The library remained dark.
Aanya stood completely still, the final page trembling slightly in her hand.
DO NOT TRUST THE PERSON WHO REMEMBERS FIRST.
Aarav looked toward the shelves.
“Did you hear that voice?”
Aanya nodded.
“Yes.”
“Did you recognize it?”
“No.”
A pause.
“Did you?”
Aarav didn’t answer immediately.
“No.”
But something about his voice made Aanya look at him.
He seemed distracted.
Almost frightened.
“Aarav?”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
“I’m just thinking.”
“About the message?”
“About the photographs.”
Aanya looked down at the folder.
“Me too.”
She turned toward the door.
“We should get out of here.”
Aarav nodded.
They started walking.
Then—
CLICK.
The library doors locked.
Aanya stopped.
“Aarav.”
“I know.”
He tried the handle.
Nothing.
He pulled harder.
Still nothing.
Then the lights came back on.
Every light.
All at once.
The library looked exactly as it had before.
Except for one thing.
There was someone sitting at the end of the reading room.
Aanya’s heart jumped.
“Elias?”
The figure slowly raised its head.
It wasn’t Elias.
It was an old woman.
She was wearing a dark Ravenhall coat.
A silver crescent was pinned to her collar.
She stared directly at Aanya.
“You found it.”
Aanya stepped forward.
“Who are you?”
The woman smiled.
“Someone who was supposed to be forgotten.”
Aarav moved slightly in front of Aanya.
“What do you want?”
The woman looked at him.
“Nothing from you.”
Her eyes returned to Aanya.
“Not yet.”
Aanya tightened her grip on the folder.
“You’re connected to Nightfall.”
The woman nodded.
“I was there when it began.”
“Who created it?”
The woman didn’t answer.
Instead, she asked:
“Do you remember the first time you met Aarav?”
Aanya frowned.
“Of course.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
The woman smiled sadly.
“Are you certain?”
Aanya looked at Aarav.
He was staring at the woman.
“I met her years ago,” he said.
The woman shook her head.
“No.”
Aarav frowned.
“You don’t know anything about us.”
“I know more than you do.”
She stood.
“And that’s the problem.”
The woman walked toward them.
Aanya didn’t move.
“Tell us the truth.”
“I will.”
The woman stopped a few feet away.
“But you won’t like it.”
Aanya’s voice was firm.
“Try me.”
The woman looked at Aarav.
“Do you remember the first time you entered Ravenhall?”
“Yes.”
“What did you see?”
“The main gate.”
“Anything else?”
Aarav hesitated.
“No.”
The woman turned toward Aanya.
“And you?”
Aanya thought.
“The courtyard.”
“Anything else?”
“The old clock tower.”
The woman shook her head.
“You both forgot.”
Aanya’s stomach tightened.
“Forgot what?”
The woman pointed toward the folder.
“The first meeting.”
Aanya opened the folder again.
The pages began turning by themselves.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then they stopped.
A photograph appeared.
Aanya and Aarav.
They were children.
Standing in the same room.
Together.
Aanya’s face went pale.
“No.”
Aarav stared at it.
“I don’t remember this.”
The woman whispered:
“Exactly.”
Aanya picked up the photograph.
“When was this?”
“Before either of you entered Ravenhall.”
“Where?”
The woman looked toward the library wall.
“Here.”
Aanya looked around.
“This library?”
“No.”
The woman pointed downward.
“Under it.”
A deep sound came from beneath the floor.
Not a heartbeat.
Something different.
A mechanical vibration.
Aanya looked down.
The silver line beneath the floor began glowing.
Aarav stepped backward.
“That’s not possible.”
The woman smiled.
“Ravenhall has many foundations.”
The floor opened.
A narrow staircase appeared.
Darkness waited below.
Aanya looked at Aarav.
“We’re going down.”
He sighed.
“I knew you’d say that.”
The woman stepped aside.
“Before you go…”
Aanya turned.
“What?”
The woman held out a small silver key.
“This belonged to your mother.”
Aanya stared at it.
“My mother?”
“She was one of the last people who tried to stop Nightfall.”
Aanya took the key.
“Is she alive?”
The woman looked at her for a long moment.
“I don’t know.”
Aanya’s fingers tightened around the key.
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
The woman turned away.
“Because your mother disappeared before the final experiment.”
Aanya’s heart sank.
“What experiment?”
The woman looked toward the staircase.
“The one that created you.”
Aanya stopped breathing.
Aarav looked at her.
“Created?”
The woman nodded.
“Not the way you’re thinking.”
She pointed at the photograph.
“Your mother didn’t create Aanya.”
Then she looked at Aarav.
“And Nightfall didn’t create Aarav.”
She smiled faintly.
“You were both chosen.”
Aanya whispered:
“For what?”
The woman’s expression became serious.
“To prove that memories could belong to two people.”
Silence.
“Two people?”
“Two minds.”
She looked toward the staircase.
“One memory.”
Aanya stared at Aarav.
The same strange feeling returned.
That sense that something inside her was missing.
Something she had never known was gone.
Then Aarav suddenly grabbed the side of his head.
“Aarav?”
He closed his eyes.
“I…”
“What?”
“I remember.”
Aanya froze.
The woman immediately stepped backward.
“What do you remember?”
Aarav looked up.
His expression had completely changed.
“I remember this place.”
Aanya stared at him.
“You’ve been here?”
Aarav slowly nodded.
“When I was a child.”
The woman whispered:
“Phase Two.”
The lights flickered.
Aarav looked directly at Aanya.
“And I remember you.”
Aanya’s heart stopped.
“What?”
He took a step toward her.
“You were crying.”
Aanya stared.
“Where?”
Aarav looked toward the staircase.
“Down there.”
The woman suddenly shouted:
“Don’t let him remember everything!”
Aanya turned.
“What?”
But the woman was already running.
Aarav looked confused.
“Aanya…”
The silver key in Aanya’s hand began glowing.
A voice came from beneath the staircase.
A child’s voice.
Aanya’s voice.
“Don’t trust him.”
Aanya froze.
Then another child’s voice answered.
A boy.
Aarav’s voice.
“Don’t trust her.”
The staircase went completely dark.
Aanya looked at Aarav.
Aarav looked at Aanya.
Neither knew what to believe.
And beneath them, something began unlocking.
CLICK.
CLICK.
CLICK.
Three doors.
Three memories.
And only one of them could be the truth.