Eli barely remembered falling asleep, if he even had at all, because when morning came it didn't feel like rest, it felt like interruption, like something had paused instead of ended, and as sunlight slipped weakly through his curtains he lay still in bed staring at the ceiling, listening for the radio, half-expecting it to turn on again, half-dreading that it would, but the room stayed quiet, normal in a way that almost felt fake, like the world was pretending nothing had happened, and for a moment Eli wondered if maybe it had all been a dream, if maybe he had imagined the voice and the blackout and the figure under the streetlight, but then he saw the radio sitting on the floor exactly where he had left it, the dial slightly turned, the power switch still on, and the memory came rushing back too clearly to ignore, the whisper, the warning, "They're coming," and suddenly the idea of it being a dream felt impossible, because dreams didn't leave behind details like that, didn't stick so sharply in your mind, didn't make your chest feel tight hours later, and as he got out of bed and walked over to the radio, he hesitated before touching it, his hand hovering just above it as if it might react, as if it might speak again the moment he made contact, but it didn't, it stayed silent, cold, ordinary, and that almost made it worse, because now he had no proof, nothing he could point to and say this is real, and yet he knew it was, and that feeling followed him all the way to school, sitting heavy in his chest as he walked through the familiar halls of Greyford Middle School, where everything looked exactly the same as it always did, lockers slightly dented, fluorescent lights buzzing faintly overhead, students talking and laughing like nothing in the world had changed, and maybe for them it hadn't, maybe whatever had reached out to him hadn't reached anyone else, and that thought made him feel strangely alone, like he had stepped into something no one else could see, and the only person he could think to tell was Nora, because if anyone would at least listen, even if she didn't believe him, it would be her, and sure enough, he found her at their usual table in the cafeteria, dropping his bag beside the chair as he sat down across from her, trying to act normal even though his mind was anything but, and Nora glanced at him immediately, narrowing her eyes slightly as if she could already tell something was off, "You look terrible," she said, not unkindly, just honest, and Eli let out a small breath, running a hand through his hair as he leaned forward, lowering his voice, "Something happened last night," he said, and Nora raised an eyebrow, clearly curious but also a little skeptical, "Okay, what kind of something," she asked, and Eli hesitated for just a second before saying it, because hearing it out loud made it sound even more unbelievable, "I heard a voice," he said, and Nora blinked, "A voice," she repeated, "like… outside?" and Eli shook his head, "No, from my radio," and that was the moment her expression shifted, not dismissive exactly, but doubtful enough that Eli felt a flicker of frustration, "You're serious?" she asked, and he nodded quickly, "It talked to me, Nora, it knew I could hear it," he said, his voice tightening slightly, "and it said something was coming," and Nora leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms as she studied him for a moment, clearly trying to decide whether he was joking or not, but before she could respond, before she could question him further or brush it off entirely, the lights above them flickered, once, a quick blink that made a few people glance up but didn't stop the noise of the cafeteria, then again, longer this time, enough for the room to quiet slightly as the buzzing of the lights grew louder, and then suddenly everything went completely dark, not dim, not flickering, just gone, the entire room swallowed by darkness so quickly that it stole the air from Eli's lungs, and for a moment no one spoke, no one moved, as if the world itself had paused, and Eli could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears, could feel the tension in the air like something unseen had just entered the room, and then, just as suddenly as it had disappeared, the light returned, flooding the cafeteria again as if nothing had happened, and immediately the noise came back, students laughing nervously, teachers calling out for calm, the moment brushing itself off as just another power issue, but Eli didn't move, because he had seen something, something that shouldn't have been there, and slowly, almost afraid to confirm it, he looked toward the far end of the cafeteria, near the exit doors, and there she was, standing completely still, exactly where there had been empty space just seconds before, a girl who didn't belong, her presence so quiet and yet so noticeable that it felt like the world had shifted around her, and Eli felt his breath catch as he stared, unable to look away, because something about her was wrong, not in an obvious way, not something you could point at and explain, but in the way she stood, the way she looked at him like she had been expecting him, like she knew him even though he had never seen her before, and beside him, Nora followed his gaze, her body going still as well as she spotted the girl, "Do you see that?" Eli whispered, his voice barely audible, and Nora nodded slowly, her usual confidence replaced by uncertainty, "Yeah," she said quietly, "I see her," and for a second, everything else in the room seemed to fade away, the noise, the movement, all of it distant compared to the silent stare of the girl across the cafeteria, and then she blinked, a small, almost normal movement that somehow made it worse, and in the next instant she was gone, not walking away, not turning, just gone, as if she had never been there at all, leaving behind nothing but empty space and a growing sense of unease that settled deep in Eli's chest, because now he knew for certain that it wasn't just the radio, it wasn't just a voice in the static, something was happening in Greyford, something that didn't follow the rules he understood, something that could appear and disappear without warning, and as the cafeteria returned to its usual noise around him, Eli sat there in silence, his mind racing, realizing that whatever had spoken to him the night before hadn't just been warning him for no reason, because whatever was coming, whatever had already started to arrive, was no longer hidden, and it was closer than he had ever imagined.
