Tin walked carefully across the strange room, each step echoing like he was inside a giant, hollow memory. Dust floated in the air, glowing faintly in the dim light. The furniture in the room looked old—too old. Like it had lived a hundred years before him. Nothing felt alive here except the quiet hum of something watching.
His eyes stopped on a desk pushed against the far wall.
Something metallic glinted faintly on top.
Tin leaned closer.
A small rusted key lay there, shaped oddly, with strange curves like symbols. For a moment he hesitated. The key didn't look normal. It didn't look safe. But something inside him whispered that he needed it.
He slowly reached out… touched it… and lifted it.
The second the key left the table—
BOOM.
The entire house shook violently.
Books fell.
Walls cracked like old bones.
Dust exploded into the air.
Tin stumbled backward. "What's happening?!"
The floor beneath him rippled like water.
Then it vanished.
Tin dropped into darkness screaming, hands clawing at nothing.
A moment later he hit cold stone.
He groaned and rolled onto his back, key still clutched tightly.
Then he froze.
He was back in the library.
But not the part they entered earlier. This one was different—darker, taller, and filled with ancient shelves that stretched endlessly upward. Strange blue candles burned without flames. A cold wind travelled through the aisles like the place was breathing.
And right above him—
Three bodies hung suspended in the air, frozen like puppets in mid-fall.
Tony.
Jet.
Samy.
Tin scrambled up. "GUYS!"
He ran beneath them, horrified. The three slowly descended, like invisible strings were lowering them. Then all at once—
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!
They hit the ground hard, groaning.
Tin rushed to Samy, helping her sit up.
She trembled as if her bones still belonged to another world.
Samy's Memory
Samy had been running—running like her life depended on it, darting between tables in the school canteen. Her heart hammered in her chest. Her elder sister followed behind her, confused and frustrated.
"Samy! STOP!"
Samy didn't. She couldn't.
She didn't want to talk.
She didn't want to open up.
But her sister grabbed her arm finally.
"Why do you always run from me? Just talk!"
"I AM TALKING!" Samy shouted, tears forming. "But you never listen!"
Her sister's expression blurred, melting like wax.
The tables faded.
The lights dimmed.
The world dissolved.
Samy gasped as everything vanished completely—
—and she fell backward through empty space until Tin caught her in the library.
"I didn't want her to see me like that…" Samy whispered.
Tin hugged her. "You're here now. You're not alone."
But he was shaking too.
Tony's Memory
Tony's parents never sat at breakfast.
Never spared time.
Never looked at him this softly.
So when they did… it terrified him more than any monster.
"I–I'll go to the washroom," he muttered, needing space.
Inside, he stared into the mirror.
His reflection stared back… but something behind the glass moved. Like someone was standing behind him.
Older Tony knew the truth.
Young Tony didn't.
Tony exhaled sharply—
and slammed the mirror with all his strength.
CRASH!!
The world screamed around him.
The house split apart.
The dining table collapsed.
His parents dissolved into dust.
He fell through the floor—
—landing right on Jet inside the library.
"Ow—TONY!" Jet groaned. "Can you stop falling ON people?"
Tony blushed. "Sorry…"
But he was relieved.
He was alive again.
Jet's Memory
Jet pedaled through the midnight forest, breath sharp, wheels spinning fast under her. The trees swayed unnaturally, like they were leaning toward her. Something followed her—she felt it. She didn't dare turn back.
But she did.
Nothing.
Silence.
Then—
A cold hand brushed her shoulder.
Jet screamed—
blackness swallowed her—
and she crashed onto Tony in the library.
"WHY ME?" Tony groaned.
Jet rolled off, panting. "Someone was following… I swear…"
Samy hugged her. "It's okay. We're all safe now."
But none of them knew if they truly were.
Four of them stood together.
Tin raised the key, trembling. "There… there's a door."
At the far end of the ancient library hall stood a tall wooden door covered in symbols. It hadn't been there earlier.
The key pulsed faintly.
The Laugh
A cold breeze swept the room.
Then came the laugh.
Dry.
Echoing.
Almost human—except it wasn't.
The shadows bent around the bookshelves as a voice whispered:
"How strange…
Only you four survived."
They all froze.
"Most become shadows…" the voice whispered.
"Others are trapped here for years… some forever."
Samy shivered violently.
Jet grabbed Tin's arm.
Tony clenched his fists.
Tin whispered, "Where are the others?"
The voice chuckled.
"You will meet them soon enough…"
Then it vanished completely.
Kim's Memory Collapse
Kim stood staring at his clue wall, heart racing. Every line, every thread, every note pointed the same direction—
their school.
He touched one of the photos.
It dissolved under his fingertips.
The air behind him shifted.
Young Tony's parents stepped into the room.
Kim spun. "You… you were at his house. Why are—?"
Their faces blurred.
Their bodies twisted—
then split apart into dust.
The room collapsed like a dying lung.
Kim gasped as he fell backward into the dark—
—and hit the stone floor of the Gate Chamber.
The giant doors stood around him, humming like beasts.
"Roger…" he whispered, panicking.
He ran to the gate containing her memory.
"ROGER! WAKE UP!"
Roger's Memory Collapse
Roger froze as she heard her name echo through the house.
"Roger…"
The cat hissed.
The lights flickered.
Her father disappeared from the sofa.
The walls melted into shadow.
"Roger… come back…"
She shut her eyes tightly and whispered, "Kim…?"
The world cracked.
And she fell—
—straight into Kim's arms.
Roger gasped for breath.
"Kim!"
He held her so tightly she could barely breathe.
But she didn't let go either.
"You're back," he whispered. "Finally…"
Roger pulled away slowly, tears in her eyes. "Kim… every door… every memory… it's all leading to the school."
"I know," he said. "And the next doors will be worse."
Roger nodded, gripping his arm.
"But we'll face it together."
Far away, the laughter of the voice echoed again—
and the next gate began to glow.