In Classroom A, Jane was buzzing with excitement to introduce Kelly to her new friend.
"Janus! Hey, Janus, over here!" Jane called out, waving.
A light-skinned boy with brown eyes came over with a friendly smile.
"Hi! So you're Kelly the friend Jane's been talking about," Janus said with a grin. "I'm Janus."
"Nice to meet you, Janus," Kelly replied, returning the smile. "So, you're the new student?"
"Yep, that's me! The 'cute' new guy in Class A!" Janus joked, laughing.
Kelly and Jane laughed along. "You really are as friendly as everyone says," Kelly noted.
"Of course! I love making friends. So, can we be friends? You'll be my 38th friend here," Janus said eagerly.
"Wow, that's a lot of friends already!" Kelly laughed. "But sure, I'd be happy to be your 38th friend."
"Yay! Another friend," Janus cheered, and the three of them continued chatting until the lunch break ended.
Later in class, Kelly found herself gazing out the window, her mind drifting. *Janus… There's something about him that's unsettling, even though he seems nice,* she thought. Then her thoughts wandered to her recurring dreams and the mysterious boy painting the clock.
*Why do I keep having these dreams? They're getting worse. What do they mean? Who's that man from last night saying, 'Remember'? And the clock… the voice crying out…* Kelly's thoughts filled with questions. *And the bronze boy why did he paint that clock? Is it just a coincidence? He feels so familiar, like I've known him forever.*
With a sigh, she dismissed the thoughts. *Maybe it's just my mental health acting up.*
When the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, students started making their way back to the dorms.
"Hey, Kelly, do you have any childhood photos? I need a few for a project," Jane asked.
"Oh, I don't have any," Kelly replied.
Jane looked puzzled. "What? Not even a few?"
Kelly shrugged. "My grandma never liked taking photos, so there aren't any of me. That's what she told me."
"Oh… that's too bad," Jane said. "What do you even remember from your childhood?"
Kelly hesitated. "Actually… I don't remember anything. I lost my memories in an accident. At least, that's what my grandma told me."
Jane's eyes widened. "Wait… so, no photos and no memories? That's… odd."
"Yeah," Kelly agreed. "I used to ask my grandma what I was like as a kid. She'd just say I loved playing and drawing. I doubted her at first, but I trust her, so I stopped asking."
"I see… And your parents?" Jane asked gently.
Kelly's face softened. "My mom passed away when she gave birth to me, and my dad died in an accident when I was still a baby."
"I'm sorry, Kelly. I didn't know," Jane said, a bit sheepishly.
Kelly shook her head. "It's okay. My grandma's always been there for me. She's all I've got."
As night settled, the students in the dorms prepared for bed, and silence fell over the school.
In the middle of the night, Kelly stirred awake to the low, steady chime of the old clock. She glanced around her room, confusion settling over her as she noticed her reflection in the window she was dressed in a regal gown, something that belonged to an ancient queen. She felt drawn to the large clock by her window, its ticking filling the silence. As she stared, a gust of wind swept through, making her shiver. She turned and froze.
A man sat in the shadows, barely visible, his posture strangely still. She couldn't see his face, only his outline, but there was something familiar and unsettling about him. She took a cautious step forward, her curiosity overpowering her fear. As she drew closer, his head turned slightly, and her breath hitched. His eyes were pure black, staring into hers with an eerie intensity, and dark rivulets of blood trickled down his face.
A loud "Dong" rang from the clock, and a sharp pain shot through her head, as if something were clawing to break free in her mind. Shadows around her seemed to come alive, pooling into dark stains on the floor and walls. Then, faint cries echoed, growing louder with each chime. She could hear fragments desperate whispers, pleas for help all overlapping, drowning her thoughts.
"Remember…" a voice whispered from within the darkness, faint but insistent.
Kelly jolted awake, gasping for air in her dorm room. She clutched her blanket, her heart pounding. "What… what does this all mean?" she muttered, her voice shaky. The clock beside her read 12:00 a.m.—the exact time she had seen in her nightmare. She felt a shiver run down her spine.
Too unnerved to be alone, she decided to wake Jane. "Jane… please, wake up," she whispered, but there was no answer. Kelly moved closer to Jane's bed, only to find it empty. A flicker of dread settled over her.
Suddenly, she heard a raspy whisper from behind. "Ahhh…"
She turned slowly and saw Jane, or what looked like her, crawling up the wall. Kelly's voice caught in her throat. Her friend's face twisted, eyes bleeding, a smile stretched unnaturally wide across her face, as if frozen in some horrible expression. Blood dripped from her mouth as she rasped, "Remember…" The single word echoed painfully in Kelly's ears.
Kelly screamed, and then the nightmare faded.
"Hey, Kelly! Are you okay?" Jane's voice broke through the fog, pulling Kelly back to reality. She was shaking, still caught in the horror of what she'd seen.
"I... I just had another dream," Kelly whispered, barely able to look Jane in the eye.
"You should talk to Mr. Smith. These dreams seem serious," Jane said with concern, patting Kelly's shoulder. Nodding, Kelly resolved to seek answers.
When classes ended, Kelly rushed to Mr. Smith's office. But as she arrived, she was met by police and yellow tape cordoning off the area. Shocked, she stopped a nearby bystander.
"Excuse me, what happened here?"
"A psychiatrist died. They say the room was covered in blood, like he was poisoned or… something worse," he replied, shaking his head.
A chill ran through Kelly. She struggled to breathe, clutching the wall for support. "Do you… do you know who it was?" she managed.
"Mr. Smith," he said simply.
Kelly's mind reeled. The dark figure in her dream the man she saw in shadows was Mr. Smith. But… how could a dream have shown her something so real? Her pulse quickened as a voice echoed in her mind.
"Remember."