Lina kept her eyes closed, but the room still felt like it was staring at her. The walls leaned in a little more, like a throat closing. The quiet door made another cracking sound. The crack was thin, but Lina felt it like a countdown.
Answer me.
The voice inside her was so close now it didn't feel like a whisper. It felt like a hand on her mouth, pushing her to open.
Kai pressed his forehead near hers again. He did not kiss her. He just stayed there, warm and steady. His hand held her hand like a promise. "Stay real," he whispered. "Stay with me."
Lina opened her eyes. Kai's eyes were dark and sharp, but there was fear in them too. He was scared for her, not just for himself. That made Lina's chest hurt in a different way.
Mira shook beside Lina, holding her sleeve tight. "Please," Mira whispered. "Don't talk to it. Don't give it your voice."
Seren looked like she was trying not to cry. Her eyes glowed silver. "If you speak," Seren said softly, "it will hear you. It will learn you."
Reyon swallowed and pointed at the bright door, the fake one. The music behind it got louder, sweeter, like it was trying to make them forget the danger. "That door is a lie," Reyon said. "And it's my fault it looks so nice. Sorry."
"It's not your fault," Lina said, but her voice was very small. She hated that she said anything at all. The room hummed like it liked her words.
The wall letters shined again.
ONE WORD WILL OPEN THE WAY.ONE WORD WILL FEED THE SEAL.
The quiet door made a low groan. The crack widened. The seal was almost shut.
Kai looked at the quiet door, then at Lina. His voice went hard. "We do not let it win."
Lina nodded, but her throat burned. "Then how do we open it?"
Kai stepped forward and faced the quiet door. He still held Lina's hand, so he was pulling her with him. He put his free palm on the door. Shadow moved under his skin, dark and sharp like black metal.
"Open," Kai said.
Nothing happened.
The door stayed quiet. The seal lines glowed brighter, like the door was refusing him on purpose.
Seren's eyes widened. "It's not an Umbral door. It wants an Echo rule."
Kai tried again, voice lower. "Hush."
The door flickered for a second, but it did not open. It was like it heard him, but it did not care.
The voice in Lina's bones laughed softly, like deep water moving.
Answer me.
Mira's hands shook. "It wants Lina," Mira whispered.
Reyon's mouth went tight. "It's like the school is saying, 'We don't need you to live. We need you to agree.'"
Seren grabbed her own throat like she was scared the dead voices would push words out of her mouth. "It needs Lina's voice," Seren said. "Not just any voice. The seal is listening for her."
The quiet door groaned again. The crack turned into a thin line of darkness, then started to close. Lina felt panic rise like fire smoke in her lungs.
If the door closes, they are stuck here.
If Lina speaks, the seal listens.
Lina looked at Mira. Mira's eyes were wet and wide. Lina looked at Seren. Seren looked ready to break. Lina looked at Reyon. Reyon's face was pale, but he was trying to stand tall anyway. Lina looked at Jax. Jax looked ashamed and scared, like he wanted to fix something he already broke.
Then Lina looked at Kai again.
Kai's grip tightened. "No," he whispered, like he could see the choice forming in her face.
Lina's lips trembled. "If I don't speak, we might not get out."
Kai's voice cracked just a little. "If you do speak, you might not be you."
Lina felt that truth hit her harder than any monster. She thought about being VOID. She thought about doors not seeing her. She thought about the way the academy tried to erase her like she was nothing. She thought about the thing below saying her name like it owned her.
Then Lina made a choice that tasted like fear.
She lifted her chin and looked at the wall. She did not look at the fake bright door. She did not look at the closing crack. She looked at the silver words and the quiet door like she was talking to the rules.
"Only one word?" Lina whispered.
The room hummed.
Answer me.
Kai squeezed her hand so hard it hurt. "Lina, don't."
Lina took a deep breath. She kept her eyes on the quiet door. She tried to choose the safest word she could. A word that meant silence. A word that meant stop. A word that had opened the Echo door before.
Her throat burned. Her heart slammed.
Then Lina spoke, clear and loud, like a command.
"Hush."
The room froze.
The quiet door flared with silver light, and the seal line snapped like a thread breaking. The door opened wide at once, like it was forced to obey.
Air rushed out from the doorway, cold and sharp like winter breath. It smelled like old paper and rain and something deeper, like a lake at night.
Mira gasped.
Seren cried out softly like she felt pain in her chest.
Kai's eyes went wide with anger and fear. "Lina—"
But it was too late.
The deep voice under the school answered right away.
Not with words.
With a feeling.
Like a smile in the dark.
And then Lina heard something that made her blood turn cold.
She heard her own voice say it again, but not from her mouth.
"Hush," her voice echoed from the walls, smooth and slow, like someone was testing how it sounded.
Reyon whispered, "Oh no."
Seren's eyes filled with tears. "It copied you."
Lina's head spun. For a second, she felt like she was floating outside herself. Like her voice had been pulled off her like a label.
Kai grabbed her tighter, pulling her against his chest. "Say my name," Kai said fast, desperate. "Stay real."
"Kai Rhen," Lina whispered.
"Again."
"Kai Rhen."
"Stay real."
"I'm here," Lina said, and her voice shook.
The hallway behind them trembled. The bright fake door's music suddenly turned sour, like a song played backward. The fake laughter behind it became sharp and wrong. It sounded like someone pretending to be happy.
Kai pushed Lina through the real doorway first. Seren pulled Mira in. Reyon dragged Jax. Then Kai stepped in last and slammed the door behind them.
The door did not close like a normal door.
It closed like a mouth.
It shut with a heavy click, and the sound felt like a promise being locked.
Lina stood in the new corridor, shaking. The walls here were darker. The silver lines were thinner. The air was colder. It felt like they had walked deeper into the school's throat.
Then writing appeared on the wall in clean silver letters, as if the Echo route was making a note.
VOICE SAMPLE: CAPTURED.
Kai stared at it, jaw tight.
Seren whispered, broken, "It can speak with you now."
Lina swallowed hard. Her throat felt empty, like something had been taken.
And from far below, deep under stone and runes, the voice returned, gentle and hungry.
Good.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
All rights reserved.