I didn't sleep.
I just sat there.
Staring at the coin.
My face… etched into the metal.
Like it had always been there.
I flipped it.
The other side—
Blank.
Smooth.
As if no identity ever existed before mine.
The edge was thin.
Sharp.
I could almost feel it whispering something.
---
I heard a voice.
Not in the room.
Inside my head.
> "You were never supposed to return."
---
I left my dorm.
I didn't plan where I was going.
I just walked.
Fairhill was drenched in fog.
Too quiet.
Too perfect.
Even the lights looked fake tonight—
Like they were painted on glass.
---
A car passed me.
But it didn't make a sound.
I couldn't see a driver.
The street sign ahead:
> "Fairhill – Population: …"
The number was gone.
Scratched out.
Like no one ever lived here.
---
I turned the corner—
And bumped into someone.
Mr. Thorne.
Library assistant.
Weird.
Old.
Always watching.
But something was different tonight.
His eyes… weren't just tired.
They were terrified.
---
> "You've seen it now," he whispered.
I froze.
"…Seen what?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he smiled—crooked, forced.
> "The hill isn't fair," he said slowly.
"The fare is hell."
Then he walked past me.
Disappearing into the fog.
---
I kept walking.
Ended up in front of the old classroom building.
No lights.
But the door was open.
I went in.
The hallway twisted behind me.
Literally.
Like the walls were breathing.
The air buzzed.
I heard footsteps—
Mine, but not quite.
Delayed.
Echoed wrong.
---
A voice spoke from a dark room.
> "Qu."
Nathan?
No.
It was my voice.
But not my tone.
---
I stepped into the room.
It was filled with mirrors.
Each one showing a different version of me.
Bleeding.
Screaming.
Smiling.
Missing eyes.
Missing faces.
---
And one of them—
Showed me standing…
In a white room.
Strapped to a bed.
Watching a screen.
On the screen?
Fairhill.
---
The reflection laughed.
> "They gave you a name," it said.
"But not a choice."
---
I stepped back.
Everything cracked—
The mirrors shattered.
Light exploded.
And then—
Darkness.
Silence.
And a whisper:
> "Wake up, Qussai."
---
To be continued.