THE UNIVERSITY HEAD OFFICES.

You stand before the University's Head Office. For a moment your mind is off your impending meeting with the Auditors and is simply marvelling at its majestic presence. The towering ten-storey building commands your attention, dominating the landscape with its grandeur. Its exterior showcases a fusion of architectural styles, blending the 19th-century British red brick fashion with hints of French Renaissance influence.

It was 11:40 am already. You didn’t have time to sightsee. Without further delay you navigate the labyrinthine interior. You had never been to the Auditors offices before, so you must be guided by your GT

As you make your way deeper into the governing heart of the campus, you notice that the lighting seems to flicker intermittently, bathing the surroundings in an unsettling half-darkness. The familiar sounds of footsteps echoing through the corridors become muffled and distorted, their rhythm irregular and discordant. It's as if the very building itself is trying to keep you on edge, playing tricks on your senses.

As you pass the lecture halls, their doors creak open, beckoning you to step inside. Reluctantly, you peer into the rooms, only to witness a disconcerting sight. Desks, covered in layers of dust, appear frozen in time. Books lay scattered upon the floor, their pages yellowed with age. The silence that permeates the once animated spaces is sombre. A haunting reminder of the vibrant lives that once thrived within these now desolate chambers.

With each tentative step you take, the creeping peculiarity of your surroundings becomes eerily intensified. With each flicker of the flickering fluorescent lights, elongated shadows creep across the walls, contorting and writhing in an ungodly display. They move with a disturbing, almost unnatural fluidity, tugging at the corners of your sanity.

Whispers, faint and barely audible, slither into being from the very ether itself. Disembodied voices, dripping with malice and otherworldly syllables, weave their way into the recesses of your mind. They leave behind a trail of unease, a sinister melody that echoes through your thoughts, toppling the delicate balance between reality and nightmare.

You can’t help but feel like something sinister lurks in the depths of Shoubu University. Something hungry, and fat and impossibly old. An overwhelming sensation grips you, as though unseen eyes are fixated upon you, each blink and breath scrutinized with unrelenting intensity.

The hairs on the nape of your neck stand at attention, as if heralding the arrival of an unknowable and malevolent presence.

Suddenly, a voice shattered the eerie silence. "Good morning, Ms. South isn’t it? Here for your 12:00 meeting I presume.” You jump slightly and look over at where the suave British voice had come from. There was a man down the hall in a perfectly tailored charcoal grey suit with a white pocket square neatly tucked into the breast pocket. “11:54 in the am,” he said looking at a wrist watch. Very good, nice and punctual. The Auditors like that. I’m Lewis Sullivan by the way, secretary to the Auditors.”

As you approach the man, he gives you a brief nod but then his gaze drifts over your shoulder distracted. You hear the sound of footsteps. Turning you see Mandy, confidently strides towards you, wearing a revealing white dress that came down to mid-thigh. “Well, what a surprise you got here early. Smug little Latina b..b..” Mandy looks surprised and then concerned, as if something had gone down her throat the wrong way.

You smirk. “What’s the matter?" You say “Cat got your tongue or have you got lock jaw from sucking so much co..c..”. Try as you might you can’t say the word cock.

The Secretary gave a little cough. “No need to be alarmed ladies. Just a little Shoubu magic. The Auditor you have been booked in with does hate profanity though. Now before I show you in, would either of you like a tea or coffee?”

Mandy shook her head sullenly. You also decline the offer.

“Very good. Please, in here.” The man gestures for you to enter an office, Mandy pushes past you and you follow her, with the Secretary coming in behind you. “Green Notary, ” said Lewis. The man said the words like it was a proper name rather than a strange title “Ms Clark and Ms. South to see you for your 12:00.”