Ethan had no attachment to Amy and Chris.
To him, they were nothing more than strangers or rather fragments of the life his body used to belong to. But to them, he was still their friend.
Which is why, after school, they dragged him to a small café nearby, claiming they wanted to "catch up and help him remember stuff."
Ethan played along as it would be strange if he didn't humor them.
They sat in a booth near the window, Amy stirring her milkshake absentmindedly while Chris leaned forward, looking tense.
Ethan pretended to listen, but his mind was already calculating.
Chris's fingers twitched, a sign of being nervous.
Amy kept glancing toward the entrance, as if expecting something.
Their postures were too rigid—clearly distressed about something.
They didn't just bring me here to "catch up."
Ethan leaned back, casually sipping his drink. "Alright. What's going on? What's wrong? Although I don't remember we were friends so you should tell me. Maybe I can help."
Chris and Amy exchanged a look.
Then, Chris spoke first. "You… haven't been having weird dreams, have you?"
Ethan's expression didn't change, but internally, his thoughts sharpened.
'Dreams?'
Amy hesitated, voice quieter. "For the last two days every night, I hear it. The whispering. It's always the same voice, calling out to me. And then… I wake up with the feeling like something's in my room."
Chris nodded. "Me too. I get those same dreams and some guys on the basketball team with me also get it too. I thought it was weird so I talked to Amy about it. We wondered if you also got them too."
Ethan said nothing for a moment, swirling his drink thoughtfully. 'Their symptoms match others in the school. The nightmares. The feeling of being watched. Is it isolated to the school or is it restricted to certain people? But…'
"I haven't been dreaming lately," Ethan finally said, shrugging.
Chris blinked. "What?"
Ethan lied easily. "Ever since the accident, I don't dream anymore. Just blank sleep."
It was close enough to the truth. Thanks to Sage's Supercomputer Mind, he had full control over his thoughts—his sleep was simply a transition into his mental library.
Amy frowned. "Then you're lucky."
Ethan watched them carefully. Fear is a powerful thing. It warps perception.
Still, he needed more information.
"Describe the whispering," he said, tilting his head. "What does it say?"
Chris shivered slightly. "It doesn't make sense. Just a voice… telling me to 'let it in.'"
Amy nodded. "It keeps saying 'We belong together.' Over and over."
That's useful. Ethan stored the phrases away in his mental database.
If the entity was speaking in a coherent message, that meant it was seeking a host body. Which meant it had a will. Which also meant it was intelligent. Was it a demon or an outer being? However so long as the two refrained from accepting they would be fine.
Ethan smiled slightly, though there was little warmth in it. "You'll be fine."
It wasn't reassurance. Just a statement of fact.
But neither Amy nor Chris looked convinced.
Later that evening, Ethan sat in his hotel room, staring at his laptop screen, multiple security camera feeds open in front of him. He had hacked into Midtown High's security system in under ten minutes. It was really way too easy.
And what he found confirmed everything. The anomalies weren't just isolated incidents. They seem to encompass the whole school. Students staying after school for tutoring would at random moments stand completely still in hallways for minutes at a time before snapping out of it. Shadows stretching would elongate and stretch unnaturally even though the sun was not shining in their direction. A janitor's reflection froze in a mirror while he continued moving.
Ethan leaned forward, watching one particular clip.
It was Paige Guthrie, she was in a bathroom, standing at the sink, washing her hands. Ethan thought it weird that there was a camera in the restroom but luckily it was only pointed at the walkway and the sinks rather than the stalls. Maybe it was meant to catch bullying.
Regardless Ethan saw that soon Paige's reflection stopped mimicking her and started looking at her. Paige didn't notice at first, but as soon as she saw her eyes widened. She leaned closer. Her reflection then smiled and then looked up at the camera.
Paige tried to walk back but then the screen flickered and then the feed cut out.
Ethan exhaled slowly.
That's… definitely not normal. That was definitely supernatural meaning magic, demons, and old ones. Something that Ethan was not prepared for in the least with his lack of magical train or even a tome to rely on.
The next morning, Ethan caught Paige near the lockers, intercepting her before class.
She looked on edge, her eyes darting around the hallway as if she expected something to jump out at her.
Ethan leaned against the lockers. "You saw it, didn't you?"
Paige whipped around, eyes narrowing. "What?"
Ethan smirked slightly. "Your reflection."
Paige's expression tightened.
She didn't ask how he knew. She didn't ask why he was bringing it up.
She just exhaled sharply. "You've seen one too?"
Ethan gave a small shrug. " Yes, I did. I noticed you look scared so I assumed you also saw one. My friends also experienced something like that too."
Paige hesitated. Then, voice lower, she muttered, "Something's wrong with this school."
Ethan simply said, "I know."
By lunch, Ethan had two objectives.
Find the cause of the anomalies.
Confirm what Felicia Hardy was up to.
Because the more he watched, the more he realized that she was already investigating whatever this was.
Felicia had been asking questions, speaking to students, and hanging around restricted areas after school.
And, more importantly—
She had also been in the basement.
How did he know? Well, that was because Ethan had spent the whole night watching the security footage.
Last night, she had returned to Midtown High after hours and she left carrying a weird looking book.
Ethan had a theory.
Whatever was happening at Midtown High was because of a ritual.
And a ritual needed instructions, a grimoire or rather a book filled with forbidden knowledge.
And Felicia Hardy had found it.
Ethan exhaled, tapping his fingers against his desk.
If Felicia had the book then that meant she was ahead of him.
She already knew who was behind this and she had the book that would explain what ritual they attempted. Ethan was behind with no idea of what was going on and he hated that.
Now it was time to pay his dear substitute teacher's apartment a visit.