Why do the study schedules keep rearranging themselves? What causes the temperature to drop in certain rooms? How do the shadows move between the floors? Why do the night watchmen hear whispers in empty halls? What secrets lie in the sealed study room?
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A dormitory was a hopeless idea. Whoever thought of encasing two hundred girls in a concrete box?
― Nathan Hill, The Nix
The dormitory stood like a monolith against the darkening sky, its windows reflecting the last gasps of daylight as Thaddeus Wynn dragged his suitcase up the worn stone steps. Room 412, top floor, east wing---his home for the coming academic year.
The hallways smelled of industrial cleaner and something else---something older and more persistent that no amount of bleach could mask. Thaddeus noticed how the other students kept their doors ajar, voices and music spilling into the corridor, creating a barrier against silence. Room 412 was at the end of the hallway, separated from the others by an unusually long stretch of empty wall.
His roommate never arrived. The administration claimed there had been a clerical error, but the resident advisor’s face tightened when Thaddeus mentioned it. “Just keep your door locked at night,” she said, refusing to elaborate.
Three weeks into the semester, Thaddeus began noticing the writing. Small, precise script appearing on his bathroom mirror after showers, disappearing as the steam faded. Always the same phrase: “WE SHARE THIS SPACE.”
The night sounds were the worst. Not the expected cacophony of student life, but the soft, methodical tapping that seemed to come from inside the walls. When he pressed his ear against the plaster, he could hear what sounded like breathing---not from the next room over, but from within the wall itself.
Thaddeus found the building’s original blueprints in the university archives. According to the faded documents, the east wing had once been significantly smaller. During renovations in 1962, they had simply built around the original structure, sealing off rooms rather than demolishing them. His room, 412, shared a wall with a space that officially didn’t exist anymore.
The week before finals, Thaddeus found his possessions rearranged each morning. Nothing missing, just… shifted, as if someone had been examining them while he slept. The custodian, an ancient man named Virgil who had worked at the dormitory for over forty years, finally took pity on him.
“They built this place to house more than students,” Virgil whispered, his rheumy eyes darting nervously. “Some residents never graduate, never leave. They just… settle in deeper.”
That night, Thaddeus woke to find his desk chair occupied. The figure sat motionless, facing away from him, its outline barely visible in the ambient light from outside. When Thaddeus fumbled for the lamp, he found it unplugged. By the time he’d restored power, the chair was empty---but warm to the touch.
Thaddeus requested a room change the next day. The housing administrator scrolled through her computer, then looked up with an expression of genuine concern. “That’s strange,” she said. “According to our records, room 412 has been vacant for the past three years. Are you sure you have the right building?”
