Vena’s POV The notification on my phone froze my body.
DON’T LET HIM SEE THE PENDANT.
My breathing became shallow.
The bedroom door in front of me was still opening.
One inch…
Two inches…
Three…
I instinctively slipped the pendant beneath the collar of my shirt, hiding it against my skin.
It was still warm, almost as if it had understood the danger before I did.
The door opened completely.
Nikhil stepped out while holding his phone against his ear.
“…No.” His voice was calm.
Too calm.
“I’m telling you, don’t make a move yet.” He paused, listening to the person on the other end.
“I said she’ll come on her own.” Another pause.
His eyes casually swept across the hallway.
For one terrifying second…
They met mine.
I immediately lowered my gaze and forced myself to breathe normally.
He couldn’t know.
He couldn’t.
“…I’ll handle it.” Nikhil’s expression softened the moment he noticed me.
The coldness disappeared as though someone had flipped a switch.
He smiled.
The same gentle smile everyone admired.
“Vena?” “When did you get home?” I forced a small smile.
“Just now.” He nodded before speaking into the phone again.
“I’ll call you later.” Without another word, he ended the call and slipped the phone into his pocket.
“You look exhausted.” “How was your first proper day at college?” I shrugged casually.
“It was okay.” “You should’ve called me.” “I would’ve picked you up.” His concern sounded genuine.
Almost enough to make me doubt everything.
Almost.
If I hadn’t heard that phone call…
If I hadn’t died once already…
Maybe I would’ve believed him.
Instead, I smiled politely.
“My phone battery died.” A lie.
A simple one.
But I wanted to see his reaction.
Nikhil looked at me for a brief second.
Then chuckled.
“That explains it.” His answer was perfect.
Too perfect.
Not even a hint of suspicion.
Or perhaps…
He was simply better at hiding it than I expected.
He gently ruffled my hair.
“Go freshen up.” “I’ll ask Mom to prepare your favorite dinner.” The touch made my skin crawl.
Yet I smiled.
“Thanks.” I walked toward my room without looking back.
Only after closing the door did I let out the breath I had been holding.
I locked the door immediately.
The pendant slipped out from beneath my shirt.
Its silver surface had become hotter.
Not burning…
Just…
Alive.
I remembered the anonymous message.
Don’t let him see the pendant.
Whoever had sent it…
Had saved me.
But why?
And how did they know I was standing outside Nikhil’s room?
Unless…
They were watching this house.
I walked to my window and carefully peeked through the curtains.
The garden below was empty.
The street outside looked normal.
Cars passed by.
Children played cricket at the corner.
A delivery rider stopped at the neighboring house.
Nothing unusual.
Yet…
Something felt wrong.
As if invisible eyes were hidden among ordinary people.
Watching.
Waiting.
A soft knock interrupted my thoughts.
“Vena?” It was my adoptive mother.
“Dinner is ready.” I quickly hid the pendant inside my pocket.
“I’m coming.” The dining table looked exactly like every family dinner from my previous life.
Warm food.
Soft conversations.
A picture-perfect family.
My adoptive father discussed business over his meal.
Mother reminded the housekeeper about tomorrow’s groceries.
Nikhil scrolled through his phone while occasionally smiling at something on the screen.
If someone saw us…
They would call us the perfect family.
Only I knew…
Appearances could be the biggest lie.
Halfway through dinner…
Father looked at me.
“So…” “How was college?” “It was good.” “Made any friends?” “Not yet.” He laughed.
“You’ve always been shy.” Mother smiled warmly.
“Don’t worry.” “You’ll settle in soon.” I nodded quietly.
Then…
Something strange happened.
Nikhil suddenly asked, “Did anything unusual happen today?” My fingers stopped moving.
“What do you mean?” He shrugged.
“I don’t know.” “First days are usually memorable.” “Sometimes people receive unexpected gifts.” My heartbeat skipped.
The black envelope.
Was he testing me?
I forced a confused expression.
“No.” “Nothing like that.” For the first time…
I noticed something.
His eyes.
They weren’t looking at my face.
They were watching my hands.
As though searching for something.
The pendant.
Was he trying to see whether I had it?
I casually reached for my glass of water, keeping my pocket hidden beneath the table.
A faint smile crossed his lips.
