???'s POV

What did it mean? A countdown? A reminder?

A switch?

I didn't know.

I forced myself not to think about it. I strode down the hallway with my head up.

Keep the image_, I told myself. And smiled.

                              ELIJAH. .

Something hovered over me. Not someone_Something_ dark.

I felt it before I saw it - eyes on me, though there was nothing to see. Only fog. Only black, pressing in until I couldn't breathe.

Fear came first. Then confusion. Then the chime.

Once. Twice.

A grandfather's clock.

Voices followed. Muffled. One voice, maybe. They swelled like someone turning up a radio dial.

Was this a dream? Was I still home? Maybe l'd wake to the smell of freshly bak-

"Wake up!

A slap cracked across my face. My cheeks burned. It wasn't the first.

"What did you see?" a strange man demanded.

I blinked against the light and the truth of it: I wasn't dreaming. It had all happened.

"Can you hear me?" he asked.

"ls it gone?" l asked instead.

"Yes. I got it out. It's gone now. Are you

alright?"

I looked down. My leg was fine. Better than fine. No mark.

"I feel... dizzy" I said.

"I need you to tell me what you saw." He sat beside me.

I hesitated. He was a stranger. And I was still trying to fit the pieces together.

"l saw...nothing. Just dark clouds. Fog.

Everywhere."

"Anything else?"

I shook my head.

"Hear anything? Feel anything?"

My brow pulled together.

"I felt watched. Afraid. And then a clock. It chimed. Like a big one. Like a-"

"...A grandfather's lock?" he finished.

I nodded.

"We have to leave. Now."

We cut through to the school's main building and into an empty classroom. The air smelled like chalk and old wood.

"I suppose you've figured out what you

encountered" he said. "The Slime."

"l'm new here. To the town. I don't understand."

He sighed.

"I'm not giving you a history lesson. You've walked into the worst mess this town has. We don't have long before the bus comes, so listen. What you saw wasn't whole. It was half. The other half is somewhere. Or rather, in someone. And that someone is in this school."

Words piled up in my throat and none of them came out right.

"You were its next target. Whether you like it or not, it's part of you now. It's your problem."

He sat across from me.

"Almost a year ago, a student vanished. Last place she was seen: her room. The elders covered it up. To avoid panic, they paid her family to leave. New city, new start. But they didn't get rid of the problem. The Slime."

"How do you know it's a student?" I managed. My voice was steadier now.

"The night it happened, a student was by the river. At school. I saw them. Before I could get close, they were gone."

He glanced at his pocket watch and stood.

"You need to go or you'll miss your ride. I've done some digging. I have suspects. Find me tomorrow and we'll talk. As for your other questions - the library has answers. The town library."

"How will I know which one?"

He gave a short laugh.

"There's only one community library in this town."

I stood, heading for the door, then stopped.

"How do I find you? What's your name, sir?"

"Ask for the gatekeeper" he said calmly.

I stared. 

This must be a joke. So what's this now? A cheesy play and he was what? The guardian of the veil.

 "Wah?"

He burst out laughing.

"l'm the gatekeeper. Chief security for the school."

Oh.

l gave a curt nod and bolted.

Outside, the bus hadn't come yet. A few faces from that morning's ride stood in groups, chatting.

My mind kept replaying it. How long had I been out? Was any of it real? The worst part was my leg. Perfect. Unmarked. The only proof was my shredded slacks.

. .

I got home. Mum wasn't back yet. She never was this early.

I stood in the two-storied, eerie little mansion we now lived in and wondered who would sell a house like this. It felt more like history than a home.

Then it hit me. The owners had sold this house because they had gotten sponsored by the town's leaders for some meritable action. The middle floor of the house isn't functioning because it's damaged and needs repairs so we didn't live there, my mom had said the owners had promised to get it fixed during the year so we shouldn't pay for it.

_The girl went missing from her room._

What was on the middle floor that they were hiding?

The thought took hold before I could stop it. If the answers weren't at school, maybe they were here. I thought, get this done with and go back to the plan of living a peaceful life. 

My feet moved faster than my brain did and I found myself flying the stairs, till I got to the middle floor's entrance, it was blocked with a large board.

My hands shook as I shifted the board aside, adrenaline gradually felt my body, slowly replacing it with an unnerving awareness, but it was too late to turn back. 

I stepped in, exploring the area. Dust. Stillness. Nothing looked damaged from here.

But something pulled me down the hall, to the door at the end. Like it was calling.

I had to see what was behind it and so I went, legs first.

The room beyond was a bedroom. A girl's, from the look of it. Almost neat. Rumpled sheets. A messy desk. Someone had lived here.

Being the detective I had turned to a few minutes ago I decided to go over to the reading desk.

“Impressive.” I mumbled.

A perfect reading schedule. A daily timetable behind it. I ran my fingers over the neat ink, admiring-

The room went dark.

Wind rushed through with no open windows.

Panic shot through me. Run.

I didn't make it.

Something hit me. Hard.