Ethan hadn't been back to the bookstore in days.
He told Mr. Abernathy he was sick, but the truth was, he was scared.
Ever since that night with Dogger, the world had been off by a single breath.
The rain still fell, the city still moved, but everything felt wrong. Like someone had forgotten to load the rest of reality.
He hadn't seen Dogger since that day. But he couldn't stop thinking about him.
That faint smile. Those glowing eyes.
And that single phrase echoing in his head—
"You've started seeing it too."
Whatever "it" was, it hadn't stopped.
The reflections still lagged when he moved. The clocks still glitched.
And sometimes, when he blinked, he saw flashes of something else:
a hospital room, a woman crying, a flatline on a monitor.
He needed answers.
He started searching every place Dogger could've gone—bookstores, cafés, libraries, anywhere with shelves and quiet. He even posted sketches online, half-hoping someone would say, Yeah, I've seen him.
But the replies were always the same:
"Doesn't ring a bell."
Or worse—
"Who's blue eyes?"
like the person doesn't exist.
Three days later, Ethan found something.
A torn paper on his doorstep—wet from the rain, but the handwriting was unmistakable: neat, looping, and careful.
"So you're looking for me."
Ethan's stomach tightened. The unmistakable weight of someone's eyes on him. Like the person he was looking for… was already looking back.
He turned the note over and froze. The other side was a page torn from a book.
His book.
The same blank kind Dogger had shown him.
He stared at it until his phone buzzed.
Unknown Number.
He answered without thinking.
Static filled the line, like rain falling inside a wire. Then a voice, soft and sharp all at once:
"You're close, Ethan."
"Blue eyes ?" Ethan's voice cracked. "What is this? Who are you?"
Silence. Then—
"Find the Gatekeeper."
The call ended.
Ethan's heart pounded.
The Gatekeeper.
The same word Dogger had used before.
He sat there for a long time, staring at the raindrops racing down his window.
Something in him snapped.
If Dogger wouldn't come to him—then he'd find him first.
By nightfall, he was driving through the city, searching the places that felt thin.
The spots where the world didn't sound right, where the air shimmered like a mirage.
And finally, at the edge of town, he saw it.
A faint blue glow cutting through the fog.
A figure standing beneath a streetlight.
Dogger.
Ethan slammed the brakes and stepped out into the rain.
"hey, blue eyes!" he shouted. "You wanted me to find you, well, I did!"
Dogger didn't move at first. Then he turned slightly, that same calm expression crossing his face.
"You shouldn't have," he said quietly.
Ethan stepped closer, fists clenched. "You said to find the Gatekeeper. Who is he? What's happening to me?"
Dogger sighed, brushing water off his coat. "You've already met him."
Ethan blinked. "What?"
"The man who gave you the delivery. The one who watches you work. The one who hides behind kindness."
"Mr. Abernathy?" Ethan whispered.
Dogger's faint smile returned. "The Gatekeeper. He keeps the dream stable. He's what stands between you and the truth."
Ethan's breath hitched. "This is insane. none of this makes sense!"
Dogger's tone softened.
"It doesn't have to. You just have to believe it before they notice you again."
"Who are they?" Ethan shouted.
Dogger looked past him, into the fog.
"The ones who built this world."
A flicker of light passed behind Dogger's eyes.
The air around them began to shimmer.
"I shouldn't stay long," Dogger said.
"Wait!" Ethan reached out. "You can't just disappear again!"
Dogger hesitated, eyes almost human for a moment.
"Find the Gatekeeper, Ethan. But be careful—he's starting to forget which side he's on."
And just like that, he was gone.
No flash, no sound—just gone.
The rain kept falling, washing over Ethan as if nothing had happened.
He stood there in the street, soaked and shaking, staring at the spot where Dogger had been.
The word Gatekeeper echoed through his head.
Mr. Abernathy.
He thought of his boss's pale face that morning. The forced smile.
The way his hands trembled when Ethan said he'd be taking a few days off.
He didn't know what scared him more—that Dogger might be lying…
or that he might be telling the truth.
Ethan looked up at t
he sky, the rain blurring his vision.
A faint hum rippled through the air, almost like laughter, or warning.
"Find the Gatekeeper," he whispered to himself.