Episode 18: The Warning
1819 Words
## Episode 18: The Warning
“Or maybe…”
Heaven stared at Conrad.
“It was what Conrad had been chosen to unlock.”
Nobody spoke.
The words from the vision remained in Heaven's mind.
Don't let him open the door.
She didn't understand them.
She didn't want to understand them.
Conrad looked at her.
“You think I'm dangerous?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Heaven shook her head.
“I don't know what I think.”
Conrad looked hurt for a moment.
“I wouldn't hurt you.”
“I know.”
“But you don't trust me.”
“I do.”
“Then why are you looking at me like that?”
Heaven looked down.
“Because I don't know what happened the first time.”
Sierra closed the black book.
“None of us do.”
Maya crossed her arms.
“Then that's what we need to find out.”
Dylan nodded.
“Before the four days become three.”
Sierra looked at him.
“Exactly.”
---
They stayed in the library until the afternoon.
The old books were spread across the table.
Sierra searched through anything she could find about the door, while Maya searched through old school records.
Conrad sat beside Heaven.
Neither of them had said much since the vision.
Finally, he spoke.
“Are you scared of me?”
Heaven looked at him.
“No.”
“Then tell me what you're thinking.”
She sighed.
“I think something happened between us before we remembered.”
Conrad nodded.
“I think so too.”
“And I think your father knew.”
“Yes.”
“And the mysterious boy knew.”
“Yes.”
Heaven looked at him.
“Then why did everyone make us forget?”
Conrad didn't answer.
Before he could, Maya suddenly gasped.
“I found something.”
Everyone turned.
She held up an old newspaper.
The page was yellow with age.
“What is it?” Heaven asked.
Maya placed it on the table.
The headline was faded, but they could still read it.
LOCAL STUDENTS DISAPPEAR AFTER SCHOOL INCIDENT
Sierra immediately leaned closer.
“When was this?”
“Twenty years ago.”
Sierra took the newspaper.
Her eyes moved across the page.
“My sister.”
Everyone became silent.
The article described a strange incident at the school.
Several students had reported seeing strange lights in an unused hallway.
The next morning, one student had disappeared.
Sierra's sister.
But there was another detail.
A second person had reportedly been seen with her.
Sierra read the line again.
“There's someone else.”
“Who?” Conrad asked.
Sierra pointed.
“The article says witnesses saw a boy.”
Heaven's stomach tightened.
“The mysterious boy.”
Sierra nodded.
“But listen to this.”
She continued reading.
“Witnesses described the boy as appearing to be the same age as the students.”
Dylan frowned.
“So he was a teenager twenty years ago?”
“Yes.”
“But he still looks like a teenager now.”
Nobody answered.
Maya looked at Heaven.
“That isn't normal.”
“No,” Sierra said quietly. “It isn't.”
---
They decided to investigate the old hallway.
It had been closed for years.
A sign hung across the entrance.
DO NOT ENTER.
Dylan stared at it.
“I feel like this is where people in horror movies make terrible decisions.”
Maya pushed the door open.
“Good thing we're not in a horror movie.”
The hallway was dark and dusty.
Heaven immediately felt something.
A pressure in her chest.
She stopped.
“Wait.”
Conrad turned.
“What?”
“This place.”
She looked around.
“I remember it.”
Sierra's expression changed.
“Are you sure?”
Heaven nodded.
“This is where we were.”
She walked slowly forward.
Her fingers brushed the wall.
A flash of memory hit her.
She was a child.
Conrad was beside her.
They were running.
Someone was shouting behind them.
Don't look back.
Heaven pulled her hand away.
“What did you see?”
“Us.”
Conrad stepped closer.
“Were we running from someone?”
“I don't know.”
Another flash.
The door.
Golden light.
A girl's voice.
Sierra's sister.
You have to go.
Heaven gasped.
“She was trying to protect us.”
Sierra stared at her.
“My sister?”
Heaven nodded.
“I think so.”
Sierra's eyes filled with emotion.
“What did she say?”
“I couldn't hear everything.”
She closed her eyes.
Then another memory came.
Sierra's sister was standing in front of the glowing door.
The mysterious boy was behind her.
Conrad's father stood farther down the hallway.
Young Heaven and Conrad were holding hands.
Sierra's sister turned toward them.
Run.
Then the door opened.
Heaven opened her eyes.
“She told us to run.”
Conrad looked at her.
“From what?”
“I don't know.”
Suddenly, a loud bang echoed through the hallway.
Everyone jumped.
The old door at the end of the corridor began to glow.
Maya whispered,
“Is that…”
Sierra nodded.
“The door.”
---
Golden light spread across the floor.
The same symbol appeared beneath Heaven's feet.
