Everyone else remembers
850 Words
The note slipped from Evelyn’s trembling fingers.
I remember you too.
Four words.
That was all.
Yet they shattered every assumption she had made.
She wasn’t alone.
Someone else remembered the previous timeline.
Someone had taken her notebook.
Someone was watching her every move.
“Evelyn?”
Lily’s voice pulled her back to reality.
“You saved my life.”
Students crowded around the shattered gargoyle while security officers forced everyone away from the clock tower.
“I’m fine,” Evelyn whispered.
But she wasn’t.
She looked up again.
The figure on the rooftop had vanished.
Almost as if they had never been there.
⸻
That evening, rumors spread across campus like wildfire.
“It was probably just old stone.”
“I heard someone loosened it.”
“My cousin said Blackwood is cursed.”
Every conversation made Evelyn more certain.
The gargoyle hadn’t fallen by accident.
Someone wanted someone dead.
The question was…
Who?
Lily?
Or Evelyn?
⸻
Unable to ignore the note, Evelyn returned to her room and locked the door.
She spread everything from her backpack across the bed.
Pens.
Books.
Her wallet.
Her student ID.
Everything was there.
Except her notebook.
Instead, the folded note sat in the center of the bed.
She examined it carefully.
Expensive black paper.
Silver ink.
No fingerprints.
On the back was a tiny symbol.
Seven ravens circling a crescent moon.
The same symbol carved into Blackwood’s entrance gates.
“The Seven…”
A sudden knock echoed through the room.
Three slow knocks.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Her heart stopped.
Lily wasn’t back yet.
“Who’s there?”
Silence.
She cautiously opened the door.
No one.
The hallway was empty.
Until she looked down.
A black envelope rested on the floor.
There was no name.
Only one sentence.
Midnight. Ashcroft Hall. Come alone if you want the truth.
⸻
“You can’t actually be thinking about going.”
Lily paced nervously around the room after reading the message.
“This is exactly how people disappear in horror movies.”
“I know.”
“So don’t go.”
Evelyn stared at the envelope.
Whoever sent it had stolen her notebook.
Which meant they knew about the time reset.
If anyone had answers…
It was them.
“I have to.”
Lily grabbed her wrist.
“Promise you’ll at least tell campus security.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
Because they’d think I was insane.
Instead, Evelyn smiled weakly.
“I’ll be careful.”
Lily looked unconvinced.
“I have a bad feeling.”
“So do I.”
⸻
11:57 p.m.
The campus had become eerily silent.
Rain drifted softly through the night air as Evelyn crossed the empty courtyard.
Every step toward Ashcroft Hall felt heavier than the last.
Three minutes until midnight.
The massive wooden doors stood open.
Just like they had in the previous timeline.
She swallowed hard and stepped inside.
The air smelled of dust and old paper.
Her footsteps echoed through the deserted corridors.
“Hello?”
No answer.
Then—
A soft melody drifted through the darkness.
Someone was playing a piano.
The haunting tune echoed from the grand ballroom upstairs.
Evelyn followed it.
The music stopped the moment she reached the doorway.
The ballroom was empty.
Moonlight spilled across the polished floor.
In the center of the room sat a single chair.
Resting on it…
Her missing notebook.
She rushed forward.
The notebook was untouched.
Every page remained exactly as she’d written it.
Except…
One new page had appeared.
It wasn’t her handwriting.
Across the page, in elegant cursive, were the words:
Rule Seven
Never trust the person who saves your life.
A cold voice spoke behind her.
“I wondered how long it would take you.”
Evelyn spun around.
Adrian stood in the doorway.
His expression was unreadable.
“You…”
He glanced at the notebook.
“So…”
“You remember.”
Evelyn’s heartbeat thundered.
“You do too?”
He smiled sadly.
“Not everything.”
“But enough.”
Before she could ask another question—
A deafening gunshot exploded through the ballroom.
The stained-glass windows shattered.
Adrian’s eyes widened.
“Evelyn!”
He lunged toward her.
Something slammed into her shoulder.
Pain burned through her body.
She collapsed to the floor.
Blood spread beneath her hand.
Someone had shot her.
Adrian dropped beside her, pressing his hand against the wound.
“Stay with me!”
His calm mask had disappeared.
For the first time, he looked genuinely terrified.
Footsteps echoed through the hall.
Slow.
Deliberate.
A masked figure emerged from the shadows, dressed entirely in black.
They pointed the gun directly at Evelyn.
Then spoke in a distorted voice.
“You shouldn’t have come back.”
Evelyn stared at them in horror.
The voice…
She knew it.
She had heard it before.
On the night she died.
The masked figure slowly removed one glove.
On the back of their hand was a tattoo.
Seven ravens.
And beneath the mask…
Evelyn caught a glimpse of familiar green eyes.
Not Adrian’s.
Not Lily’s.
Someone she already trusted.
Bang.
- Writer
