Rasheed ran.
Not because something was chasing him.
Because his mind refused to slow down.
His father’s voice.
It had been his father’s voice.
Not a dream.
Not a memory.
A message.
The words echoed through his head.
Don’t trust Kronis.
Who was Kronis?
Why had his father sounded afraid?
And how had he spoken through a broken monitor from a place that shouldn’t even exist?
Questions chased him through the empty streets.
None of them had answers.
⸻
The next morning, Rasheed overslept for the first time in months.
His mother knocked gently on his bedroom door.
“Rasheed!”
He shot upright.
“What time is it?”
“Seven forty-five.”
His eyes widened.
School started in fifteen minutes.
He threw on his uniform, grabbed his bag and sprinted out of the apartment.
“Breakfast!” his mother called.
“I’ll eat at school!”
“You always say that!”
The door slammed shut.
Mrs. Adewale sighed.
“You’re just like your father.”
⸻
Rasheed slowed himself before reaching the school gates.
Using his powers in public during daylight was too risky.
He blended into the stream of students entering the courtyard.
“Late again?”
Adesewa was waiting near the entrance.
“I overslept.”
“I never thought I’d see the day.”
She studied his face.
“You look terrible.”
“I didn’t sleep much.”
“Nightmares?”
“…Something like that.”
She reached into her bag and handed him a meat pie.
“You skipped breakfast.”
He blinked.
“How did you know?”
“You always do when something’s bothering you.”
He accepted it with a grateful smile.
“Thanks.”
She shrugged.
“Just don’t faint in class.”
⸻
Across the courtyard, Omar watched the exchange.
For some reason, it irritated him.
Not because Rasheed was talking to Adesewa.
Because Rasheed still looked… normal.
How could someone carrying such incredible power still laugh, still joke, still live an ordinary life?
Omar couldn’t.
Every day since the experiment, Helix Dynamics demanded more.
More speed.
More endurance.
More control.
He barely had time to breathe.
Yet Rasheed…
Somehow seemed free.
The thought stayed with him throughout the day.
⸻
That evening, the hooded man stood at the top of the old clocktower.
The gears surrounding him turned without touching one another.
Time itself seemed distorted inside the ancient structure.
He looked toward the city below.
“So you’ve found the first message.”
A voice echoed from the shadows.
“You should tell him.”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because once Rasheed learns the truth…”
The hooded man looked at the crimson crack beginning to spread across the sky.
“…there’s no going back.”
⸻
Rasheed couldn’t ignore his instincts.
After school, he followed the strange pull in his chest again.
This time…
It led him somewhere unexpected.
The old clocktower.
It stood on the highest hill overlooking the city.
Abandoned for decades.
Its massive clock face had stopped years ago.
Yet as Rasheed approached…
He heard it.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
The sound grew louder with every step.
“That’s impossible.”
The clock wasn’t moving.
So where was the sound coming from?
The front door creaked open before he touched it.
The interior was coated in dust.
Broken wooden stairs spiraled upward into darkness.
Each step echoed beneath his feet.
The higher he climbed…
The louder the ticking became.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
He finally reached the top.
The room was empty.
Moonlight poured through shattered windows.
Huge rusted gears filled the walls.
No hooded man.
No mysterious visitor.
No one.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then—
Click.
A silver pocket watch landed at his feet.
Rasheed spun around.
No one.
He slowly picked it up.
The cover was engraved with the familiar spiral.
As soon as he touched it…
The watch sprang open.
The ticking stopped.
The world vanished.
Suddenly, he was no longer inside the clocktower.
He stood in an endless white space.
Across from him stood the hooded man.
This time…
There was nowhere for him to disappear.
“You came,” the stranger said.
Rasheed clenched his fists.
“Who are you?”
“My name no longer matters.”
“It matters to me.”
The man smiled faintly.
“You may call me… Elias.”
“Did you know my father?”
“Yes.”
“Is he alive?”
Elias was silent for a long moment.
Finally…
“Yes.”
Rasheed’s breath caught.
“Where is he?”
“The Chronal Zone.”
“I’ve seen that name.”
“You’ve seen only its shadow.”
Rasheed stepped closer.
“Then tell me how to get there.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because if you enter now…”
Elias looked directly into his eyes.
“…you’ll never come back.”
Before Rasheed could ask another question—
A violent crack split the white void.
The ground shook.
Elias’ expression changed instantly.
“No…”
“What is it?”
“He’s found us.”
The endless white space began turning crimson.
Dark fractures spread across the sky.
A deep voice echoed from everywhere at once.
“So…”
“I finally found you.”
Elias shoved Rasheed backwards.
“Wake up!”
Everything shattered like broken glass.
Rasheed gasped as he found himself back inside the clocktower.
The pocket watch lay closed in his hand.
Outside…
The tower clock struck midnight.
For the first time in twenty years.
And somewhere beyond time itself…
A pair of glowing crimson eyes slowly opened.
“Kronis…” a voice whispered.
“…knows his name.”