Then…
He changed the topic.
“Good.” “I was just asking.” The conversation continued normally.
But I couldn’t taste the food anymore.
Later that night…
Rain began falling outside.
The entire house became silent.
I sat on my bed, replaying every word Nikhil had spoken.
Sometimes people receive unexpected gifts.
It couldn’t be a coincidence.
He knew.
Maybe not everything…
But enough to make me nervous.
I opened my notebook and started writing every clue I had collected.
The pendant.
The symbol.
The black envelope.
The man dressed in black.
The abandoned chapel.
Nikhil’s warning: “Don’t let her awaken.” Every clue somehow connected to one thing.
My blood.
But there was one question I hadn’t asked myself.
If Nikhil wanted to stop my awakening…
Then…
Why didn’t he kill me immediately after I returned?
He had the opportunity.
He had the motive.
So…
What was he waiting for?
A soft vibration pulled me out of my thoughts.
My phone.
Unknown Number.
A text message.
Don’t go to the chapel tomorrow.
I frowned.
Another message arrived before I could react.
He’s expecting you to disobey this warning.
A third message followed almost instantly.
Trust your instincts…
not your memories.
I stared at the screen.
My memories?
What was wrong with my memories?
The phone suddenly rang.
The same unknown number.
For several seconds…
I simply watched it ring.
Finally…
I answered.
“…Who are you?” Silence.
Then…
A familiar voice.
Low.
Calm.
The same voice I had heard once before.
The masked man.
“I don’t have much time.” “You’ve already changed more than you realize.” I stood up immediately.
“Who are you?” “Tell me the truth.” Instead of answering…
He asked quietly, “Vena…” “When you died…” “What was the last thing you remembered…” “…before opening your eyes in this life?” I frowned.
“The warehouse.” “Nikhil.” “The gun.” “No.” He interrupted.
“I said…” “The last thing.” His question made me freeze.
Because suddenly…
For the first time since returning…
I realized there was a blank space in my memory.
Just before I woke up in this life…
There had been…
Something else.
Something important.
Something I couldn’t remember…
No matter how hard I tried.
The voice on the phone became even quieter.
“…Good.” “That means the seal is still holding.” I gripped the phone tightly.
“What seal?” My voice came out almost as a whisper.
The line went silent.
I checked my phone.
The call was still connected.
“…Hello?” Nothing.
Only faint static.
Then…
A deep sigh came from the other side.
“You’ve already started asking the right questions.” “But you’re asking them too early.” “Who are you?” I demanded.
“How do you know about me?” “And what do you mean by ‘seal’?” A small chuckle echoed through the speaker.
“You’ll know my name…” “…when you remember yours.” The call disconnected.
I stood frozen.
Remember my name?
My name was Vena.
Wasn’t it?
Or…
Was Vena only the name given to me by my adoptive family?
A sudden headache shot through my temples.
Broken images flashed before my eyes.
A woman smiling.
A pair of warm hands lifting me into the air.
Someone calling a little girl…
But before I could hear the name— Everything disappeared.
“…Damn it!” I hit the side of the table in frustration.
Every time I got close to an answer…
Another mystery appeared.
I couldn’t stay inside the room anymore.
I quietly opened my door.
The hallway was empty.
Everyone seemed to be asleep.
I walked downstairs to drink some water.
As I entered the kitchen…
A faint blue light caught my attention.
The pendant.
It was glowing again.
Not brightly.
Just enough to illuminate my hand.
At the same moment…
My phone vibrated.
Another message.
He’s coming.
Don’t let him see the light.
Without thinking, I closed my hand around the pendant.
The glow disappeared instantly.
Slow…
Calm…
Confident.
Nikhil.
He walked into the kitchen rubbing his eyes as if he had just woken up.
“Couldn’t sleep?” I smiled awkwardly.
“Yeah.” “You?” “Same.” He walked toward the refrigerator and poured himself a glass of water.
For a few moments…
Neither of us spoke.
The silence felt heavier than any conversation.
Then he suddenly looked at me.
“You’ve been acting different.” I forced a laugh.
“Different?” You’ve become…
careful.” His words made my heartbeat skip.
“Maybe college changed me.” He smiled.
“Maybe.” He took a sip of water.
