(ARC :1 PH: 1 :INVISIBLE ONE)
After school,
the campus doesn't empty all at once.
It exhales...
The rain has stopped, but the ground still shines,
as if it remembers something it isn't ready to forget.
Anie walks away from the old lab block.
Each step sends a dull pulse through her head not pain exactly,but pressure.
Moment Hold. <
The aftershock lingers.
Like heat trapped under the skin.
"Calm down," she whispers.
"It's done."
But the word done feels like a lie.She stops near the old library.The building looks harmless.
Quiet.
Ordinary,..
Her hands tighten around her bag.For a second, she feels it again that invisible tension, like the city holding its breath.
Then!!!
"Didn't you feel it today?"...
The voice comes from behind her.Anie turns too fast.
A boy stands there,School uniform,Her age.
Eyes rimmed with exhaustion, as if sleep avoids him on purpose.
She doesn't recognize him.
"What?" she asks.
"Near the lab block," he says,
"Something went wrong there."
Her fingers curl inward.
"Did you go there?" she asks.
"No."
He shakes his head.
"But after that… I couldn't breathe.
Like the air forgot how to work."
Anie stares at him.
That feeling she knows it too well.
'In,class"
he continues,
"the chalk dust didn't it feel like it froze for a moment?"
Her throat tightens.
She hadn't told anyone that.
She hadn't even admitted it to herself.
"I get headaches," he says.
"And then this emptiness.
Like something passed through me
and didn't bother to explain."
Anie swallows.
"When did this start?" she asks.
He hesitates.,
"I don't know," he says.
"But I know it didn't start today "
Silence settles between them,
heavy, aware.The distant sound of the school bell cuts through it,too late,
too hollow.
"What's your name?" Anie asks.
"Eli."
"Anie."
He nods once, like the name confirms something.
"Do you ever feel," Eli asks quietly,
"like you're standing in the world
but the world isn't standing with you?"
Something twists inside her chest.
"Yes," she says.
"Every day."
A teacher's voice echoes from across the campus.
"Hey! The campus is closing!"
Eli steps back.
"Tomorrow," he says.
"If it happens again"
He stops doesn't finish the thought.
Anie nodes.
"Tomorrow," she says.
They walk away in opposite directions,
neither looks back.At the bus stop,
the city roars back to life.
Lights,
Traffic,
Voices, normal.
She watches it all through the glass.
For the first time since this began,the fear feels… different.
Sharper.,,,
Because now she knows,She isn't alone.And that means whatever is watching her…,
Is watching both of them.....