Eli's Otherworldly Echo

Chapter 2: Echoes of Reality

As I walked down the hallway, a nagging sensation crept up my spine. The school was eerily silent, a suffocating quiet that only made the strange sense of unease grow stronger with each step. The building had always felt cold, its walls painted in that lifeless pale yellow, the fluorescent lights flickering faintly as if struggling to stay alive. But today, it felt different—like something was watching, waiting.

I slowed my pace, glancing at the corner near the janitor's usual station. He was always there around this time, perched on a rickety old chair, sipping his lukewarm coffee with that bored, distant expression. But today, the chair was empty. I paused, frowning. The sight of that empty corner unsettled me more than I wanted to admit. He never left his post, not during school hours, at least. I forced myself to shrug it off, telling myself it didn't matter. Maybe he had something else to do. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

The rain had started to fall harder outside, drumming steadily against the tall windows. A dark, stormy sky loomed above, casting long shadows through the glass. I didn't feel like braving the downpour yet, so I lingered by the school gate, leaning against the cold metal bars. With nothing else to do, I pulled out my phone to kill some time, hoping it would take my mind off the creeping unease.

But when I checked the screen, my stomach dropped. 5:59 PM.

School had ended over an hour ago. Where had the time gone? I couldn't have been asleep this whole time—could I? I didn't remember dozing off. A wave of confusion hit me, and I blinked, trying to shake it away. Just as I was about to make sense of it, the school's clock hit 6:00 PM.

The bell rang loudly, the sound reverberating through the empty halls. My head began to spin, a sharp pain shooting through my skull. The hallway wavered, like a mirage in the heat. I tried to steady myself against the gate, but my legs gave out beneath me. My vision blurred. The last thing I heard before everything went black was the rain pounding harder against the windows, a deafening roar that swallowed everything.

---"Eli! Hey, Eli, wake up. It's about to start!"

Leo's voice cut through the darkness like a lifeline, pulling me out of the void. I blinked rapidly, my vision slowly adjusting to the light. I was back in the classroom. I shot upright in my seat, my heart racing as I scanned the room in confusion. The familiar rows of desks, the chalkboard covered in notes from earlier—everything was exactly as it had been that morning. But how?

The school clock rang again. This time, it showed 9:00 AM. My mind was reeling. Just a moment ago, I was standing by the gate, ready to leave. So how could it be morning again?

Leo sat beside me, leaning back casually in his chair. His carefree grin hadn't changed at all. He looked exactly the same—golden-brown hair tousled like he'd just run a hand through it, his eyes always sparkling with that confident, almost playful glint. He was the kind of guy who could charm his way out of any situation. But as I stared at him, the confusion in my mind only deepened. What was happening?

"What's wrong?" Leo asked, nudging me gently with his elbow. "Did you have a bad dream or something?"

His voice was lighthearted, the same easygoing tone he always had, but it felt distant to me. I felt trapped, like I was suffocating under the weight of something I couldn't quite understand. I ran a hand through my black hair, feeling how damp it was with sweat. My rare green eyes darted around the room again, trying to find something—anything—that could explain what was going on.

"Yeah..." I muttered, still not fully convinced. "Just a bad dream, I guess."

Leo raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying it. "Stressing over a dream? What, did the teacher give you detention in it or something?" He flashed me a grin, as if trying to pull me out of my daze.