The sky above Starwood Hollow was melting into twilight—lavender clouds streaked with gold, the kind of sky that felt like it was saying goodbye. The forest hummed softly, its magic steadier now, but still fragile. Like a song trying to remember its melody.
Leo stood at the edge of the clearing, his backpack snug against his shoulders. The glowing paper pulsed gently in his hand, like it was breathing with him. Jace adjusted his own bag, which was stuffed with snacks, a flashlight, and a hoodie tied around the straps like a cape.
WHISKERS (grumbling) "You packed snacks, right? I'm not risking squirrel starvation."
JACE (grinning) "Trail mix. Two juice boxes. And a half-melted granola bar."
WHISKERS "Acceptable. Barely."
Professor Karo stood nearby, arms folded, goggles pushed up onto his forehead. Arca leaned against the lab's doorway, her tablet glowing faintly. She didn't say anything, but her eyes flicked toward the trio more than once.
KARO "You'll need to be careful. The school's closed for break. No staff. No students. If anyone sees you coming out of a locked building, questions will follow."
ARCA (without looking up) "Try not to get arrested. I just organized the lab."
WHISKERS (to Leo and Jace) "The portal's one-way unless you know the code. Lucky for you, I do."
Leo blinked.
LEO "There's a code?"
WHISKERS "Of course. You think magical clocks just open for anyone? It's ancient Hollow tech. You whisper the phrase, tap the gears in sequence, and boom—exit unlocked."
JACE (muttering) "This squirrel's cooler than half the teachers at school."
WHISKERS "I heard that. And you're right."
They walked through the forest, the path winding like a memory. The trees whispered above them, their branches glowing faintly with runes. The air buzzed with quiet energy, and the moss beneath their feet felt like it was listening.
LEO (softly) "You sure you want to come?"
JACE "We've been friends since preschool. You think I'm gonna let you go on some secret mission alone?"
Leo smiled, bumping Jace's shoulder.
LEO "You always show up."
JACE "Even when I don't know what I'm walking into."
WHISKERS "Sentimental humans…"
The squirrel hopped onto Leo's shoulder.
WHISKERS "Let's move. We fix what others forget."
—--------------------------------
Leo stood before the wall.
It wasn't just any wall. It was ancient, made of moss-covered bricks shaped like a doorway, tucked between two gnarled trees. It didn't belong in a forest. It didn't belong anywhere. And yet… it was the only way back.
Jace adjusted his backpack, the straps digging into his shoulders. Leo did the same, the glowing paper tucked safely in his hoodie pocket. Whiskers perched on a nearby root, tail flicking.
WHISKERS "This is it. The gate between worlds."
JACE (eyeing the wall) "Looks like something out of a haunted playground."
WHISKERS "It's older than your school. Older than your town. Older than your entire bloodline."
Leo stepped closer to the wall. The bricks pulsed faintly, like they were waiting for something.
WHISKERS (hopping down) "Stand back. This part's delicate."
Whiskers leaned in and whispered something in a language that made Leo's spine tingle. Then he tapped three bricks in a precise rhythm—top left, bottom right, center.
The bricks shimmered, glowing with soft light. Then, slowly, they began to shift—sliding apart like puzzle pieces, revealing a swirling passage of shadow and light.
JACE (staring) "Okay… that's cooler than any school hallway."
Karo and Arca stood behind them, watching silently. The professor's goggles reflected the portal's light. Arca's tablet dimmed as she looked up. She always wanted to see where she was from, where her dad was from but he chose to stay here, she did the same.
ARCA (thoughts) "I wish I could go too. Just too see"
KARO "Remember—low profile. The flash drive is your key. But the world you're going back to doesn't know about this place. Or us."
ARCA (quietly) "Don't mess it up."
Leo turned to face them.
LEO "We'll be back."
JACE "With answers."
WHISKERS "Hopefully not covered in mud."
Leo turned to Jace.
LEO "You ready?"
JACE "I was born ready. Also slightly terrified."
WHISKERS "Good. Terror keeps you sharp."
They stepped through.
The world twisted.
Leo stumbled forward as if he got shoved, blinking against the sudden shift in light. The mossy air of Starwood Hollow was gone—replaced by the familiar smell of old paper, dust, and tacos from Tuesday.
They were back.
Inside the school library. First floor.
Dim light filtered through the high windows. The clock behind them ticked softly, looking perfectly ordinary. No glow. No magic. Just a relic in a quiet room.
JACE "Ugh. It smells like old gym socks."
LEO "We're lucky. If someone saw us pop out of a glowing clock in a closed school, we'd be on the news."
JACE (looking around) "Yeah. But something's wrong."
The silence was too deep. No voices. No footsteps. No hum of hallway life.
WHISKERS (hopping down from Leo's shoulder) "School's closed for break, remember? No staff. No students. No janitors. Which means…"
JACE "We're locked in."
WHISKERS "Bingo."
LEO "We can't just walk out the front door?"
WHISKERS "Unless you want to trigger the alarm and explain to the police why a squirrel is talking."
JACE "Yeah, let's not do that."
They crept through the library, weaving between shelves. The exit doors were chained shut. The windows were too high. The silence pressed in like a weight.
JACE "So what now?"
WHISKERS "There's a maintenance tunnel. Old schools always have one. Usually hidden behind something boring—like a filing cabinet or a mop bucket."
JACE "You're weirdly good at this."
WHISKERS "I've escaped worse places. Once got trapped in a vending machine for three hours.
Leo scanned the room. His eyes landed on a supply closet tucked behind the librarian's desk. The door was slightly ajar.
LEO "There."
They slipped inside. It was cramped—filled with cleaning supplies, old textbooks, and a dusty mop that looked like it hadn't moved since the last century.
WHISKERS (sniffing) "Yep. Smells like secrets."
Leo pushed aside a stack of boxes. Behind them, a metal grate covered a narrow tunnel.
JACE "That's… definitely not up to code."
WHISKERS "Perfect."
Leo knelt down, tugging at the grate. It popped free.
LEO "Let's go."
They walked through the tunnel, the air thick with dust and echoes. Pipes lined the walls. Somewhere above, the building creaked softly.
JACE "This is like one of those anime scenes. Two kids sneaking through a secret passage. Sunrise. Mission. Destiny."
LEO "You watch too much TV."
JACE "You're literally holding a glowing paper from a magical forest."
LEO "...Fair."
They reached the end of the tunnel—a small hatch leading to the outside. Leo pushed it open slowly. Cool air rushed in. The sky was streaked with orange and pink, the sun dipping low behind the trees.
They walked out, brushing off dust and cobwebs. The school loomed behind them, silent and locked.
Leo looked down at the paper. It pulsed once, brighter than before.
WHISKERS "The trail begins now."
JACE "Where do we go?"
LEO "The agent hideout— i think."
JACE "You sure?"
WHISKERS "No. But we're going anyway."
They walked side by side, backpacks slung over their shoulders, down the quiet sidewalk. The sky burned as the sun was rising, casting long shadows behind.
LEO "I still can't believe my parents were agents. They told me they fix broken vending machines in Antarctica."
JACE "And you believed it?"
Two kids. A squirrel. One mission. And a secret world no one else knew existed.