Conrad's wrist began glowing.
“Don't move,” Sierra warned.
Heaven couldn't.
The magic felt stronger than ever.
The door slowly opened.
Only an inch.
Darkness appeared behind it.
Then a voice whispered:
“Come back.”
Heaven's body went cold.
Conrad grabbed her hand.
The door opened another inch.
“Conrad,” Sierra said urgently.
He looked at his wrist.
The mark was burning.
“I can't control it.”
“Don't touch the door!”
But the magic pulled him forward.
Heaven held onto his hand.
“Conrad!”
He stopped.
He looked back at her.
Their eyes met.
“I don't want to open it,” he said.
“Then don't.”
“But something is pulling me.”
Heaven tightened her grip.
“Then I'll pull you back.”
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the mysterious boy appeared at the other end of the hallway.
He watched them.
“You're doing it again.”
Heaven stared at him.
“Doing what?”
“Trying to stop what has already begun.”
Conrad stepped forward.
“You know what happened before.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell us.”
The boy looked at Heaven.
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because you still don't remember the most important part.”
Heaven's voice became angry.
“Then help me remember!”
The boy looked toward the door.
“You need to see it.”
“See what?”
“The night you chose.”
Heaven froze.
“What did I choose?”
The boy disappeared.
---
The door slammed shut.
The golden light vanished.
Everyone stood frozen.
Dylan finally spoke.
“I'm starting to think he really enjoys being mysterious.”
Maya nodded.
“Definitely.”
Sierra looked at Heaven.
“What did he mean?”
“I don't know.”
Conrad looked at her.
“You said you heard yourself tell me not to open the door.”
“Yes.”
“Maybe you were trying to stop me because you knew what would happen.”
“But I don't know what would happen.”
Conrad looked toward the closed door.
“Neither do I.”
---
That evening, Heaven went home early.
She sat on her bed with her notebook open.
She drew the symbol from memory.
Again.
And again.
Nothing happened.
Then she wrote one sentence beneath it.
What did I choose?
The page began to glow.
Heaven stared.
New words appeared.
YOU CHOSE HIM.
Her heart stopped.
“Him?”
She touched the page.
A vision appeared.
She was young again.
Standing in the hallway.
Conrad was beside her.
The mysterious boy stood across from them.
But this time, she could hear everything.
The mysterious boy was speaking.
“You have to choose.”
Young Heaven looked frightened.
“Choose what?”
“The key.”
She looked at Conrad.
“What happens if I choose him?”
“You open the door.”
Young Heaven shook her head.
“I don't want to.”
The mysterious boy looked toward the door.
“Then someone else will.”
Conrad stepped closer to Heaven.
“Don't listen to him.”
Young Heaven looked at Conrad.
Then she took his hand.
“I choose him.”
The vision changed.
The door began opening.
Conrad's father rushed toward them.
“No!”
Sierra's sister appeared.
She pushed Heaven and Conrad away from the door.
“Run!”
The vision ended.
Heaven opened her eyes.
She was crying.
She finally understood one thing.
The first time, she had chosen Conrad.
And that choice had opened the door.
---
Conrad arrived at her house shortly afterward.
He found her sitting on the porch.
“What happened?”
Heaven looked at him.
“I remembered.”
His face became serious.
“What?”
“The first time.”
She told him everything.
Conrad listened silently.
“So you chose me.”
“Yes.”
“And that's why the door opened?”
“I think so.”
He looked down.
“Then maybe I'm the problem.”
“No.”
“But your memory says—”
“I chose you.”
He looked at her.
“You didn't force me.”
Conrad sat beside her.
For a while, they watched the night sky.
Then he said,
“If you had to choose again, would you?”
Heaven looked at him.
She knew what he meant.
Not the door.
Not the magic.
Him.
“I don't know.”
Conrad nodded.
“I understand.”
He started to stand.
Heaven caught his hand.
“Wait.”
He looked at her.
“I said I don't know.”
She smiled faintly.
“But that doesn't mean no.”
Conrad smiled.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Heaven's wrist began glowing.
Conrad's mark responded.
Both of them looked toward the school.
A golden light appeared in the distance.
Sierra called Heaven.
She answered.
“Hello?”
Sierra's voice sounded frightened.
“Where are you?”
“Home.”
“Don't go anywhere.”
“Why?”
“Because the countdown changed.”
Heaven's heart sank.
“How much time?”
There was a pause.
Then Sierra whispered,
“Three days.”
Heaven looked at Conrad.
Three days.
The door was getting closer.
And now they knew something they hadn't known before.
The first time the door opened, Heaven had chosen Conrad.
But they still didn't know what had happened after.
And Heaven was beginning to fear that remembering everything might be more dangerous than forgetting.
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