The cracked Echo door stayed half-open like lips that did not fully close. Cold air spilled out, smelling like wet stone and ink. The silver writing on the wall still glowed. Lina kept staring at the last line the door had written, because it felt like a hand around her throat.
You already have it.
Lina swallowed. Her tongue felt heavy. A word sat behind her teeth like it was waiting for a chance. It was not a normal thought. It did not feel like her thinking at all. It felt like a name that had been pushed into her mouth the way a key is pushed into a lock.
Kai's arm tightened around her shoulders. His other hand held her wrist, and he pressed her palm back to his chest again. His heartbeat hit her hand fast and hard. Thump. Thump. Thump. It was the only sound Lina trusted.
Kai leaned close, almost touching her forehead again. His voice was very low, careful. "Don't let anything out."
Lina nodded, but she was shaking. Her lips wanted to move. Her throat wanted to open. It felt like the Echo route was pulling on a string inside her.
Seren's eyes glowed silver. She looked sick. "It's not guessing," Seren whispered. Then she stopped, pressed her lips shut, and pointed to her own throat like a warning: no more sound.
Reyon did the same. He nodded fast, eyes wide, and pointed at Lina's mouth, then made a "zip" motion with his fingers. His hands shook like he hated how true it was.
Mira stood close, staring at Lina with wet, confused eyes. Mira's bond with Lina was cut, but Mira's body still knew Lina was important. Mira's fingers kept reaching for Lina's sleeve like a habit that would not die.
Jax stood behind them, pale and broken. He touched his own temple like he was trying to force a memory back into place. His mouth trembled. He wanted to speak, but he didn't.
The door breathed again. The light in the cracked crest pulsed like a slow heartbeat. And the corridor used Lina's stolen voice, soft and sweet, right beside Kai's ear.
"Tell me," it said.
Lina's stomach turned. Her own voice sounded wrong now. Like someone wore it like a mask.
Kai didn't answer. He stepped forward, pulling Lina with him, guiding everyone away from the wall writing. He moved like he was walking around a sleeping animal, careful not to wake it more.
But the door was already awake.
The silver letters on the cracked stone shifted again, like ink rearranging itself into a new offer.
ONE BOND FOR ONE NAME.
Then another line formed, slower, calmer, like it was trying to sound fair.
SPEAK IT, AND THE TETHER RETURNS.
Mira made a tiny sound in her throat like hope trying to climb out.
Lina's eyes burned. The door was trying to use Mira like a lever. It was trying to make Lina trade Kai's true name for Mira's love-memory.
Kai's jaw clenched. He looked at Lina, and even in the dark, his eyes said the same thing.
No deal.
Lina nodded fast. She didn't trust her voice. She didn't trust her mouth.
The deep voice under the school moved inside her bones again, closer than ever, like it was sitting behind her ribs.
Say it.
Lina felt the name rise again, sharp as a thorn. She tasted metal, like blood.
Kai saw her flinch. His hand moved fast. He covered Lina's mouth with his gloved fingers, gentle but firm. It was not a punishment. It was protection. It was an anchor.
Kai leaned in, his forehead touching hers for one quick second, steady and warm.
Say my name. Stay real.
Lina breathed through her nose. She nodded. She didn't speak. Kai slowly moved his hand away, but he kept his thumb pressed into her palm, a quiet warning.
Then Kai did something else. He turned his body so he blocked the cracked door from Lina's view, like eyes could be bait too. He looked at Seren and Reyon and Jax, and he pointed once, forward, into the half-open doorway.
They had to go deeper. Staying here would only make the door keep bargaining.
Seren swallowed, shaking, and stepped first, listening with her Soul Echo. She flinched at the threshold, then nodded once like she was saying, it's real, but it's bad.
Mira hesitated. She stared at Lina like Lina was a stranger she wanted to remember. Mira's fingers hovered in the air.
Lina reached out and took Mira's hand again. She didn't speak. She just squeezed gently and held on. Mira's hand squeezed back, shaky and unsure, like her body recognized the shape of safety.
They stepped through.
The space on the other side was not a hallway. It was a round chamber like a small court room, carved from pale stone. The walls were covered in thin silver writing. Names. Hundreds of them. Some were bright. Some were faded. Some were scratched out like someone had tried to erase a person.
Under a few names, tiny icons flickered.
🕯️🪞🧵🖋️
Lina's skin crawled.
In the center of the room stood a tall stone stand, and above it floated a black quill, turning slowly in the air like it was looking for paper.
Reyon's breath caught. He didn't speak, but his eyes screamed the word Lina was thinking.
Quill.
The quill dipped once, like it had noticed them.
Seren's eyes glowed brighter. Her face tightened in fear. She lifted a shaking hand and pointed at one spot on the wall.
Mira Sun.
Beside Mira's name, the 🧵 icon flickered once, then steadied.
Mira stared at her own name like it was a grave marker. She looked at Lina, confused. She touched her chest like she was trying to find the missing feeling inside her.
Then the quill turned toward Lina.
Lina's whole body went cold.
Because the quill did not float toward the wall.
It floated toward Lina's mouth.
Not touching her. Not yet. Just hovering close, like it was waiting for a sound to land.
A thin silver line wrote itself across the stone stand, clean and calm, like a rule.
SPEAK THE NAME YOU CARRY.
Kai stepped between Lina and the quill at once. His shadowsteel rippled low along the floor like a dark shield.
"No," Kai said, one word, controlled.
The chamber hummed.
The quill twitched, and the silver writing on the stand changed, as if it was negotiating.
THEN LET HER WRITE IT WITHOUT SPEAKING.
Lina's stomach dropped.
Because writing could still count. It was still a name leaving her.
Seren shook her head fast, tears in her eyes. She pressed her lips together so hard they turned pale.
Reyon lifted his hands like he wanted to help, but he didn't know how.
Mira took one step toward Lina, crying silently, and for a second Lina saw it in Mira's face—Mira wanted to remember. Mira wanted to love Lina again. Mira wanted the pain to stop.
And the deep voice under the school whispered inside Lina's bones like a soft knife.
Give me the name.
Lina's mouth opened by itself a tiny bit.
A sound almost came out.
Kai grabbed Lina's face gently, thumbs at her cheeks, making her look at him. His eyes were dark and fierce and terrified.
"Stay real," Kai whispered.
Lina tried to nod.
But the name inside her mouth rose higher.
Like it was going to speak itself.
And the black quill dipped in the air, ready—so ready—like it could already see the first letter.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
All rights reserved.