The door burst open.

Evan braced himself.

But nothing stepped out.

No creature. No shadow. No monster.

Instead—

Wind.

A powerful rush of air exploded from the doorway, bending the grass flat and nearly knocking Evan off his feet. The swirling sky above flickered like a glitching screen.

Then the light began.

Blinding streams of white poured from the open door, spilling across the field like liquid brightness. The ground vibrated violently beneath Evan’s shoes.

“What is happening?!” he yelled.

Lila grabbed his arm.

“It’s collapsing!”

“The door?!”

“No — this place!”

The edges of the world began to distort. The distant horizon twisted unnaturally, folding inward like paper. The sky’s strange colors spiraled faster and faster.

Evan’s stomach dropped.

“This isn’t a world,” Lila shouted over the roaring wind. “It’s a space between worlds!”

The door’s light intensified.

Inside it, Evan could now see something impossible.

Not darkness.

Not a room.

But the hallway of Westbrook Middle School.

Lockers.

Fluorescent lights.

Students walking past.

His reality.

“The door doesn’t just connect places,” Lila said urgently. “It corrects mistakes!”

The ground cracked.

The air screamed.

Evan felt an invisible force pulling him toward the doorway.

“I don’t want to be a mistake!” he yelled.

“You’re not!” Lila said.

And with a sudden, desperate shove—

She pushed him into the light.

Evan stumbled forward.

Hard tile floor.

Bright lights.

Voices.

He crashed into a row of lockers, gasping.

The school hallway.

Normal.

No field.

No swirling sky.

No door.

Only Maya staring at him like he’d lost his mind.

“…Evan?! What are you doing?”

He blinked wildly.

“I—there was a door—”

Maya frowned. “There’s no door.”

Evan slowly turned.

Empty wall.

Silent lockers.

Nothing unusual.

Everything exactly as it should be.

“…Yeah,” Evan said quietly.

But as he walked to class, something made him pause.

For just a split second…

He saw it.

A faint gray outline on the wall.

Gone as soon as he focused on it.

Waiting