CHAPTER FIVE__
1017 Words
Asher barely slept that night.
Every time he closed his eyes, the same images returned. Rain beating against glass. A red door. Blood spreading across a floor he couldn't fully see. Evelina crying somewhere nearby. And himself, younger by seven years, standing outside Room 17 with an expression that disturbed him more than anything else.
He couldn't understand why he had been smiling.
By morning, he had convinced himself that the memory had been nothing more than a nightmare. Memories could be unreliable. Dreams could feel real. His mind was probably trying to fill in gaps that had been empty for years.
That explanation lasted until he opened his phone.
There was a message waiting.
YOU REMEMBERED THE DOOR.
Asher stared at it.
Another message appeared.
NOW REMEMBER WHO WAS BEHIND IT.
He didn't reply.
He deleted the messages instead, shoved his phone into his pocket, and headed for school.
Jace was already in the classroom when he arrived. He looked up the moment Asher walked through the door, and something about his expression told Asher that he had been waiting for him.
“You went back there.”
It wasn't a question.
Asher dropped his bag beside his desk.
“How did you know?”
Jace didn't answer.
Asher watched him carefully. “You knew I'd find Room 17.”
Jace looked away.
“And you knew what happened when I did.”
Still nothing.
Asher felt his frustration building. He had spent years believing his past was ordinary. Now, within a few days, he had discovered a forgotten girl, a missing room, a photograph that shouldn't exist, and memories that made no sense.
He lowered his voice. “What happened that night?”
Jace finally looked at him.
“You don't want the answer.”
“That's not your decision.”
Jace's face tightened. “You're remembering too quickly.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means whoever made you forget didn't expect this to happen.”
Asher froze.
The classroom suddenly felt too quiet.
“Who made me forget?”
Jace opened his mouth, but before he could answer, someone walked past their desks.
Evelina.
She didn't stop.
But as she passed Asher, she quietly placed something on his desk.
A folded piece of paper.
Asher waited until she reached the other side of the room before opening it.
There was only one sentence.
DON'T LET JACE TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENED.
Asher looked up.
Evelina was already watching him.
Their eyes met for a brief moment.
There was fear in hers.
Not fear of him.
Fear for him.
Then she looked away.
Asher folded the paper and slipped it into his pocket.
For the rest of the morning, he couldn't concentrate. Every explanation he had received seemed to create another question. Jace wanted him to stop remembering. Evelina wanted him to stop asking questions. The unknown person wanted him to keep searching.
And somehow, all three were connected to the same night.
During lunch, Asher found Evelina alone near the back of the school library.
He approached slowly.
“You left this on my desk.”
She looked at the paper in his hand.
“I know.”
“Why don't you want Jace to tell me?”
Evelina's expression changed.
“Because he wasn't the only person there.”
Asher's chest tightened.
“Who else was there?”
She didn't answer.
“Was it you?”
Evelina looked down.
“Yes.”
The word barely left her mouth.
Asher stared at her.
“You were there that night?”
She nodded.
“What happened?”
Evelina swallowed.
“You were hurt.”
Asher remembered the blood.
“How?”
“I don't know.”
“You don't know?”
“I remember the rain. I remember Room 17. I remember you screaming.” Her voice became quieter. “Then everything went dark.”
Asher stepped closer.
“And what happened to you?”
Evelina looked at him.
For the first time, he saw something in her expression that he couldn't explain.
Sadness.
“You already know.”
“I don't.”
“You just don't remember.”
Before Asher could respond, her eyes moved toward the library entrance.
Someone was standing there.
Jace.
He wasn't looking at them.
He was looking at the floor.
Asher turned back to Evelina.
“Why is he afraid?”
She whispered, “Because he knows what happened after you disappeared.”
Asher's stomach dropped.
“Disappeared?”
Evelina realized she'd said too much.
She immediately turned away.
“Asher, forget this conversation.”
He caught her wrist gently before she could leave.
“What do you mean I disappeared?”
She looked at his hand, then at his face.
“You weren't supposed to come back here.”
“Come back where?”
Her eyes filled with something close to panic.
“This school.”
Asher released her.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then his phone vibrated.
He pulled it out.
One new message.
ASK EVELINA WHY SHE CAME BACK.
Asher slowly looked at her.
She had seen the message.
The color drained from her face.
“You got one too, didn't you?” he asked.
Evelina didn't answer.
Her silence was enough.
Another vibration.
This time, a photograph appeared.
Asher opened it.
It was another old picture from seven years ago.
But this one was different.
It showed Room 17.
The red door stood slightly open.
Evelina was standing outside it.
Jace was beside her.
And Asher was nowhere in the picture.
He stared at the photograph, confused.
Then he noticed something in the doorway.
A small hand gripping the edge of the red door.
Someone was standing inside.
Asher zoomed in.
His breathing stopped.
The person behind the door was a child.
A little girl.
And even through the blurry photograph, he could see her face clearly.
It was Evelina.
But that was impossible.
Because the Evelina standing beside him was already eighteen.
His phone vibrated again.
SHE WASN'T THE GIRL WHO DIED.
Asher's eyes widened.
Another message appeared.
YOU WERE.
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