Three days passed, and life on campus moved the same way it always did, lectures, deadlines, crowded hallways, the smell of coffee everywhere. Nothing dramatic happened, nothing strange during the day. And yet, every night, the dreams kept coming.
Different each time, but always the same feeling. Like something brushing the edge of my mind.
By the third day, I was tired of pretending it didn't bother me.
_____________________________________________________
It was late afternoon when I left my creative writing class, my notebook tucked under my arm. The sky was grey and cloudy, low enough to make everything feel quieter. I spotted Theo ahead, walking out of the chess lounge, looking frustrated in that familiar way he always did after a tough match.
Lucy joined us from the opposite path, her body still slightly damp from practice, her backpack slung over one shoulder like it weighed nothing. She looked relaxed, of course she mostly always did. Lucy handled stress like it was a fly she could just swat away.
We all met near the benches outside the student center.
"Okay," Theo said, dropping onto the bench with a sigh. "We need to talk."
I sat next to him, and Lucy stood beside us, arms crossed. "About what?" she asked, though her tone said she already knew.
"The dreams," I said quietly.
Lucy sighed. "Oh, come on. Again?"
Theo turned to her. "Luciana. Don't act like yours stopped."
A brief pause. She didn't answer neither did she deny it.
I leaned forward. "Mine changed a little. Same colours of emotion but, clearer now. Like they're noticing that I'm noticing." I rubbed my forehead. "It sounds stupid saying it out loud."
"It doesn't," Theo said quickly. "Mine got harder, the puzzles, the patterns. It's like they want me to get faster, smarter or both."
Lucy let out a short breath. "Or maybe your brain is just trying to make you good at chess since you hate losing."
Theo ignored her. "And yours?" he asked firmly.
Lucy hesitated. Just for a second.
Not long enough for most people to notice, but I did.
"I mean, I guess mine got a bit more, intense," she admitted. "But that's normal. I've been training harder this week. My brain's just replaying stuff."
I studied her face. She wasn't lying, exactly. She just believed her explanation more than ours, she trusted reality so strongly.
Theo leaned his elbows on his knees. "Look, whether Lucy believes it or not, this isn't just 'oh I had a dream.' They're not random. All three of us? For three nights in a row? And they keep building on themselves?"
Lucy shook her head. "Even if it's weird, it doesn't mean it's some magical academy calling us. It's just coincidence."
But even as she said it, her fingers drummed restlessly on her arm, the tiny sign that she might not be fully settled.
I took a breath. "I don't know what it is. But something is happening. And pretending it's nothing isn't going to make it go away."
None of us spoke for a while.
Students walked past, laughing, arguing, sharing snacks. The world went on as normal, completely unaware that something in the shadows of sleep was tugging at the three of us.
Finally, Theo stood. "I think we need to keep track of them," he said. "Write them down, compare them, search for clues."
Lucy rolled her eyes but didn't argue.
"And," Theo added, "we should probably look into those stories again - the old myths. If the dreams are connected, there must be something we're supposed to figure out."
Lucy raised her eyebrow. "You two are seriously diving into this?"
"No," I said softly. "We're already in it."
Something shifted in Lucy's expression, subtle but real. A tiny moment of uncertainty, there and gone as soon as it appeared, POOF! She didn't trust the myth, not at all, but she did trust us, which maybe mattered more.
"Fine," she said at last. "We'll look. But until I see something real, I'm not buying it."
Theo grinned like he'd already solved half the puzzle.
The three of us walked together across the courtyard, each lost in our own thoughts. The sky had gotten darker, clouds rolling in like a slow tide.
As we reached the walkway that split off toward our dorms, the familiar hum stirred in the back of my mind again, persistent, almost like a reminder:
I haven't forgotten you.
I swallowed hard.
Three nights, three dreams. And now, three of us - maybe, finally admitting something wasn't normal.
Whatever waited in the shadows of our sleep was getting closer.
Closer than any of us were ready for.
And somehow, I knew this was only the beginning.
_____________________________________________________
Theo's dorm room was already a mess, but somehow he managed to make it worse the moment we arrived. That evening, our "research" turned into the most chaotic group study session we'd ever had. We met in Theo's dorm room, mostly because he had snacks and Lucy refused to let us mess up her space.
