---
I couldn't stop thinking about him.
The train station had returned to its usual, lifeless monotony, but my mind was stuck in that moment. The moment I saw him—or someone who looked exactly like him. Elian. The man I owed everything to. The man I thought I'd never see again.
My fingers clenched around the coin in my pocket as I walked home through the dimly lit streets of the city. The smooth metal felt cold, as if it were leeching warmth from my skin. I hadn't dared to let go of it since picking it up.
Something about it pulled at me, whispering half-formed thoughts and memories that didn't belong to me. Every time I tried to focus on the voice, it slipped away like smoke through my fingers.
I finally reached my apartment—a cramped space on the third floor of an old building that creaked with every step. The faint smell of rain lingered in the air as I unlocked the door and stepped inside.
The familiar sight of cluttered bookshelves, scattered papers, and the soft hum of my old refrigerator should have been comforting. But tonight, everything felt… wrong. Like I had walked into someone else's life.
I tossed my keys onto the counter and sat at the small dining table, pulling out the coin and placing it in front of me. The symbol—two halves of a circle split by a jagged line—gleamed faintly under the dim light.
"What are you?" I whispered, half-expecting an answer.
The coin remained silent.
---
I met Elian seven years ago, back when I was just another invisible kid trying to survive high school. No family, no real friends—just me and my books. I never expected someone like him to notice me.
Elian was everything I wasn't. Confident, charismatic, fearless. He had a way of drawing people to him without even trying. But for some reason, he chose me.
The first time he saved me was from a group of seniors who thought it would be fun to shove the quiet kid around. Elian stepped in without hesitation, taking a punch that was meant for me. He walked away with a black eye, but he laughed it off like it was nothing.
"That's what friends do," he had said, grinning through the swelling.
I had no idea how much those words would come to mean.
---
I stared at the coin, my mind drifting back to the train station, to the man who looked like Elian.
Was it really him?
The rational part of me knew it was impossible. Elian was gone. I was there when it happened. I saw him fall, heard the crunch of metal and glass, and felt the world break beneath me.
But then… who was that man?
I reached for my phone, scrolling through old photos of Elian. Each one was a reminder of the life we shared, the adventures we had, and the debt I could never repay.
And then, a notification popped up on my screen.
[Unknown Number: We need to talk. It's about Elian.]
My heart stopped.
Before I could respond, another message followed:
[Come to the Clocktower at midnight.]
The Clocktower. A forgotten relic of the city's past, abandoned and left to decay. No one went there anymore, not since the accident that claimed several lives—including Elian's.
My hands trembled as I stared at the message. Was this a prank? Some cruel joke? Or was it something more?
The coin on the table glowed faintly, as if urging me to go.
---
Midnight found me standing at the base of the Clocktower, its shadow looming over me like a silent guardian. The air was thick with the scent of rust and decay, and the distant hum of the city seemed to fade into silence.
I stepped inside, the creak of the door echoing through the hollow space. Dust hung in the air, disturbed by my presence.
"Hello?" I called out, my voice swallowed by the cavernous interior.
No response.
I took a few cautious steps forward, my footsteps echoing against the stone walls. The faint glow of the coin in my pocket was the only source of light, guiding me deeper into the darkness.
And then I heard it—a whisper.
Soft, indistinct, like a breeze carrying fragments of forgotten words.
"Adrian…"
I froze.
"Adrian…" The voice was clearer now, familiar yet distant.
"Elian?" I whispered, my heart pounding.
A figure emerged from the shadows, and my breath caught in my throat.
It was him.
Or at least, it looked like him.
"Elian?" I took a step forward, my voice trembling. "Is it… is it really you?"
The figure didn't answer immediately. He stood there, half-hidden in the shadows, his eyes gleaming with a light that seemed both human and something else entirely.
"You shouldn't be here," he said finally, his voice cold and distant.
"What do you mean?" I demanded, taking another step forward. "You sent the message. You asked me to come."
"I didn't send it," he said, his eyes narrowing. "But it doesn't matter. You've been marked."
"Marked? What are you talking about?"
He stepped closer, the light revealing more of his face. It was Elian—but older, different. His eyes held a weight I didn't recognize, a burden I couldn't comprehend.
"The coin," he said, his gaze dropping to my pocket. "It belongs to the Keepers. And now, so do you."
"The Keepers?" My mind raced, trying to piece together the fragments of information. "Who are they? What do they want?"
"They control time," Elian said, his voice low and urgent. "And they don't like disruptions."
I pulled the coin from my pocket, holding it up. "This? This is what they're after?"
Elian nodded. "It's a key. A doorway to places you can't even imagine. And now that you have it, they'll come for you."
The shadows around us seemed to shift, growing darker and more oppressive.
"What do I do?" I asked, panic rising in my chest.
Elian's eyes met mine, and for a moment, I saw the friend I had lost—the friend who had always been there to protect me.
"Run," he said. "And don't look back."
Before I could respond, the air around us shattered like glass, and the world dissolved into chaos.
---