There was no reply. Just silence again.But then—rattle—a sudden, faint clatter came from behind one of the nearby shelves. Elijah froze. His eyes darted toward the sound, and he took a hesitant step back.“…Who's there?” he asked again, his voice lower now, tinged with unease.Still nothing.The flickering light above him gave one final blink, then steadied—but the tension in the air remained. Then came a low, soft whoosh, like pages flipping rapidly… yet no breeze moved through the room.As Elijah peered behind the shelf, he saw… nothing.Just rows of dusty books, undisturbed and still.He furrowed his brows, confused. “What the hell…” he muttered, turning around, already brushing off the unease. Maybe he was just tired. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him.But the moment he took a step to leave, flipflipflipflip—that same frantic sound of pages being turned echoed again.Elijah froze in place.He turned slowly, eyes wide, scanning the room.That’s when he saw it.A small book…

Meanwhile, Elijah had no idea how many hours had passed or what had happened to him. The first thing he saw was a blurry white ceiling, his vision hazy and unfocused. He blinked rapidly, fluttering his eyes until everything slowly began to come into focus. The ceiling wasn’t familiar. It wasn’t the library, nor was it home. He frowned in confusion.“Sierra?” he muttered groggily, his voice hoarse.He turned his head slightly and his breath caught. He wasn’t in his clothes anymore. Instead, he was dressed in pale blue patient garments—thin hospital wear with white lining along the sleeves and collar. It shocked him. The lightweight fabric clung awkwardly to his skin, and he felt the cold of an IV line running into his arm. His heart started to beat faster.A hospital?He sat up abruptly, his muscles aching faintly. His eyes darted around the sterile room. White walls. Medical equipment. A closed door. A metal tray beside his bed. And a clear IV drip connected to his wrist.“What the he

Meanwhile, in the brightly lit exam hall of New Ember City University, rows of students sat at spaced intervals, heads bent over their papers. The air was tense with the quiet rustle of pages and the faint scratching of pens. Supervisors paced the aisles, their eyes sweeping the room with practiced sharpness.Sierra sat at her assigned seat, third row from the back, near the window. Her question paper was laid neatly in front of her, but her eyes barely scanned the words. Her pen hovered motionless above the sheet, her mind clearly elsewhere.She bit her bottom lip and looked around briefly, then glanced back down at the untouched page. But no matter how hard she tried, her focus refused to settle. Her thoughts kept drifting back to Elijah.Is he awake now? Is he okay? What happened to him that night?She clasped her hands together briefly under the table, whispering a silent prayer.Please let him be fine… just let him be okay.The invigilator walked past her, pausing for a moment, b

"I can't tell," Sierra said softly, forcing a smile. "But I'll come for the Christmas holidays.""That's so good to hear, come with Elijah, please," her mother replied eagerly, eyes lighting up with excitement.Sierra hesitated, her gaze drifting briefly toward Betty who sat nearby, watching silently. "I can't promise you that… but if he's having free time actually, then I'll bring him to see you then.""That's good. Take care of yourself and take care of Elijah too," her father added warmly."I will, Dad," Sierra replied, her voice a little strained now. She ended the call, letting the screen go black before lowering the phone and exhaling a long breath.Betty glanced over. “You okay?”Sierra nodded slowly, then shook her head, conflicted. “I couldn’t tell them Elijah’s in the hospital… not when they don’t even know what’s wrong with him.” She let out a soft sigh and leaned back, staring at the steering wheel for a moment.After a pause, she picked up her phone again and scrolled qui

Betty let out a light sigh and gave a small shrug. “It’s going well overall,” she said. “We’ve been managing… though it hasn’t exactly been easy.”She glanced at Sierra before continuing, her voice softening. “The two previous exams… Sierra couldn’t really focus. Not with everything that was happening to you. She barely slept, barely ate. Her mind was just…” Betty gestured vaguely, “elsewhere.”Sierra looked down at her hands, embarrassed but not denying it.Betty smiled gently and added, “But she still pushed through. She just kept saying she had to be strong—for you.”Elijah turned his head slightly toward Sierra, his eyes resting on her with quiet intensity. He could see the truth in what Betty said. Her tired eyes, the faint weight in her posture—it all made sense now.He murmured, “You didn’t have to go through that alone…” but part of him knew she would’ve anyway.Sierra suddenly interrupted the quiet moment, brushing her fingers lightly across Elijah’s arm. “What would you like