“You know…” “When we were younger…” “You used to tell me everything.” “Now it feels like you’re hiding something.” I looked straight into his eyes.
“So are you.” For the first time…
His smile faded.
Only for a second.
Then it returned.
“Everyone has secrets.” His answer sounded casual.
But somehow…
It felt like a warning.
He placed the empty glass in the sink.
“Don’t stay awake too long.” “You have classes tomorrow.” He turned and walked away.
Halfway to the stairs…
He suddenly stopped.
Without looking back, he quietly said, “By the way…” “If you ever receive strange messages from unknown people…” “Ignore them.” My blood ran cold.
He knew.
Again.
How?
Before I could ask anything…
He had already disappeared upstairs.
The next morning…
I woke up feeling exhausted.
The strange dreams hadn’t stopped.
Every night…
The same faceless woman stood in front of me.
Every night…
She tried to say something.
Every night…
I woke up before hearing her voice.
I looked at the clock.
8:10 AM.
Late.
I quickly got ready and rushed to college.
The campus looked more crowded than usual.
Students gathered in groups.
Some whispered nervously.
Others stared toward the administration building.
“What happened?” A girl beside me answered, “Didn’t you hear?” “Someone broke into the old archive room last night.” My ears perked up.
“The police came this morning.” “They say nothing valuable was stolen.” “But every security camera stopped working for exactly seven minutes.” Seven minutes.
A strangely specific number.
I quietly walked toward the archive building.
Yellow police tape blocked the entrance.
Two officers were questioning the security guard.
One sentence caught my attention.
“There was only one thing missing.” “What?” “An old student admission register.” I frowned.
Why would anyone steal that?
As I turned to leave…
Someone bumped into my shoulder.
“I’m sorry.” A young man wearing a black cap quickly walked past me.
Before I could react…
He slipped something into my hand.
A folded piece of paper.
By the time I looked up…
He had disappeared into the crowd.
I slowly unfolded it.
There was no message.
Only…
A photograph.
It was old.
The edges had faded.
My breath caught in my throat.
The picture showed a group of people standing in front of the college building.
At first…
It looked ordinary.
Then I noticed something.
Near the corner of the photograph…
A little girl.
She couldn’t have been older than five.
She was holding the hand of a woman whose face had been torn out of the picture.
But the little girl’s face…
Was completely visible.
I felt my fingers begin to tremble.
It was me.
No…
It couldn’t be.
I had never been here as a child.
Had I?
I turned the photo over.
Someone had written a single sentence.
“Your first memory is a lie.” The rest of the day passed in a blur.
I couldn’t focus on anything.
Every answer only created more questions.
When classes ended…
I walked toward the parking lot.
This time…
I checked every corner.
Every reflection.
Every parked car.
No hooded stranger.
No mysterious messages.
Nothing.
For the first time in days…
It almost felt peaceful.
Then…
My phone vibrated.
A video.
No sender.
No file name.
Just a play button.
With trembling fingers…
I pressed it.
The recording lasted only twelve seconds.
The camera showed a dark room.
Someone was sitting on a chair.
Hands tied.
Head lowered.
The image was blurry.
Then…
The person slowly lifted their face.
I stopped breathing.
It was…
Me.
Not the present me.
The older me.
The one who died.
The recording ended.
Immediately…
Another message appeared.
“This wasn’t the first time you died.” I stared at the screen.
Every sound around me disappeared.
Cars.
Students.
Voices.
Everything faded into silence.
Not…
The first time?
How was that possible?
Had I lived…
More than two lives?
Before I could even process the thought— A new message arrived.
Only one sentence.
“If you want the truth…
don’t go to Blackwood Chapel.” Three seconds later…
Another message arrived.
From a different unknown sender.
“If you don’t go to Blackwood Chapel tonight…
everyone dies again.” I looked at the two messages.
One told me to stay away.
The other told me to go.
One of them wanted to protect me.
The other…
Or perhaps both…
Wanted to use me.
My fingers tightened around the phone.
I slowly looked toward the distant forest beyond the city skyline.
Dark clouds gathered overhead.
Lightning flashed across the sky.
The Blackwood Chapel…
Was waiting.
But one question refused to leave my mind.
If both sides already knew where I would go…
Then was this ever my choice to begin with?
To Be Continued…