Chapter 8
Chapter Eight — The Door That Wasn't There
Lena thought the danger was over.
She was wrong.
The school had gone completely silent.
The storm outside had finally stopped, but something about the hallway still felt wrong.
Lena stood beside Ethan and her aunt, staring at the dark corridor where the mysterious figure had disappeared.
“So what happens now?” Ethan asked.
Her aunt didn't answer.
She was staring at the wall.
Lena followed her gaze.
There was a door there.
Lena frowned.
“That door wasn't there before.”
Her aunt's face suddenly lost its color.
“Don't touch it.”
Lena looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because that door shouldn't exist.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“What do you mean?”
Her aunt lowered her voice.
“I've been in this school many times. There has never been a door there.”
Lena stared at it.
It was old and wooden, with strange silver marks carved across it.
Then she noticed something that made her heart stop.
Her name was written in the middle.
LENA.
“How does it know my name?” she whispered.
Her aunt grabbed her arm.
“We're leaving. Now.”
But before they could move, a sound came from behind the door.
Three slow knocks.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Everyone froze.
Another knock followed.
Then came a woman's voice.
Soft.
Familiar.
“Lena…”
Lena's eyes widened.
She knew that voice.
“Mom?”
Her aunt immediately stepped in front of her.
“No.”
“But that's my mother's voice!”
“You don't know what you're hearing.”
The voice came again.
“Lena, don't listen to her.”
Lena looked at her aunt.
Her aunt looked terrified.
Then the lights went out.
Complete darkness filled the hallway.
“Lena!” Ethan shouted.
She reached for him.
But someone grabbed her hand first.
A cold hand.
Lena screamed and pulled away.
The lights suddenly came back on.
Ethan was standing several feet away.
Her aunt was beside him.
But Lena was no longer in the hallway.
She was standing alone in a room she had never seen before.
The wooden door was behind her.
In front of her was a wall covered with photographs.
Hundreds of them.
Photographs of Lena.
Lena as a baby.
Lena at school.
Lena riding her bicycle.
Lena sleeping.
Someone had been watching her for years.
Then she noticed the newest photograph.
It had been taken only moments ago.
It showed Lena standing in the room.
But someone was standing behind her.
Lena slowly turned around.
Nobody was there.
She looked back at the photograph.
The figure was still there.
Then a whisper came from behind her.
“You finally remembered.”
Lena turned.
A girl stood in the corner.
She looked almost exactly like Lena.
Same eyes.
Same dark hair.
Same face.
But she looked older.
Much older.
Lena stared at her.
“Who are you?”
The girl smiled sadly.
“You.”
Lena couldn't breathe.
The girl took one step forward.
“I'm the future you were never supposed to see.”
Every clock in the room began to tick.
