but his gaze was intense… memorizing.
Once they were outside, Uche jerked his arm away. “What is wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong with you?” Seyi retorted. “Why did you answer him?”
“Because he asked me a normal question!”
“That guy is not normal. Don’t talk to anyone about Room 49. I told you.”
Uche frowned. “You know him?”
“Everyone knows him. Red hoodie. His group controls half the hostel. They’re not the kind of people you talk to.”
“Why? Cult?”
“Something like that.”
Uche sighed. “This school is insane.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Seyi said. “Or you’ll leave.”
Before Uche could respond, their faculty announced a break. Students scattered to get food or shade.
Seyi tapped Uche’s shoulder. “I need to handle something. Stay in open places. Don’t go anywhere empty.”
“When will you be back?”
“Soon.”
Another answer too quick.Seyi walked off.
Uche walked to a quiet corner under a tree and sat. He finally opened his bag to bring out a biscuit when something small and metallic fell out.
A USB flash drive.
He frowned. “What’s this?”
He didn’t own a flash drive. But the drive had masking tape on it with a handwritten message:
FOR THE NEW OCCUPANT OF ROOM 49.
His heart dropped.
“How… how did this get in my bag?”
He had locked his bag. It had been beside his bed all night. Nobody had touched it.
His throat tightened.
He looked around to see if someone was watching. Everyone seemed busy—some eating, some chatting, some sleeping on benches.
He held the flash drive like it might explode.
Should I open this? Should I even carry it?
Before he could decide, a girl approached.
She looked normal—jeans, simple top, bag on one shoulder. But her face was unreadable. Neutral. Too neutral.
“You’re the one in Room 49, right?” she asked.
Uche froze.
He didn’t speak. He didn’t blink. He barely breathed.
The girl sighed like she expected this reaction. “Relax. I’m not here to threaten you.”
“Then why did you come?”
“I’m here to warn you.”
Uche’s heart raced. “Warn me about what?”
She leaned in slightly. “Don’t plug in that flash drive anywhere on campus.”
Uche gripped it tighter. “Why?”
“Because the last person who did… got taken.”
His stomach churned. “Taken by who?”
She looked around, then whispered: “The Program.”
He stepped back. “What is this Program? Why do people keep talking like they’re being watched? What is happening?”
The girl sighed. “You’re asking questions too publicly. If you want to survive, keep your head down.”
“Who are you?”
“Someone who doesn’t want to see another freshman disappear.”
“That still doesn’t answer my question.”
She glanced over his shoulder suddenly, eyes widening. “I have to go. Just don’t open it. And whatever you do—”
Footsteps.
She stopped speaking, turned, and walked away quickly.
A group of three guys walked past immediately after—hooded, silent, scanning faces.Uche stood frozen.
“What the hell is this school?” he whispered.
He didn’t plug in the flash drive.
He didn’t even open it.He hid it deep in his bag like a cursed object.The rest of the day felt tense. Seyi returned but acted normal—too normal. He talked about classes and lecturers as if nothing in the world was wrong. As if the room they lived in wasn’t haunted by secrets.
By 8 p.m., Uche decided to take a walk to clear his mind.
Big mistake.
The campus at night felt different. The paths were dim, the trees too still, the buildings too quiet. He walked near the faculty block, thinking it would be safer.
He was wrong.
As he approached the courtyard, he heard footsteps behind him. When he turned, nobody was there. He walked faster. The footsteps quickened.
His breath sped up.
He turned again.
Still no one.
He started jogging. His skin crawled. The night air felt thick. He could hear whispers—far away yet close.
Then a voice came from the shadows:
“Room 49.”
Uche stopped dead.
A figure stepped out—a tall guy in a black cap. He wasn’t the one from earlier. This one had a scar across his jaw.
“You’re the new one,” the guy said.
Uche’s heart pounded. “What do you want?”
The guy smiled slowly. “Nothing. Just wanted to see if the rumors were true.”
“What rumors?”
“That the Program finally found another candidate.”
Uche’s breathing hitched. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, you will,” the guy said. “Soon.”
He took a step forward.
Uche stepped back.
The guy’s smile widened. “Relax. If they wanted to take you, you wouldn’t see it coming.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you better pray you fail their test.”
“What test?”
The guy didn’t answer.
Instead, he turned and disappeared into a side path like he melted into the darkness.
Uche stood there shaking. His shirt stuck to his body with sweat.
He hurried back to the hostel, almost running.
When he reached Room 49, the door was slightly open.
His heart dropped.
“Seyi?” he called softly.
No answer.
He pushed the door open.
Everything was normal… except the wardrobe.
The door was open again.
On the floor inside, a new piece of paper lay waiting.
Uche forced himself to pick it up.
His vision blurred for a second.
The message was short:
YOU HAVE 24 HOURS TO PROVE YOU’RE WORTH THE ROOM.
His hands trembled.
He slowly looked up at the wardrobe.
Another piece of paper was taped on the inside wall.
A second message:
OR YOU WILL BE REMOVED.
Uche stood there in the cold silence of Room 49, realizing something terrifying:
The wardrobe wasn’t haunted.
The room wasn’t cursed.Someone was watching him.
Testing him.Tracking him.And they had just started the countdown.
