The darkness felt different.
Aanya couldn’t see Aarav.
“Aarav?”
No answer.
She reached forward.
Nothing.
“Aarav!”
A voice came from somewhere nearby.
“I’m here.”
She followed it.
A faint silver light appeared.
Aarav was standing beside the blackboard.
But he wasn’t looking at her.
He was staring at the words.
ONE OF YOU REMEMBERED FIRST.
Aanya walked toward him.
“What do you remember?”
Aarav slowly turned.
“I remember this room.”
“You’ve been here before?”
He nodded.
“Not once.”
Aanya’s heart sank.
“How many times?”
Aarav looked around.
“Seven.”
The Keeper stepped forward.
“Then it’s beginning.”
Aanya looked at him.
“What is?”
“The memories you were never supposed to recover.”
The blackboard suddenly changed.
The words disappeared.
A new sentence appeared.
Aanya froze.
The room changed.
The desks disappeared.
The walls became brighter.
And suddenly—
Aanya saw herself as a little girl.
She was sitting at one of the desks.
A little Aarav sat beside her.
They were holding hands.
Aanya whispered,
“I remember this.”
The Keeper shook his head.
“No.”
She looked at him.
“You said this was my memory.”
“It is.”
“Then why can’t I remember it?”
The Keeper’s voice became quiet.
“Because someone removed the ending.”
Aanya stared at him.
“What ending?”
Before he could answer— the memory changed.
Little Aanya stood before the black door.
Little Aarav stood behind her.
A voice echoed through the room.
“Choose.”
Little Aanya shook her head.
“I don’t want to.”
The voice returned.
“Then he will choose for you.”
Aarav stepped forward.
“Leave her alone.”
Aanya stared at the scene.
“He protected me.”
The Keeper nodded.
“He always did.”
Aarav looked at him.
“Always?”
The Keeper didn’t answer.
The black door in the memory slowly opened.
Darkness appeared behind it.
Little Aanya reached for Aarav’s hand.
And then— the memory stopped.
Aanya whispered,
“What happened next?”
The Keeper looked away.
“That is the part Nightfall erased.”
Aarav stepped toward the frozen memory.
“Then we’ll find it.”
Suddenly, the blackboard cracked.
CRACK.
A voice filled the room.
“You shouldn’t.”
Aanya turned.
The Keeper raised the silver key.
“Nightfall.”
The voice laughed softly.
“You keep searching for the first memory.”
A pause.
“But you’re forgetting something.”
Aanya’s heart raced.
“What?”
The voice whispered—
“Someone remembered before you.”
The silver lights went out.
And the black door inside the memory opened completely.