LOVE BEHIND THE RED DOOR

At exactly 1:00 a.m., Asher woke up to the sound of his phone vibrating. Once. Twice. Then again. He reached blindly across the table beside his bed and grabbed it. An unknown number. He frowned. Nobody texted him at this hour unless somebody had died, gotten arrested, or simply had no respect for human sleep. He opened the message. DON'T FALL IN LOVE WITH EVELINA. Asher stared at it. He didn't recognize the name. He typed: WHO IS EVELINA? The reply came almost instantly. YOU'LL MEET HER TOMORROW. Asher sat up. His eyes narrowed. WHO ARE YOU? Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Then appeared again. SOMEONE WHO REMEMBERS WHAT YOU FORGOT. Asher stopped. What did that even mean? He called the number. The call connected, but there was only silence. “Who is this?” Nothing. Then he heard something faint in the background. A girl crying. Asher sat completely still. “Hello?” The crying stopped. A whisper replaced it. “Asher…” His grip tightened around the phone. “How do you know my name?” The line went dead. He immediately called back, but the number no longer existed. Asher stared at the screen. Number unavailable. He threw his phone onto the bed and rubbed his face. It had to be a prank. It had to be. Then his phone vibrated again. Another message. This time, there was a picture. Asher opened it. It was an old photograph of several children standing together in front of a school building. He zoomed in and noticed a little girl standing near the center. He didn't know her. At least, he thought he didn't. Something about her face made his chest tighten. Then he noticed the date. Seven years ago. Asher stared at the photograph. Why would a stranger send him a seven-year-old picture? He zoomed in further. There was a boy standing beside the girl. His heart stopped. The boy looked exactly like him. Same eyes. Same face. Even the tiny scar above his eyebrow. Asher's fingers went cold. “No…” He zoomed in again. It was him. There was no doubt. But Asher had never been to that school. He didn't remember the photograph. He didn't remember the girl. He didn't remember anything from seven years ago. Another message appeared. YOU STILL DON'T REMEMBER HER. Asher quickly typed: WHO IS SHE? The reply came. ASK HER YOURSELF. Then another message appeared. BUT BE CAREFUL. Asher stared at the screen. WHY? The response took longer this time. Then finally: BECAUSE EVELINA DIED SEVEN YEARS AGO. Asher's blood ran cold. He read the message again. Then again. If Evelina had died seven years ago, who was he supposed to meet tomorrow? He didn't sleep again that night. --- By morning, Asher had convinced himself that somebody was playing an elaborate joke on him. A very disturbing joke, but still a joke. He walked through the school gate with his bag hanging over one shoulder. A few girls glanced at him as he passed, but normally he would have noticed. Today, he barely cared. Jace caught up with him, chewing gum. “Bro, you look terrible.” “Good morning to you too.” “You look like you spent the whole night fighting ghosts.” Asher looked at him. “Did you text me last night?” Jace frowned. “When?” “Forget it.” Jace studied him. “You're acting weird.” “I'm fine.” “You're definitely not fine.” Asher kept walking. He didn't tell Jace about the messages. Not yet. He wasn't even sure what he believed himself. They reached their classroom. Asher pushed open the door and stopped. There was a girl standing near the window. Long dark hair. A book pressed against her chest. She looked unfamiliar. Completely unfamiliar. Until she turned around. Their eyes met. The girl's face went pale. The book slipped slightly in her hands. “Asher…” He froze. She knew his name. He hadn't even seen her before. At least, not that he could remember. Jace looked between them. “Do you two know each other?” The girl didn't answer. Neither did Asher. For several seconds, they simply stared at each other. Then she looked away. Asher felt something strange. Not attraction. Not exactly. It was something deeper. A memory tried to surface. A little girl. Rain. A red door. Someone screaming his name. Then it disappeared. Asher blinked. “What the hell…” Jace looked at him. “What?” “Nothing.” The girl glanced at him again. This time, there was fear in her eyes. And Asher suddenly remembered the message from the night before. BECAUSE EVELINA DIED SEVEN YEARS AGO. His stomach tightened. A few minutes later, their teacher entered the classroom with the girl. “Everyone, this is Evelina. She's joining us from today. Please make her feel welcome.” The room filled with whispers. Asher heard none of them. He was staring at Evelina. She was staring back. The teacher smiled. “You can take the empty seat near the back.” Evelina nodded. As she walked past Asher, she suddenly stopped. She didn't look at him. She simply whispered: “You shouldn't have come back.” Asher's heart slammed against his chest. “What?” Evelina continued walking. He turned around, but she was already sitting down. Asher pulled out his phone. His hands were slightly shaking. The unknown number was still there. Before he could type anything, a new message appeared. NOW YOU SEE HER. Another message followed. DO YOU BELIEVE ME YET? Asher stared at Evelina. She was quietly writing in her notebook. He typed: YOU SAID SHE WAS DEAD. The reply appeared. SHE IS. Asher's eyes widened. He looked up. Evelina was no longer writing. She was staring directly at him. His phone vibrated. One final message appeared. ASK HER WHAT HAPPENED SEVEN YEARS AGO. Asher slowly looked at Evelina. For the first time since receiving that first message, he realized something terrifying. He wasn't afraid of Evelina. He was afraid of the possibility that some part of him already knew her. And whatever happened seven years ago... he had forgotten it for a reason.