Kael walked through the empty hallway of his school. Every door was slightly ajar, every room whispering in voices he couldn't understand. The lights above him flickered in a rhythm… like a heartbeat.
He opened one door.
It was his classroom—but everyone inside was frozen. Mid-laugh. Mid-word. Mid-blink. Like mannequins carved from flesh.
And Aria?
She was standing at the front of the class, crying.
Except… she didn't see him.
She stared through him.
"Please stop… please, I'll be good," she whispered. "Don't take him again."
Kael called her name, but no sound came from his mouth.
He blinked—and the entire room turned to stare at him.
At once.
Every student. Every desk. Even the chalkboard had eyes.
He turned and ran.
The hallway stretched longer with every step. The walls melted. Clocks lined the walls—ticking different times.
He stopped in front of one.
It had no hands.
Only the word:
"It Already Happened."
He heard Aria scream.
But when he turned—there was no school.
No hallway.
Just him, standing in a field of mirrors.
Each one reflecting a different version of him.
Some crying.
Some smiling.
Some… dead.
Kael whispered, "What are you trying to show me?"
A voice—Aria's voice—replied from behind a mirror:
"The version of you that deserved peace is gone."
He smashed the glass.
And found himself standing in his room again.
Notebook on his desk.
Open.
Bleeding.