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Latest Chapter
CHAPTER 11 — THE HEART OF 49
Uche stepped through the blackened doorway, and the world shifted beneath him.It wasn’t like any room he’d ever seen—or imagined. The darkness wasn’t empty. It was alive.It whispered. Hissed. Reached into him.The air was thick, tasting of iron and cold metal. His lungs burned as though he were underwater. Shadows curled and twisted around him like snakes, weaving in impossible patterns. He felt their eyes—millions of them—watching, judging, testing.And then he saw it: the core of Room 49.A massive black orb hovered at the center of the space. It pulsed rhythmically, as though it had a heartbeat. Every beat sent ripples across the void, distorting reality itself.Uche’s stomach turned. He instinctively wanted to step back, but his feet were rooted. Something deep in his mind—the same voice that had guided him before—whispered:You were born for this.His father’s voice echoed faintly in his mind."Remember, fear is your tool, not your master."He clenched his fists. His father was
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 10 — THE DIRECTORDarkness swallowed the room.Not the normal type of darkness—no.This one was alive.Uche froze. It felt like something had slipped over his eyes, his ears, his very thoughts. A cold pressure tightened around his skull, like Room 49 itself had wrapped invisible fingers around his brain.His father’s breathing beside him was ragged, shallow—he was fading.“Seyi?” Uche whispered.No answer.The lights snapped back on with a violent flicker.But the room had changed.It was no longer the small interrogation chamber.No walls. No doors. No ceiling.Just a massive empty white void stretching endlessly in every direction.And standing in the center of it—A man.Tall.Cold.Wearing a white coat that contrasted sharply with his obsidian-black gloves.His face was hidden behind a smooth metallic mask—no eyes, no mouth, no features—just a perfect silver surface reflecting Uche’s own terrified expression.The Director.Finally.Uche’s heart slammed against his ribcage.
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 9 — THE DIRECTOR’S GAMEUche ran through the campus streets under the cloak of darkness, lungs burning, heart hammering like it wanted to escape his chest. The night air was thick with smoke from the burning maintenance shaft behind him. Sirens still wailed somewhere below ground. The Director’s forces were organized, precise, and deadly—they didn’t chase blindly. They hunted.He didn’t look back. Every instinct screamed to keep moving. His father had pushed him toward the west exit, but that was no longer safe. The facility was crawling with Execution Units, and Room 49 itself seemed to pulse through his veins, whispering, judging, taunting.Seyi had vanished somewhere along the tunnels, leaving a faint trail only Uche could follow, guided by instinct, fear, and the flickering light of distant exit signs.Then the whisper came—not from the walls, not from the shadows, but inside his mind:“Stop running, Uche Obi. You cannot outrun me.”It wasn’t Seyi. It wasn’t his father. It
CHAPTER 8 – THE ESCAPE THEY DIDN’T PLAN FOR
The siren screamed through the underground facility—shrill, urgent, violent.Red lights flashed like blood splashes against the walls.Footsteps thundered.Orders barked through radios.Uche didn’t move. He couldn’t. His father’s warning froze him.Someone inside wants you dead.Seyi slammed the reinforced door shut and locked it, face tense for the first time since Uche met him.“Shit,” Seyi muttered. “They weren’t supposed to move this early.”Uche’s father stood up slowly, as if his bones hurt. But his eyes—sharp, intense—were fully alive.“We have five minutes,” he said.“Five minutes for what?” Uche whispered.“To get you out.”A pounding hit the door—violent, metallic, the sound of boots and weapons.“Open this door now!”Uche turned to Seyi. “I thought you were in charge. Why are they coming for us?”Seyi didn’t answer immediately. He pulled a pistol from his vest and chambered a round.“I’m in charge of candidates,” he said. “Not the Execution Unit.”“The what?” Uche’s stomach
CHAPTER 7 – THE INTERROGATION ROOM
Uche didn’t expect the blindfold to come off so suddenly.One moment, he was being dragged through a corridor—arms twisted behind him, boots hitting his shins—then a bright white light hit his eyes like a slap. He blinked hard.A metal chair.A table with chains.One camera blinking red.Cold room. No windows. No clock.Interrogation.Across the table sat a man in a grey tactical vest, his face unreadable, fingers drumming the metal like a countdown.“Uche Obi,” the man said. “Age eighteen. Freshman. Room 49.”He tilted his head like he was examining an animal.“You survived longer than expected.”Uche swallowed. “Where am I?”“Somewhere beneath campus.”The man leaned forward.“Tell me what you’ve figured out so far.”Uche kept quiet.He didn’t know if speaking would save him or kill him.He only knew one thing: they wanted information, and anything he said could put him deeper into their game.The man sighed, annoyed.“You think staying quiet helps you? You think silence equals stre
CHAPTER 6 — THE FIRST COMMAND
Uche knew from the moment the sun went down that something was wrong.The air in Room 49 usually felt cold.Tonight, it felt charged—like electricity humming under the walls.Seyi felt it too.He kept checking the corners of the room, looking at the ceiling, glancing at the wardrobe like he expected it to burst open.“This is the Instruction Test,” Seyi said quietly.“It always feels like this.”Uche’s chest was tight. “What… exactly happens?”Seyi didn’t look at him.“The room gives a command. You follow… or you don’t.”“And if I don’t?”“You fail.”“And if I follow?”“You pass.”“But what does ‘fail’ mean, Seyi?!” Uche snapped.Seyi looked at him with eyes that had seen too much.“You don’t want to find out.”Uche swallowed hard.2:00 a.m.The air grew heavier.The taps in the walls stopped completely—like the thing inside was holding its breath.Seyi sat cross-legged, staring at the wardrobe.“Whatever happens,” he whispered, “don’t scream.”Uche froze. “Why?”“Because screaming me
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