They did not speak until they were three blocks away from the library.
Sam was the first to break the silence.
"So," he said, pedaling harder than necessary, "hypothetical question, On a scale from slightly alarming to burn our phones and flee the country , how bad was that?"
Alex didn't answer right away. His jaw was tight, eyes fixed on the road ahead.
"That wasn't hypothetical," Lena said.
"Nothing gets past you," Sam replied.
Jordan slowed to ride beside Alex. "She didn't accuse us of anything."
"She didn't have to," Alex said. "She knew."
Riley glanced over their shoulder, like the building might be following them through town, slipping between houses when no one looked. "Adults aren't supposed to notice first."
Maya hugged her sketchbook to her chest. "I think the building wanted her to."
That stopped them.
They coasted to a halt near the river path, bikes clattering softly as they dismounted.
Sam stared at Maya. "Okay. Love you. But that sentence needs a refund."
She shrugged, uncomfortable. "It's been reacting to attention since we found it. What if adults noticing is… part of it growing?"
Jordan frowned. "That implies intent."
"Everything implies intent now," Lena muttered.
Alex paced a short line in the gravel. "We agreed on rules. Not involving adults."
"We didn't involve her," Sam said. "She involved herself. Very rudely."
"That's worse," Alex snapped.
The silence that followed was sharp.
Riley broke it quietly. "She didn't look scared."
That landed heavier than fear would have.
"She looked curious," Riley continued. "Like she'd found a puzzle."
Jordan nodded slowly. "Curiosity leads to investigation. Investigation leads to exposure."
Sam raised a finger. "Exposure leads to government vans, right? Because I feel like that's always the next step."
"No," Lena said. "Exposure leads to control."
Maya's fingers tightened around the spiral of her sketchbook. "Or misunderstanding."
Alex stopped pacing. "Which means we need to slow this down."
Sam snorted. "Sure. I'll just tell the impossible building to chill."
They sat on the riverbank, water sliding past like it had no interest in them at all.
"That flyer," Lena said suddenly. "Ms. Calder mentioned something taped up."
Maya nodded. "It said remember what was here."
Sam laughed weakly. "Wow. Subtle."
Jordan rubbed his chin. "If the building is tied to forgotten things, then an adult who deals in records and memory—"
"—is catnip," Sam finished.
Alex exhaled. "We don't go back today."
That earned him several looks.
"We always go back," Sam said.
"Not today," Alex repeated. "If someone else is paying attention, we need to see what changes."
Riley tilted their head. "You think the building will react?"
"I think it already has," Maya said softly.
---
That evening, the group chat exploded.
Sam: okay but like,what if ms calder goes in ?
Lena: do not speak that into existence please.
Jordan: Statistically unlikely. She doesn't know where it is.
Riley: She knows something.
Sam: i know something too and it's called panic.
Maya typed, erased, then finally sent:
Maya:I don't think it hurts people who leave.
Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Reappeared.
Alex: What about people who stay?
No one answered that.
---
Alex didn't sleep well.
Neither did Sam, who dreamed of library shelves rearranging themselves while Ms. Calder calmly reshelved people.
Lena dreamed of a bell ringing that never stopped.
Jordan dreamed of equations rewriting themselves.
Riley dreamed of doors locking gently, politely, forever.
Maya didn't dream at all.
She woke with the feeling that something had been waiting for her to open her eyes.
---
The next afternoon, they met again—because of course they did—near the service road.
The building stood exactly where it had been.
Alex counted windows.
There were more.
Sam squinted. "It looks… sharper."
Jordan swallowed. "That's not possible."
"It keeps being possible," Lena said.
Maya felt the pull again, stronger now—but threaded with something new.
Anticipation.
"It knows it's being talked about," she said.
Sam groaned. "Great. It has self-esteem now."
Riley noticed something else. "Look at the door."
Pinned neatly to the glass was a piece of paper.
Handwritten.
They approached cautiously.
The message was simple.
YOUCANBRINGHER.
No signature.
No explanation.
Sam laughed once, high and strained. "Wow. It's doing invitations."
Alex felt cold settle in his chest. "No."
Jordan stared at the note. "It's responding to Ms. Calder's awareness."
Lena whispered, "Or tempting us."
Maya swallowed. "Or asking."
Sam tore his gaze away from the door. "Hard pass. Absolutely not. Adults are how things go bad."
The note fluttered slightly, as if in a breeze none of them could feel.
Another line appeared beneath the first.
SHE ALREADY BELONGS TO WHAT WAS LOST.
No one laughed this time.
Riley stepped back. "That's not our decision to make."
Alex nodded. "Exactly. We don't choose for her."
Maya stared at the door, heart pounding. "What if the building already has?"
The hum rose, low and steady, like a held breath.
Sam shook his head hard. "Nope. We're leaving. Right now. Before it starts writing essays."
They backed away together.
The building didn't stop them.
But as they turned the corner, Maya glanced back.
The paper on the door was gone.
And for the first time since they'd found it, the building looked… patient.
Like it had learned something new about them.
And was adjusting its expectations accordingly.
---