Kyrian Herdessen had never believed in signs. As a pharmacy student, her world was built on formulas, precision, and logic. Dreams, she thought, were just the mind's way of filing away the day's clutter. But this dream this one refused to be filed.
It had come to her in the quiet hours before dawn, vivid and unsettling. She had walked a corridor lined with numbered doors, each one identical yet pulsing faintly, as if alive. The air was thick, humming with something ancient and unseen. At the far end stood her best friend, Favour, smiling with a strange softness before slipping into "Room 25" Kyrian had turned toward her own door "Room 2" and just as her fingers touched the knob, the dream collapsed like a wave pulling back from shore.
She woke with a gasp, heart pounding, the image still etched behind her eyelids. The room around her was dim, the early morning light barely filtering through the curtains. Favour was already awake, brushing her hair and scrolling through her phone with a grin.
"I picked my room," she said casually, not looking up. "Room 20, Wing A. I tried to wait, but the portal opened early."
Portal. That was what the university called its digital room selection system. But to Kyrian, the word suddenly felt heavier like a doorway to something more than just concrete and bunk beds.
She didn't respond. Just nodded, her thoughts tangled in the dream. Room 25. Room 2. Why those numbers? Why did it feel like more than coincidence?
The week passed in a blur of packing, registration, and goodbyes. Kyrian tried to shake the dream, but it lingered like a shadow at the edge of her thoughts. Then the email arrived.
Subject: Room Assignment Confirmation
Dear Kyrian Herdessen,
You have been successfully assigned to Room 2, Wing B. Welcome back.
She stared at the screen. Her breath caught. The dream hadn't just predicted the number it had insisted on it.
The day she moved in, the campus buzzed with the energy of returning students. Laughter echoed through the halls, suitcases rolled across tiled floors, and the scent of fresh notebooks and cafeteria food hung in the air.
Wing B was quieter than the rest. The hallway leading to Room 2 felt colder, more sterile. Kyrian walked slowly, her footsteps echoing against the walls. Room 2 stood at the far end, its door heavy and silent. She pushed it open.
The room was bare. No lockers, no curtains, no furniture beyond four metal bunk beds eight sleeping spaces, stacked like skeletons waiting to be filled. The walls were blank, the floor scuffed. It felt less like a room and more like a waiting chamber.
She stepped inside, the emptiness pressing against her. Her locker and supplies hadn't arrived yet, so she sat on the edge of a lower bunk, staring at the void.
Then she saw it.
A folded note on the bare mattress. No one else had entered. No one else could have placed it there.
"You were meant to be here. The dream was only the beginning."
Her fingers trembled as she turned it over. No signature. No explanation.
She looked around. The room was still empty. Silent. But something was wrong. The air shimmered faintly, like heat waves over stone. A soft hum began to rise from the far wall subtle, rhythmic, like a whisper trying to form words.
Kyrian stood slowly, her heart thudding. She pressed her palm against the wall. It was warm. Too warm.
Suddenly, the door creaked behind her. She spun around, but no one was there.
That night, she couldn't sleep. Her roommates hadn't arrived yet, and the silence of Room 2 felt unnatural. She lay on the bunk, staring at the ceiling, the note tucked under her pillow like a secret.
Her thoughts drifted to Favour. Room 20, Wing A. Just a few corridors away, yet it felt like a different world. She remembered the way Favour had smiled in the dream gentle, distant, almost like a farewell.
Kyrian sat up. Something was pulling at her. Not fear, exactly. More like a question that refused to be answered.
She stood and walked to the door. The hallway was empty. She turned toward Wing A, her steps slow and deliberate.
As she passed Room 20, she paused. The door was closed, but she felt something behind it. A presence. A pulse.
She reached out, but before her fingers touched the knob, a voice echoed faintly behind her.
"Kyrian…"
She turned. No one.
She ran back to Room 2, heart racing. The hum was louder now. The walls seemed to breathe.
She sat on the bunk, clutching the note. Her dream had followed her. And Room 2 was waiting.
End of Chapter 1