The Academy That Eats Tomorrow

Mira woke up screaming. She sat upright so violently that her blanket slid to the floor. For several seconds, she couldn't breathe. Her bedroom was dark. The curtains were drawn. Her desk stood beneath the window exactly as she'd left it, buried beneath notebooks, half-finished assignments, and a cup of tea she had forgotten to drink. Nothing was wrong. Nothing except the memory. Mira pressed both hands against her temples. It was still there. The hallway. The smell of smoke. The red emergency lights flashing against black marble. Students running past her. Someone screaming. Someone else laughing. And at the end of the corridor, standing perfectly still while everyone else ran— Noah Reed. Mira's heart pounded. She had never met Noah Reed. Not properly. Not yet. But in the dream, she knew him. She knew the way he walked. She knew the tiny scar above his left eyebrow. She knew that when he was nervous, he rubbed his thumb against the side of his index finger. She knew that he hated strawberries. She knew that he had once broken his wrist when he was nine. She knew things about him that she had absolutely no reason to know. And then there was Eli. Elias Vale stood behind Noah, his white academy shirt soaked in blood. Mira couldn't see whose blood it was. She remembered reaching for him. "Eli!" He turned. His eyes met hers. And he said something. Three words. She could never remember the first two. But she remembered the last. "Don't remember me." Mira's eyes snapped open. She was back in her bedroom. Her breathing was ragged. The digital clock beside her bed read: 5:17 A.M. She stared at it. Then blinked. 5:17. She had seen that number before. Not in the dream. Somewhere else. Mira climbed out of bed and walked toward the mirror. Her reflection looked exhausted. Dark hair tangled around her face. Sleep still clung to her eyes. There was a faint mark on her cheek from where she'd been sleeping against her pillow. She looked normal. Completely normal. So why did she feel like she'd just returned from somewhere she'd spent years trying to escape? She touched the mirror. "You're being ridiculous," she whispered. The reflection stared back. For one horrible second, Mira thought it smiled. She jerked her hand away. The reflection didn't move. Mira swallowed. "Great." She stepped away from the mirror. "Now I'm hallucinating." Her phone buzzed. 6:00 A.M. The alarm. She turned it off before it could ring again. Then she noticed something strange. There was a notification underneath the alarm. A message from an unknown number. Mira stared at it. UNKNOWN: Don't go to Veyra today. Her fingers went cold. She opened the message. There was nothing else. No name. No number she recognized. Just those six words. She typed: Who is this? The message failed to send. Mira tried again. Failed. She switched off her Wi-Fi. Turned it back on. Nothing. Then another message appeared. Her breath caught. UNKNOWN: You already went once. Mira dropped the phone. It landed on her bed. She stood completely still. Once. The word echoed inside her head. Already. She picked up the phone again. The messages were gone. Both of them. Mira stared at the empty screen. "No." She searched her notifications. Nothing. She checked her messages. Nothing. The conversation had never existed. But she remembered it. And somehow, that frightened her more than the dream. By 7:30 A.M., Mira was standing outside Veyra Academy. The school rose above the surrounding buildings like it had been built for another century. Maybe it had. Four enormous towers surrounded the central building, each topped with a pointed roof and a clock face. The stone walls were almost black. Vines crawled across them in deliberate patterns. And above the main entrance stood the academy's motto: YOUR FUTURE IS YOURS TO REMEMBER. Mira had always hated that sentence. She didn't know why. She simply did. Students moved through the gates in dark uniforms, talking excitedly about the new term. Some carried expensive leather bags. Others dragged suitcases behind them. A group of boys were arguing about which professor was most likely to fail them. Everything looked normal. Almost too normal. Mira looked up at the clock tower. 8:17 A.M. She frowned. Her watch said 7:42. She checked her phone. 7:42. The clock above the academy remained at 8:17. Then— The hands moved. Backward. Mira's stomach twisted. She blinked. 