Chapter 17: The Whisper Between Walls
The silence in the bookstore was heavier than usual.
I could feel it pressing on my skin like thick velvet.
Like a secret waiting just beyond the reach of my breath.
The door I'd passed through closed softly behind me.
No handle. No lock.
Just the promise of something unseen.
I looked around the new room.
Stone walls curved in a perfect circle.
But the air was different here — cooler.
Faint whispers floated, brushing past my ears like a breeze carrying old stories.
Books hovered silently in the air.
Their pages fluttered like wings, but no words escaped.
I stepped forward.
Each footfall echoed softly on the cold stone floor.
A single candle flickered on a wooden pedestal.
Its flame was blue.
I reached out, drawn to it.
The flame danced, casting shadows that twisted into shapes I couldn't name.
A whisper curled around my neck, barely audible.
"Emma…"
I spun.
No one.
Only shadows.
My heartbeat thundered in my ears.
"Who's there?" I whispered.
The whisper came again.
"The walls remember."
I swallowed hard.
The walls?
What did they remember?
Before I could think more, a book drifted down.
Softly.
Landing open at my feet.
The pages showed only one word:
Remember.
I knelt and traced the letters with trembling fingers.
Memories stirred deep inside.
I closed my eyes.
A flicker of a scene.
A laughter.
A hand reaching for mine.
A face — familiar and lost.
I opened my eyes to see the candle's flame sputtering.
The whispers grew louder, almost urgent now.
"Emma…"
I swallowed and stood.
"Show yourself."
The room shivered.
Books spun faster.
The air thickened with unseen weight.
And then, the chair in the center of the room moved.
Slowly.
As if pushed by an invisible hand.
I stepped back.
The chair faced away.
I hesitated.
Then reached out to touch the backrest.
It was warm.
Like it was alive.
A voice behind me.
Soft, familiar.
"Sometimes the walls hold what people can't say."
I spun again.
Leo.
He stepped into the room, his eyes wide but steady.
"I came as soon as I could," he said.
Relief flooded me.
But also confusion.
"What is this place?"
He looked at the chair, then back at me.
"It's a place between."
"Between what?"
"Between memories and forgetting. Between the past and what's waiting to be."
My mind raced.
"The bookstore is showing me things again."
Leo nodded.
"More than things. Feelings. Truths."
The candle flickered wildly.
Suddenly, the flame turned white-hot.
Blinding.
I shielded my eyes.
When I looked back, the room had changed.
The walls now lined with mirrors.
Not reflecting me.
But empty space.
A window.
A door.
I approached slowly.
The door creaked open.
A corridor stretched ahead.
Endless.
But lit by soft golden light.
Leo grabbed my hand.
"Do you want to know what's beyond?"
I hesitated.
Fear curled inside me.
But more than that, a fierce need to understand.
"Yes."
We stepped forward.
The corridor whispered with voices.
Words I couldn't quite catch.
And then, suddenly—
A door slammed behind us.
Trapping us in.
Ahead, the corridor split into two paths.
Left or right.
No sign.
No hint.
Leo squeezed my hand.
"Which way?"
I closed my eyes.
I felt the heartbeat of the store.
The rhythm pulsing beneath my feet.
A soft tug to the right.
I nodded.
We moved.
The walls hummed.
The whispers grew softer.
Until the corridor opened into—
A room full of clocks.
But these were different from the ones I saw before.
Each clock was broken.
Some with missing hands.
Others frozen mid-tick.
And at the center—
A large clock, shattered completely.
Its face cracked.
Its pendulum gone.
Leo stepped forward.
"This is the place time forgot."
I ran my fingers over the cracked face.
A sadness radiated.
"Why show me this?"
He looked at me with a shadow in his eyes.
"Because you are part of this too. Time and memory—woven into your story."
I felt dizzy.
"What does that mean?"
Leo's hand found mine again.
"You hold the key to mending what was broken."
I wanted to believe him.
But fear whispered louder.
"What if I fail?"
He smiled softly.
"Then we try again. Together."
A sudden noise made us both jump.
From the shadows, a figure stepped forward.
Tall.
Slender.
Wrapped in shadows and light.
Her eyes glowed faintly.
She smiled.
"Welcome, Emma."
The air shifted.
The store held its breath.
I realized then—
This was not just a room.
It was a crossroads.
And the next choice—
Might change everything.