Chapter 6
639 Words
Zhyrelle stood frozen in the middle of the calssroom.
Her eyes remained fixed on the spot where the mysterious young man had been standing only seconds ago.
Gone.
As if he had vanished into thin air.
"...Zhyrelle?"
Meriza's voice pulled her back to reality.
"You've been staring over there for almost a minute. Is something wrong?"
Zhyrelle blinked several times before pointing toward the end of the corridor.
"There was someone there."
Meriza and Drevon exchanged confused glances.
"Who?" Drevon asked.
"A guy... dressed in black."
The two of them turned to look.
The hallway was nearly empty. A few students walked past, laughing and chatting as though nothing unusual had happened.
"I don't see anyone," Meriza replied.
Zhyrelle lowered her hand.
"He was right there..."
A strange chill ran down her spine.
Was she the only one who had seen him?
---
The rest of the morning passed in silence.
Although their teacher discussed the day's lesson, Zhyrelle could barely focus. Her notebook remained open, but the words on the board seemed to blur together.
Every now and then, she felt as though someone was watching her.
She glanced toward the classroom door.
Nothing.
She looked out the window.
Only the swaying branches of the old trees outside.
Still...
The uneasy feeling refused to disappear.
---
When the lunch bell rang, Meriza gently nudged her shoulder.
"Come on. Let's eat before the cafeteria gets crowded."
Zhyrelle forced a smile.
"I'm coming."
The three friends made their way across the campus.
Students filled the pathways with laughter and conversation.
Everything looked perfectly normal.
Yet somehow...
It didn't feel normal to Zhyrelle.
As they reached the courtyard, she suddenly stopped walking.
She heard footsteps.
Not the ordinary footsteps of students.
These were slow...
Steady...
Almost as if someone was following her.
She turned around.
No one.
Only groups of students walking in different directions.
"Zhyrelle?" Drevon called.
"What are you looking at?"
"I thought..."
She shook her head.
"Never mind."
---
That afternoon, heavy clouds covered the sky.
By the time classes ended, rain had already begun to fall.
"I forgot my umbrella," Meriza sighed.
"I brought one," Drevon said. "You can share with me."
"What about you?" Meriza asked Zhyrelle.
"I'll wait until the rain slows down."
Meriza frowned.
"Are you sure?"
Zhyrelle nodded.
"I'll be fine."
After saying goodbye, she stood alone beneath the school entrance, watching the rain pour endlessly onto the pavement.
The campus slowly became quieter as students left one by one.
Then...
She felt it again.
Someone was watching her.
Very slowly, she lifted her head.
Across the rain...
Beyond the school gate...
A familiar figure stood beneath the gray sky.
A tall young man.
Dressed entirely in black.
His face remained hidden beneath the rain and distance.
Yet somehow...
She knew exactly who he was.
The man from her dreams.
Her breathing became uneven.
This time...
He didn't disappear.
Instead...
He slowly raised one hand.
Not to wave.
Not to threaten.
But as if he were silently asking her...
"Come with me."
Zhyrelle took one hesitant step forward.
Then another.
Ignoring the rain, she walked toward the school gate.
"Wait!"
A voice suddenly echoed behind her.
She turned.
It was Drevon, running back toward the entrance.
"I forgot my bag!" he shouted.
For only a second, Zhyrelle looked away.
When she turned back...
The mysterious young man was gone once again.
Only the rain remained.
And on the wet ground...
A single black feather lay silently where he had been standing.
Zhyrelle slowly picked it up.
It was cold.
Far colder than the rain itself.
She tightened her grip around the feather, unaware that somewhere in the darkness...
A pair of golden eyes was watching her every move.
And for the first time...
The line between dreams and reality had begun to disappear.
- Writer