8:16. Then 8:15. Then 8:14. The clock began moving backward faster. "Mira?" She spun around. A girl stood behind her. "Mira, are you okay?" Mira recognized her from orientation. Sophie. They had exchanged numbers three days ago but had barely spoken since. "I'm fine." Sophie looked toward the clock. "You look like you've seen a ghost." Mira forced a laugh. "Just tired." "First day nerves?" "Something like that." Sophie smiled. "Come on. If we're late, Professor Hale will murder us." Mira followed her through the gates. She didn't look back at the clock. She was afraid that if she did, it might be showing a completely different time. The main hall was enormous. Hundreds of students filled the seats. At the front stood a massive black podium beneath a silver emblem shaped like an open eye. Mira took a seat beside Sophie. The room slowly fell silent. A woman stepped onto the stage. Professor Hale. Tall. Elegant. Impossible to read. "Welcome to Veyra Academy." The students applauded. Professor Hale waited until the sound died. "Some of you have spent your entire lives preparing for today." Mira shifted in her seat. "Some of you believe this academy will determine your future." Professor Hale smiled. "That is incorrect." Silence. "Your future has already been determined." A murmur passed through the room. Mira's skin prickled. Professor Hale continued. "At midnight tonight, you will participate in the Remembering." The room became completely silent. Mira looked at Sophie. Sophie looked terrified. "What is the Remembering?" Mira whispered. "You don't know?" "No." Sophie lowered her voice. "You'll see your future." Mira stared at her. "My future?" "Everything." Sophie swallowed. "Who you'll marry. Where you'll live. What you'll become." She hesitated. "And how you die." Mira felt cold. The dream flashed through her mind. Smoke. Blood. Noah. Eli. Don't remember me. She looked toward the stage. Professor Hale was staring directly at her. Mira's heart stopped. Then Professor Hale looked away. After the ceremony, students poured into the courtyard. Mira remained behind. She needed air. She stepped outside. And that's when she saw him. Eli Vale. He stood alone near the fountain. He was staring at his phone. He looked ordinary. Dark hair. Pale skin. Academy uniform perfectly pressed. Nothing about him suggested that Mira had seen him covered in blood. But she knew him. She shouldn't. She knew him. Eli looked up. Their eyes met. Something flickered across his expression. Recognition. Then confusion. He looked away. Mira walked toward him. "Hi." Eli glanced at her. "Hi." There was a pause. "You look familiar." His eyebrows tightened. "Do I?" "I don't know." Mira laughed awkwardly. "Maybe I've seen you around." "Maybe." His answer was strangely careful. Mira noticed his hands. His thumb was rubbing against his index finger. Exactly like in her dream. Her stomach dropped. "You okay?" Eli stopped moving. "What?" "You seem nervous." "I'm not." He slipped his hands into his pockets. Mira looked toward the opposite side of the courtyard. A boy was walking away. Noah Reed. Eli saw him. His entire expression changed. It was subtle. So subtle that Mira almost missed it. Pain. Longing. Regret. Then nothing. Noah didn't look back. Mira looked at Eli. "You know him?" Eli's jaw tightened. "No." The answer came too quickly. "But—" "I said no." Mira fell silent. Eli immediately looked guilty. "Sorry." "It's fine." He looked toward Noah again. "He and I used to be friends." Mira waited. Eli didn't continue. "Best friends," he finally added. "What happened?" His eyes met hers. "I don't remember." Mira froze. Eli's expression was completely serious. "That's the problem." Before she could ask what he meant, the academy bell rang. Once. Twice. Three times. Everyone in the courtyard stopped. Mira looked toward the clock. It read: 8:17 A.M. The bell rang a fourth time. No one reacted. Students simply continued walking. As though four bells were perfectly normal. Mira looked at Eli. He had gone pale. "You heard that, right?" He nodded. "Yes." The academy speakers crackled. A woman's voice filled the courtyard. Calm. Cold. Almost human. "Students, please proceed to your classrooms." A pause. Then: "Today is Monday." Mira's blood ran cold. She looked at Eli. He was staring at the academy doors. "Why?" she whispered. Eli didn't answer. "Why did they say Monday?" He looked at her. His voice was barely audible. "Because yesterday was Monday." Mira couldn't move. Yesterday. She remembered yesterday. She remembered waking up. She remembered breakfast. She remembered packing her bags. She remembered— Nothing. Her memories stopped. Not at midnight. Not at the academy gates. At breakfast. Mira slowly turned toward the clock. The hands had stopped moving. 8:17. Then a tiny c***k appeared across the clock face. Glass splintered. Nobody screamed. Nobody even looked up. Except Mira. And Eli. A second c***k appeared. Then a third. Something dark moved behind the clock. Something that looked almost like a hand. Mira stepped backward. Eli grabbed her wrist. "Don't look at it." "Why?" His fingers tightened around hers. Because for the first time since she'd met him, Eli looked genuinely terrified. "Because," he whispered, "if it knows you can see it..." The clock shattered. And somewhere inside the academy, a child began laughing.