Chapter 5 The Note in the Locker

Elira didn't sleep that night. Every creak of the house, every gust of wind against the window made her jolt upright, heart racing. She kept replaying the voice from the library over and over-dark, threatening, certain. Someone was watching her. Someone knew she didn't belong.

The next morning at school, everything looked normal. Too normal.

Lia was gone. Not in biology. Not in the cafeteria. Not even in the hallway where she usually loitered, hoodie pulled up, earbuds in.

When Elira asked a classmate about her, the girl gave her a confused look.

"Who's Lia?"

That stopped Elira cold. "The girl with short hair. Always wears black. Sits at the back?"

"I've been in that class all term. There's no one like that," the girl said, frowning. "Are you okay?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she turned and walked fast-too fast-toward the lockers, trying to breathe through the panic swelling in her chest.

Had she imagined Lia? Was this part of whatever was happening to her? Or had someone erased her?

When she opened her locker, a single envelope was sitting neatly on her books. No name. No stamp. Just a blank front and the scent of something oddly familiar-lavender and smoke.

Her hands trembled as she tore it open.

Inside, a note written in precise, looping handwriting:

*"He was never supposed to tell you. Meet me at the old auditorium. Sunset. Come alone. Don't trust anyone. Not even yourself."*

Her heart pounded. What did *that* mean-*not even yourself*?

The old auditorium had been shut for renovations since last year. Students weren't allowed near it anymore. But something told Elira this was the moment. The moment the story started to crack open.

That afternoon, as the sun dipped low, she slipped away from the rest of the school, heart thudding as she made her way down the broken path behind the science block. The old auditorium loomed like a skeleton, its boarded windows casting shadows like scars across its face.

She pushed open the rusted side door. It creaked loudly, echoing through the hollow building.

"Hello?" she called out, voice shaking.

No answer.

Then a soft click behind her.

The door had shut on its own.

Elira turned sharply-and gasped.

Standing in the aisle, between rows of collapsed seats, was someone who looked almost exactly like her.

Same eyes. Same height. Same face.

But there was something... wrong.

Her double tilted her head, smiling with a coldness that froze Elira's blood.

"Finally," the girl said. "We meet properly."

Elira's voice barely came out. "Who are you?"

The girl stepped closer. "I'm the girl whose life you're living."

Then everything went black.

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