Theo dumped a pile of printed articles, old forum posts, and random screenshots onto the bed.
"Okay," he said proudly, hands on his hips. "These are all the myths, clues, and theories about finding the academy."
Lucy stared. "Theo half of this looks like it was written by bored teenagers and we're not in a movie trying to solve mysteries, we have access to the internet, remember?" I giggled.
"And the other half," Theo said, ignoring us, "might actually mean something."
I sighed and sat cross-legged on the floor. "Alright, let's try to make sense of this."
_____________________________________________________
He dragged a small wooden stool from the corner and placed it in the middle of the room like it was some ancient altar.
Lucy blinked slowly. "WHAT. IS. THAT?"
"Our pillar," Theo said proudly. "Every great ritual needs a pillar."
"That's a stool," she corrected.
"A pillar," he insisted.
Lucy pinched the bridge of her nose. "I cannot believe I'm here."
But she stayed, arms crossed, leaning against the wall like a judge observing two criminals about to incriminate themselves.
Theo turned to me. "Elowen, get the leaves."
I stared at him. "You command me sending me on errands like I'm your personal messenger."
"Yes," he said without shame. "Because your dorm is closer to the tree outside."
I sighed dramatically but went downstairs anyway. I returned something that felt like five minutes later holding a bunch of leaves, some crunchy, some half-dead, some that looked like they'd been stepped on multiple times.
Theo took them reverently. "Beautiful."
Lucy snorted. "Those leaves are fighting for their lives."
Theo ignored her and handed us each a marker.
"We write our names on the leaves," he declared. "The admin guy online said, 'Mark yourself to be seen.'"
"Or maybe he was bored," Lucy muttered.
But we wrote anyway.
Elowen Blythe.
Theodore Hart.
Luciana (hers was smaller, as if embarrassed to be part of the foolishness).
Theo placed the leaves gently on top of the stool, sorry, "pillar", arranging them like he was summoning the spirit of botany.
"Now," he said dramatically, "we chant."
Lucy lifted a hand. "No. Whatever you're about to say, I am not chanting it."
"You don't have to," Theo replied. "Just watch and be supportive."
"I am being supportive," she said. "I'm not leaving, duhhh."
Theo puffed up with pride, then turned to me, "Ready?"
I nodded even though I already regretted everything.
Theo raised his hands like a wizard and said, "O great academy,..."
"Oh my God," Lucy whispered, covering her mouth already laughing.
"...reveal yourself to us. Accept our names. Accept our path. Accept our..."
The leaf with his name slid off the stool.
Theo froze mid-sentence.
Lucy exploded. "Rejected! The academy rejected you first! I'm crying."
Theo glared at the leaf. "It was the fan."
"The fan is off," Lucy said.
Theo glared harder.
I picked up the leaf. "Maybe the leaves are too dry?"
Theo nodded seriously. "Yes. That must be it. Dry leaves don't summon magical academies, obviously."
Lucy stared at us like we were the dumbest people alive but couldn't stop laughing.
We cleaned up the leaves, by "cleaned," I mean brushed the crunchy flakes off the carpet while Theo muttered something about "ritual quality" and we went outside to find fresh ones.
We returned with bright green ones this time.
Theo repeated the whole setup.
Names written, leaves arranged, hands raised, chanting restarted.
Nothing.
Not a breeze, not a glow, not even a dramatic leaf fall.
Just silence and Lucy biting her lip to keep from laughing too loudly.
Theo lowered his hands slowly. "Okay. Maybe this one is fake."
"Maybe?" Lucy repeated. "Are you sure? You want to test for a third time? A fourth? Make a leaf pyramid?"
Theo threw a leaf at her. She caught it effortlessly.
"Fine," he said, defeated. "Next method."
I sank onto his bed, letting out a long breath. My cheeks hurt from trying not to laugh.
Theo scrolled again. "This one says the ritual only works alone. At night. Doors closed, lights off. It's supposed to 'test your openness when unobserved.'"
Lucy nodded approvingly. "Great, then I don't have to watch round two of your stupidity."
Theo shot her a look. "Just report back tomorrow morning."
We all agreed.
Lucy left first. "If any of you summon a ghost, don't call me."
Theo rolled his eyes. I headed out soon after, leaves still scattered on the floor of his room like we'd failed a class project.