Kyrian Herdessen hadn't slept not really. She'd closed her eyes, but her mind refused to rest. The folded note beneath her pillow felt like a heartbeat, pulsing with questions she couldn't answer. The hum from the wall had faded, but the silence left behind was louder than any sound.
She sat up before dawn, the room still empty, still bare. The four bunk beds stood like sentinels, waiting to be claimed. Eight spaces. Eight strangers. And she was the first.
She stood and walked to the window. The sky outside was a dull gray, the kind that made everything feel suspended in time. The campus was waking slowly students dragging suitcases, staff unlocking doors, the distant hum of generators kicking in. But Wing B felt different. Quieter. Like it was holding its breath.
Kyrian turned back to the room. Her locker hadn't arrived yet, and her belongings were still packed. She sat on the edge of her bunk, staring at the blank walls. That's when the door creaked open.
A girl stepped in, dragging a metal locker behind her. She was tall, with braided hair and sharp eyes that scanned the room like she was measuring its secrets.
"Room 2?" she asked, her voice clipped.
Kyrian nodded. "Wing B."
The girl exhaled. "I'm Zara. Business admin. I was supposed to be in Wing A, but something glitched. They reassigned me here last minute."
Kyrian's heart skipped. Another anomaly.
Zara settled into the bunk opposite Kyrian's. As she unpacked, two more girls arrived then another. By noon, all eight bunks were filled. Each roommate had a story. Each had been reassigned, redirected, or delayed. None had chosen Room 2.
Kyrian listened quietly. The pattern was too precise to be coincidence.
The room buzzed with chatter. Laughter echoed off the walls, and someone played music from a phone. But Kyrian couldn't shake the feeling that they were all pieces in a puzzle they hadn't agreed to solve.
She stepped outside for air. The hallway was dim, the lights flickering faintly. As she passed Room 4, she heard a voice.
"You're not supposed to be here."
She turned. No one.
Back in Room 2, Zara was sitting cross-legged on her bunk, staring at the wall.
"Do you ever dream things before they happen?" she asked suddenly.
Kyrian froze. "Why?"
Zara shrugged. "I had a dream last week. I was in a room with eight beds. One of them was empty. The others were filled with people I didn't know but I felt like I did."
Kyrian sat down slowly. "Did you see a number?"
Zara nodded. "Two."
The room fell silent.
Kyrian reached under her pillow and pulled out the note. She handed it to Zara without a word.
Zara read it, her expression unreadable. Then she looked up.
"We're not here by accident."
That night, Kyrian dreamed again.
She was back in the hallway. The doors were open now, revealing glimpses of other live rooms filled with mirrors, staircases that led nowhere, shadows that whispered names. Room 25 glowed faintly at the end.
She walked toward it, but the floor shifted beneath her. She stumbled, and the hallway twisted. Room 2 was behind her now, pulsing like a heartbeat.
She reached for the knob.
"Kyrian…"
The voice was louder this time. Familiar. Not Favour's. Not Zara's.
She turned and woke.
In the darkness, seven other girls slept soundly. But Kyrian sat upright, heart racing.
She wasn't alone in her dreams anymore.
And Room 2 was beginning to remember her.
But the strangeness didn't stop there.The next morning, Kyrian noticed something etched faintly into the wall beside her bunk. It hadn't been there before. A symbol circular, with jagged lines radiating outward like a sun drawn by a child. She traced it with her finger. It was warm.
She didn't mention it to the others. Not yet.
Later that day, a girl named Amaka arrived late. She was quiet, her eyes darting around the room like she expected something to jump out. She chose the bunk nearest the door and barely spoke.
That night, Kyrian found her sitting alone in the hallway.
"I don't think this room is normal," Amaka whispered.
Kyrian sat beside her. "Why?"
Amaka hesitated. "I've been having dreams. Not just one. Repeating. Always the same hallway. Always the same doors. And always… Room 2."
Kyrian's skin prickled. "Did you see anyone?"
Amaka nodded. "You."
Back in the room, Kyrian pulled out a notebook and began writing everything down. The dreams. The note. The symbol. The reassigned roommates. It was too much to ignore.
She flipped to a fresh page and wrote:
Room 2 is a convergence point. Eight people. Eight paths. One purpose.*
She didn't know what that purpose was yet. But she could feel it pulling them closer.
That night, the hum returned. Louder. Rhythmic. Almost musical.
Kyrian lay awake, listening. The walls pulsed faintly, and the symbol beside her bunk glowed with a soft light.
She closed her eyes and the dream came instantly.
This time, she wasn't alone in the hallway. All seven girls were there, standing beside her. Each door they passed whispered their names. Room 25 loomed ahead, but none of them moved toward it.
Instead, they turned to Room 2.
The door opened on its own.
Inside was a mirror. Just one. Tall, ornate, with symbols carved into its frame.
Kyrian stepped forward. Her reflection blinked.
She woke with a gasp.
The symbol on the wall was gone.
But the hum remained
End of Chapter 2