Mina's heart still pounded from the visions she'd seen. She paced around her room, the glasses clutched in her hand, her mind reeling with questions. Could she really have seen an event from years ago, just by looking through the lenses? She shivered, feeling as if a chill had settled into her bones.
She turned to the glasses in her hands, the light from her lamp glinting off their old, slightly scratched surface. "What are you?" she muttered to herself, not expecting any answer. But she couldn't shake the sensation that, somehow, the glasses held a power she barely understood.
Taking a deep breath, she decided to test them one more time. She glanced at the window, the night settling over Belgrade. Shadows from the nearby buildings cast strange shapes on her wall. Mina put on the glasses, her pulse quickening, and looked out through the glass.
In an instant, her room seemed to melt away, replaced by a scene so vivid it felt like she could reach out and touch it. She saw herself – younger, perhaps only twelve – sitting on the floor with her best friend, Lana. They were laughing, books scattered around them.
"Come on, Mina!" Lana's voice echoed in her head, as clear as if she were in the room with her. "We'll ace this history test!"
Mina's chest tightened at the memory. She hadn't seen Lana in years. A fight had pulled them apart, leaving a void that Mina had never truly filled.
The vision faded, and Mina was back in her room. She exhaled, her hands trembling slightly. What did these glasses want to show her, and why?
Just as she was beginning to consider what she'd seen, her phone buzzed. It was a text from Marko.
Marko: You up? I have an idea. Meet me by the old library in 20?
Mina blinked, trying to shake off the fog in her mind. Why would Marko want to meet so late? But curiosity got the best of her. She grabbed her jacket, slipped the glasses into her pocket, and headed out into the cool night.
Mina moved through the quiet streets of Belgrade, her footsteps echoing against the stone sidewalks. The night air was crisp, carrying a faint smell of rain. She pulled her jacket tighter around herself, a mixture of excitement and apprehension swirling in her chest.
The old library loomed in front of her, a grand but crumbling building that hadn't seen proper use in years. The street lamps cast an eerie glow on its ivy-covered walls, and Mina couldn't help but feel like she'd stepped into a scene from a ghost story.
She spotted Marko leaning against the wrought-iron gate, hands shoved in his pockets. He looked up as she approached, a mischievous smile on his face.
"Took you long enough," he teased.
Mina rolled her eyes, though she couldn't help but smile back. "You're the one who wanted to meet here in the middle of the night. What's this all about?"
Marko shrugged, his expression shifting to something more serious. "I wanted to show you something. Something weird."
Weird? Mina raised an eyebrow but said nothing, letting him lead her through the gate and around to the back of the building. They walked in silence, the only sound the crunch of gravel under their feet. Finally, they reached a small door that seemed barely held together by rusted hinges.
Marko pulled out a flashlight and shone it inside, revealing a narrow staircase that descended into darkness. "It's down there," he said, motioning for her to go first.
"Down there?" Mina's voice wavered slightly. She wasn't one to get scared easily, but the idea of going into an abandoned basement in the dead of night was a bit unnerving. Still, her curiosity won out.
"Fine," she muttered, steeling herself as she stepped inside. The air was stale, thick with the smell of old books and dust. She held onto the railing as she carefully made her way down, the flashlight bouncing shadows across the walls.
When they reached the bottom, she turned to Marko, who was just behind her. "Okay, so what's this all about?"
Marko took a deep breath, his face serious. "I… I found some old documents down here. Ones that mention… something about a set of 'chronicle glasses.' They were supposed to be hidden by an organization back in the day."
Mina's eyes widened. "You're kidding."
He shook his head. "I thought it was just some old folklore or whatever. But then I remembered you talking about that pair you found. I thought, what if—"
"What if the glasses I found are the ones from the stories?" she finished for him, her mind racing. The idea sounded impossible, but after everything she'd experienced, it wasn't entirely out of the question.
Marko nodded, his gaze intense. "I think there's a reason you found them. A reason they showed up now, after all these years."
Mina's mind raced as she processed what Marko was saying. If these "chronicle glasses" were real, and if the ones she'd found were the same ones from these old documents… it could mean there was a purpose to everything she'd been seeing.
"Show me these documents," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
Marko led her into a small, cramped room lit only by his flashlight. Papers were scattered across an old desk, some yellowed and torn, others stacked in a pile as if someone had hurriedly left them there years ago.
He picked up one of the papers and handed it to her. Mina held it under the flashlight, squinting to make out the faded handwriting.
Document Excerpt:
"The glasses, though seemingly ordinary, are said to be a tool that bridges the past and present. Through them, one can witness memories embedded in the very fabric of time. But with such power comes danger. The user may lose themselves in the visions, trapped in the echoes of the past…"
Mina's breath caught. She could feel her pulse quicken as she read the words, each sentence sending a chill down her spine.
"What is this?" she whispered, almost afraid to look at Marko.
"A warning," he replied, his voice equally quiet. "It's part of an old collection of myths and folklore. I came across it last week and thought it was just some creepy story. But now… now I think it's real."
Mina looked up, meeting his gaze. For the first time, she saw a flicker of uncertainty in his usually confident eyes.
