Aanya stared at the photograph.
SUBJECTS: AANYA AND AARAV.
The words seemed impossible.
She read them again.
And again.
As if the letters might change.
They didn’t.
Aarav slowly placed the photograph on the desk.
“Don’t touch it.”
Aanya looked at him.
“Why?”
“We don’t know what it is.”
“We already know enough.”
“No.”
His voice was unusually serious.
“We know someone wanted us to find it.”
Aanya crossed her arms.
“And you think we should just ignore it?”
“I think we should think before doing anything.”
Aanya sighed.
“You sound like Elias.”
Aarav gave her a look.
“That’s not a compliment.”
Despite everything, Aanya laughed.
For a moment, the tension disappeared.
Then the photograph flickered.
Both of them froze.
The black-and-white image changed.
The abandoned Ravenhall vanished.
A new image appeared.
A long corridor.
A door.
And two figures standing in front of it.
Aanya.
And Aarav.
The photograph was showing something that hadn’t happened yet.
Aarav picked it up.
“That’s not possible.”
Aanya stared at the image.
“Neither was the Heart.”
The photograph changed again.
This time, there was writing.
NIGHTFALL ARCHIVE
Then:
FILE 001
Then:
AANYA
Aanya’s expression changed.
Another line appeared.
MEMORY STATUS: RESTORED
She whispered,
“What does that mean?”
Aarav looked at the next line.
His face became pale.
AARAV
MEMORY STATUS: INCOMPLETE
Aanya looked at him.
“What?”
Aarav didn’t answer.
“Aarav?”
He stared at the photograph.
“I don’t remember anything.”
“About what?”
“About Nightfall.”
Aanya frowned.
“You weren’t supposed to.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“I mean I don’t remember something else.”
“What?”
Aarav looked at her.
“I think I’ve seen this symbol before.”
He pointed to the silver emblem in the corner of the photograph.
A crescent moon surrounded by thirteen tiny stars.
Aanya recognized it immediately.
“The symbol from the envelope.”
Aarav nodded.
“But that’s not where I’ve seen it.”
“Where?”
He closed his eyes.
For a few seconds, he said nothing.
Then—
“I don’t know.”
Aanya watched him carefully.
“You remembered something.”
“I remembered a feeling.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“I know.”
He opened his eyes.
“But it was familiar.”
Aanya walked toward the desk.
She picked up a notebook.
“We need information.”
Aarav nodded.
“About Nightfall.”
“And about you.”
He looked at her.
“Me?”
“Your memory is incomplete according to this.”
Aarav looked uncomfortable.
“And yours says restored.”
Aanya slowly realized something.
“The system didn’t just erase memories.”
“It chose what to leave behind.”
“Exactly.”
She opened the notebook.
“If Project Nightfall existed before the Heart…”
Aarav finished:
“Then everything we knew about Ravenhall was incomplete.”
Aanya wrote the words across the page.
PROJECT NIGHTFALL.
Underneath:
ORIGIN?
Then:
PURPOSE?
Then:
AANYA + AARAV?
She stopped.
That last part made her uneasy.
“Why us?”
Aarav leaned against the desk.
“Maybe because of what happened.”
“Maybe.”
“Or…”
He hesitated.
Aanya looked up.
“Or what?”
“Maybe they chose us long before we knew.”
The room went quiet.
Aanya looked at him.
“How long?”
Aarav shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“Then we find out.”
Aarav smiled slightly.
“Of course.”
Aanya raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
“You really can’t leave a mystery alone.”
“No.”
“Even after everything?”
“Especially after everything.”
Aarav laughed softly.
“You’re impossible.”
“And you’re still here.”
He looked at her.
“Yeah.”
A pause.
“I’m still here.”
The next morning, they went to the old library.
The library had changed since the Heart disappeared.
The hidden shelves were gone.
The secret staircases had vanished.
But thousands of books remained.
Aanya walked between the shelves.
“Where do we start?”
Aarav looked around.
“Old university records.”
They searched for nearly an hour.
Nothing.
Ravenhall’s history.
Founder’s records.
Student registers.
Architectural plans.
Nothing mentioned Nightfall.
Then Aanya noticed a shelf at the very end.
One book was slightly pulled out.
She reached for it.
Aarav stopped her.
“Wait.”
“What?”
He pointed to the floor.
A thin silver line ran beneath the shelf.
Aanya crouched.
“This wasn’t here yesterday.”
Aarav looked at her.
“You’ve been checking the floor?”
“No.”
“Exactly.”
Aanya smiled.
“Then let’s see what Ravenhall is hiding this time.”
They pulled the book together.
The shelf moved.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
A narrow compartment appeared behind it.
Inside was a black folder.
Aanya carefully removed it.
There was no title.
Only the Nightfall symbol.
Aarav looked at her.
“That’s it.”
Aanya opened the folder.
The first page contained a single sentence:
PROJECT NIGHTFALL WAS CREATED TO STUDY THE FIRST MEMORY.
Aanya’s heart skipped.
“The First Memory.”
Aarav looked at her.
“That’s you.”
She turned the page.
A photograph was attached.
It showed a little girl.
Aanya.
But beneath the photograph was another name.
SUBJECT 00 — AANYA RAVEN.
Aanya froze.
“Raven?”
Aarav stared.
“What?”
She pointed at the page.
“My name.”
Below it was a second photograph.
A boy.
Aarav.
But he looked much younger.
And beneath his photograph:
SUBJECT 01 — AARAV VALE.
Aanya’s eyes widened.
“Aarav…”
He didn’t respond.
He was staring at his own photograph.
“I’ve never seen this.”
“Neither have I.”
Then they noticed something written underneath both photographs.
PAIRED SUBJECTS.
Aanya whispered,
“Paired?”
Aarav turned the page.
There was one final sentence.
THEY MUST NEVER REMEMBER MEETING.
Silence.
Aanya looked at Aarav.
“But we did.”
Aarav slowly nodded.
“Maybe that’s what Nightfall was trying to prevent.”
Suddenly—
the library lights went out.
Aanya grabbed the folder.
A voice whispered from somewhere between the shelves.
“Too late.”
Aanya froze.
Aarav turned toward the darkness.
“Who’s there?”
No answer.
Then a single page slid out of the folder.
It landed at Aanya’s feet.
She picked it up.
There was only one sentence.
PHASE TWO BEGINS TONIGHT.
And beneath it—
DO NOT TRUST THE PERSON WHO REMEMBERS FIRST.
Aanya looked at Aarav.
Neither of them spoke.
Because they both knew the same question was running through their minds.
Which one of them would remember first?