Morning didn't arrive all at once.
It slipped in through the narrow gap beside the curtains, a thin gray light that sat on the edge of Kade's vision long before he opened his eyes. He lay still, listening.
The academy moved differently at this hour.
No laughter. No footsteps racing down halls.
Just the low sound of the building settling, pipes echoing somewhere in the walls, wind brushing the windows like fingers making a way in.
His body felt wrong.
Not injured. Not sick.
Just super charged.
When he shifted, the bed sheets made a loud noise, and the sound made him tense. He moved his fingers slowly. They moved when he told them to. No hesitation. No sudden changes.
That didn't reassure him as much as it should have.
He sat up.
Across the room, his desk chair was slightly moved to one side, as if someone had pushed it. He was sure he'd pushed it in before sleeping. He stared at it for a long time, then stood and pushed it back with his foot.
The chair stayed put.
Still, the sense of being watched didn't fade.
A knock came at the door.
Not loud. Not urgent.
Just two steady taps.
"Kade," Mira's voice said. "You awake?"
He walked across the room and opened the door.
She stood there already dressed, hair tied back, eyes sharp despite the early hour.
She looked past him into the room before he could say anything.
"it started again didn't it" she said.
He stepped aside to let her in. "I didn't say anything."
"You don't have to."
She shut the door behind her but didn't lock it. That detail didn't escape him.
They stood facing each other for a moment, both quiet, like they were waiting for the room to react to their presence.
"It stopped," he said finally.
Mira's head tilted slightly. "What stopped?"
"The pull. Whatever was pushing me last night. It's gone."
Her expression didn't relax. If anything, her shoulders stiffened.
"Things don't just stop," she said. "They pause."
She walked to the window and pulled the curtain back a little. Outside, the courtyard looked normal. A grasshopper moving slowly near the hedge, broom scraping rhythmically.
"Do you remember what you did?" she asked.
Kade didn't answer right away.
He remembered standing near the trees. Remembered the air tightening around him. Remembered the feeling of something finally noticing him, not like a predator noticing prey, but like a lock recognizing the right key.
"I didn't mean to," he said.
"That's not what I asked."
He exhaled. "Yes."
She let the curtain fall closed. "Good. That means you're still in control."
"I don't feel like I am."
She turned back to him. "Control doesn't feel clean. It feels loud."
They stood there, the space between them smaller than usual. Not close enough to touch. Close enough to feel each other's presence clearly.
"You crossed a boundary," Mira said. "Not just physically."
Kade rubbed his palms together. "You think the school noticed."
"I think the school was built to noticesuch things," she replied. "This place isn't passive."
As if summoned by her words, the bell rang.
Not the class bell.
The older one.
It echoed once across campus, low and heavy, vibrating faintly in Kade's chest.
Mira's jaw tightened. "That's not normal."
They didn't go to class.
They moved through the halls while other students did, slipping into the flow without drawing attention. But Kade noticed the difference immediately.
People glanced at him longer than they should have.
A girl near the stairs froze in the middle of her conversation when he passed, her voice cutting off abruptly.
A boy bumped into him and muttered an apology without making eye contact, then hurried away like he'd brushed against something hot.
"You're being felt," Mira muttered as they walked. "Even if they don't know why."
By the time they reached the east wing, Kade's nerves were tight enough to burst into rage. The air there felt heavier, thicker, like breathing through a cloth
They stopped outside an abandoned classroom.
"This room has been empty since my brother disappeared."
Kade looked at the door. The handle was scratched, worn out more than the others nearby.
"Why bring me here?"
"Because if something answered you last night," she said, "it may have started here."
She pushed the door open.
The room was dusty, untouched. Desks lined up too neatly. Dust thick on the windows. The board at the front still had faint chalk marks, equations half erased.
Kade stepped inside and felt it immediately.
The pressure.
Not hostile, just kinda friendly
Mira watched him carefully. "Your feeling it again."
"Yes."
He walked toward the center of the room. Each step he made felt accounted for, like the floor was paying attention to his weight.
Then,
The door slammed shut behind them.
Mira spinned, back rushing to grab the handle. It didn't budge.
"That wasn't me," Kade said.
"I know."
The air in the room changed. The temperature dropped just enough to notice.
From the far corner of the room, something moved.
Not a shape, kind of distorted, like a mirage but sarer and more visible
Kade's heart started pounding.
He didn't back away.
"What do you want?" he said, voice steady despite the rush of adrenaline.
The distortion rippled.
Then the pressure hit him ,he started seeing images, he felt a sensation, Stone corridors. Locked doors
A promise made long ago and never kept.
Mira grabbed his arm. "Kade."
"I'm fine," he said, though his teeth was tightly close as he spoke.
The thing in the corner reacted to that.
The distortion started changing, moving inward, forming something closer to a shape. Tall. Unclear. Its edges blur
like it wasn't fully allowed to exist here.
Kade felt the pull again.
Stronger.
Not forcing him forward.
Inviting him.
"No," Mira said sharply. "Don't."
He stopped.
The pressure spiked, then returned, like something surprised by resistance.
A sound filled the room, not a voice, not quite. A vibration, low and dreadful
Then, almost immediately, the air relaxed.
The shape unraveled, retreating back into the corner until the room was just a room again.
Silence followed.
Mira's breathing was shallow. "That thing knew you."
Kade nodded slowly. "yesh I think so"
She let go of his arm, though her fingers lingered for a second longer than necessary.
"We need to leave," she said. "Now."
They didn't speak until they were outside, and the door was safely shut behind them.
Only then did Mira stop walking.
"That wasn't a random entity," she said. "It was bound to the academy."
Kade leaned against the wall, running a hand through his hair. "It felt old."
"And incomplete, like it's transforming," she added. "Or like it's missing something."
His gaze lifted to hers. "Like me?"
She didn't answer instantly
When she did, her voice was quiet. "Like what you're becoming."
A group of students passed nearby, laughing, oblivious. The normalcy felt almost fake
"I don't want this," Kade said.
"I know."
"But it's not asking."
"It's reminding."
They walked the rest of the way in silence.
That night, the academy didn't feel asleep.
Lights stayed on longer. Doors closed softly instead of slamming. Even the wind seemed calm, blowing through the trees instead of rushing.
Kade stood at his window again, watching the treeline.
This time, when something moved there, it didn't hide.
It stepped forward just enough for him to see the outline.
Tall. Still. Waiting.
And for the first time, instead of fear
He felt recognition.
Somewhere deep inside, something shifted again.
Not fully awake.
But no longer pretending to sleep.