Kai froze at the sound of Lia's voice, his heart pounding as her words sank in.
“Years?” he repeated, barely able to comprehend what she was saying. “But... it's only been minutes here.”
Lia’s face was pale, her eyes wide with a mix of fear and exhaustion. She stepped toward him, the faint ripple of time still distorting her movements, like a reflection in a warped mirror.
“I don’t know how to explain it,” she said, her voice trembling. “But the moment I walked back into that passage, everything changed. Time felt... different. I’ve been wandering in there, alone, for what felt like years. I thought I’d never see you again.”
Kai’s mind raced, trying to make sense of it. How was it possible? The passage—this strange world—was more dangerous than they had ever imagined. He reached for her hand, but his fingers hesitated just inches from hers. The air between them shimmered, as though an invisible barrier still separated their realities.
“We need to get out of here,” Kai said, his voice firm despite the panic rising inside him. “We need to figure out how to close that door for good.”
Lia nodded, but her face betrayed a deep weariness. “I don’t know if it’s that simple, Kai. I’m not even sure I’m fully... back.”
Kai’s stomach lurched. He looked at her more closely. Though she appeared the same, there was something off. Her movements, her presence—it was as if part of her still existed in that strange time-warped dimension.
“We have to try,” Kai said, gripping her hand tightly, ignoring the odd sensation of static in the air. He led her away from the attic and back downstairs, where everything appeared normal again. The comforting sounds of morning filled the house—the hum of traffic outside, birds chirping—but the weight of what had happened hung over them.
They sat at the kitchen table, the old key lying between them, both lost in thought.
“We can’t just leave it like this,” Lia said after a long pause. “What if... someone else finds the key? Or worse, what if the passage opens on its own? I don’t want to risk being pulled back in.”
Kai stared at the key, feeling its cold, metallic surface beneath his fingertips. “You’re right. But how do we stop something we don’t even understand?”
Before they could answer, the air in the room shifted. The key began to glow faintly, pulsing with the same eerie energy they had felt in the passage. Kai jerked his hand back, startled, as the key lifted slightly off the table, spinning slowly in the air.
“What the hell—?” Kai began, but before he could finish, the house trembled violently, as if an earthquake had struck. The walls groaned, and the lights flickered. The key dropped to the table with a metallic thud, the air thick with tension.
Lia’s eyes widened. “It’s happening again.”
Kai didn’t hesitate. “We need to get out. Now.”
They bolted from the kitchen, racing toward the front door. But as they reached it, the doorknob twisted on its own, and the door slammed shut with a deafening bang. The entire house seemed to shift, the air buzzing with the same distorted energy from the passage.
“Kai,” Lia whispered, her voice full of dread, “I think we’re trapped.”
Kai turned to her, panic rising in his chest as he realized they might not be able to escape the pull of the parallel universe after all. The lines between their world and the other were blurring, merging—and time was no longer on their side……
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