"And these people who wrote this… who were they?" she asked, feeling a strange urgency to know more.
Marko shrugged, glancing around as if the walls themselves held answers. "There's no name, just initials. Some kind of secret organization, maybe. Whoever they were, they kept a lot hidden."
Mina's fingers tightened around the paper. "Do you think they're still out there? Looking for the glasses?"
Marko's jaw clenched. "Maybe. And if they are… that would explain why you're seeing things, why you're feeling watched."
The weight of his words settled over her like a dark cloud. She hadn't told Marko about the moments she'd felt someone watching her or the eerie feeling that someone—somehow—knew what she was doing. She'd brushed it off as paranoia. But now, standing in this dusty basement with a centuries-old secret in her hands, it didn't feel so absurd.
"I need to know more," she said finally, her voice filled with determination. "If these glasses have a purpose, I have to figure out what it is."
Marko nodded. "Then let's find out."
Marko and Mina spent the next hour combing through the documents. Most were too worn to make out completely, but every so often, they'd find a phrase or sentence that sent shivers down their spines.
"Beware the watcher… the seeker of memories…"
"The lens will reveal truths hidden in the shadows…"
"A price must be paid…"
Mina's fingers brushed over each word carefully, her mind racing. The "watcher" and "seeker of memories"—who were they talking about? Could it be referring to the people who seemed to be following her?
Finally, Marko leaned back, rubbing his eyes. "That's all I could find. There's nothing here that tells us exactly how the glasses work, or why they're showing you these visions."
Mina frowned, glancing around the dimly lit room. "But there has to be more. If someone went through so much trouble to write this down, they wouldn't have stopped here."
Just then, something caught her eye—a small, dusty book lying at the edge of the table. She reached for it, brushing off the grime to reveal the title: Chronicles of the Forgotten.
She flipped it open, her heart pounding. Inside, she found detailed sketches of the glasses, notes scrawled in the margins about experiments, tests, and theories.
"They actually documented it all," she murmured, more to herself than to Marko.
Marko peered over her shoulder. "Looks like they were trying to understand how the glasses worked… and how to control them."
The more Mina read, the more she realized how dangerous these glasses could be. According to the book, prolonged use could cause "time sickness," a condition where the user's mind became disoriented, unable to distinguish between the past and present. It warned of hallucinations, memory loss, even psychological breaks.
Mina's stomach twisted. The idea of losing herself, of becoming trapped in a loop of visions, terrified her. But the more she thought about it, the more determined she felt. She had already started this journey, and she couldn't turn back now.
"Marko, I need your help," she said, looking up at him. "I need to figure out what these glasses are trying to show me… and why."
Marko nodded, a flicker of resolve in his eyes. "You've got it. Whatever you need, I'm here."
She felt a surge of gratitude, knowing she wasn't in this alone. Together, they left the basement, stepping back into the cool night air. As they walked home, Mina couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. The shadows seemed to stretch longer, the silence around them thick with unseen eyes.
And deep in her pocket, the glasses seemed to hum with an energy she couldn't quite understand.
The walk back home felt longer than usual, each step carrying a new weight. Mina glanced over her shoulder now and then, her mind racing with everything she'd read in that dusty basement.
As they approached her street, Marko broke the silence. "Are you sure you're okay with this, Mina? Whatever these glasses are… it's no small thing."
Mina hesitated, looking down at her pocket where the glasses lay hidden. Part of her wanted to toss them away, to let someone else deal with this mystery. But she knew, deep down, that wasn't an option anymore.
"Yeah," she finally replied, her voice steady. "I need to know. I've spent too long just… coasting through life, waiting for something to happen. This feels like… maybe this is what I was meant to find."
Marko gave her a small, understanding smile. "Well, just know you're not alone. We're in this together."
Mina felt a warmth spread through her chest at his words. "Thanks, Marko. I don't know what I'd do without you."
They paused in front of her house, both lingering in the quiet. For a moment, it felt like everything might be okay, like this mystery could be solved without any real danger.
But as Mina opened the door and stepped inside, that sense of safety vanished. She felt a chill crawl up her spine, a feeling she couldn't shake—like the house wasn't empty, like someone or something was waiting.
She turned, glancing out the window. The street was empty, Marko's figure disappearing around the corner. Shaking her head, she tried to convince herself it was just nerves. She was just tired. Nothing more.
Yet as she climbed the stairs to her room, every creak, every shadow seemed amplified. She closed her door, locked it, and leaned against it, taking a deep breath.
Slowly, she pulled the glasses out of her pocket and held them up to the light. Their lenses gleamed, almost as if they were looking back at her. She wanted to put them on, to see if they would show her anything new. But the warnings from the basement echoed in her mind—a price must be paid… time sickness… hallucinations…
Mina took a deep breath and set the glasses down on her desk. She needed rest, time to think before she dove any deeper into this mystery.
But even as she lay down, sleep wouldn't come easily. Her mind replayed the visions, the old documents, the warnings. The glasses sat silently on her desk, waiting, as if they knew her curiosity would bring her back.