Chapter 2: The Boy Who Stole Tomorrow

The voice beneath the floorboards whispered again.
"Elara, sweetheart. It's me."
Her father's voice.
The same gentle voice she hadn't heard in seven years.
"Dad?"
The boy tightened his grip on her wrist.
"Don't answer!"
But it was too late.
The floor cracked.
A pale hand emerged between the wooden planks, followed by another. Something began pulling itself upward.
"Run!" the boy shouted.
They sprinted between towering bookshelves as the creature crawled after them.
"WHAT IS THAT?" Elara screamed.
"A Forgotten!"
"A WHAT?"
"Someone whose story was erased!"
"THAT EXPLAINS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!"
They reached a narrow staircase hidden behind a bookshelf.
The boy pushed her inside and slammed the door.
Silence.
Elara bent forward, gasping.
"Okay. First question. Who are you?"
"Lucien."
"Second question. Why does that thing sound like my father?"
Lucien hesitated.
"Because it knows what you miss most."
Elara's stomach twisted.
"And the book? Why does it say I'm going to die?"
Lucien pulled out his silver pocket watch.
Its hands were moving backwards.
"Because someone has rewritten your ending."
He opened the watch.
Inside, instead of numbers, twelve tiny stars circled a black moon.
"Every person has a Book of Days," he explained. "Their past is written in ink. Their future is written in possibilities."
"Then why did mine predict my death?"
"Because someone stole your possibilities."
Elara stared at him.
"Can I have them back?"
"That's why I'm here."
A terrible thought struck her.
"The book said you'd betray me."
Lucien looked away.
"Yes."
"Are you going to?"
He remained silent.
Before she could speak again, a bell rang somewhere above them.
Once.
Twice.
Thirteen times.
Lucien went pale.
"That's impossible."
"What?"
"The library only rings thirteen times when a Keeper dies."
Suddenly, the staircase trembled.
A golden envelope slipped beneath the door.
Elara picked it up.
Her name was written across the front.
Inside was a photograph.
A younger Lucien stood beside her father.
Both were smiling.
On the back, someone had written:
THE BOY HAS ALREADY BETRAYED YOU ONCE.
Elara slowly raised her eyes.
"You knew my father?"
Lucien's expression crumbled.
"Elara, there's something you need to understand."
He reached toward her.
She stepped back.
"Don't touch me."
Then the photograph began burning in her hands.
As the flames consumed it, a final message appeared.
YOUR FATHER IS ALIVE.
AND HE IS THE ONE WHO WROTE YOUR DEATH.
For the first time, Lucien looked genuinely terrified.
"That's not possible," he whispered.
From behind the locked door came a familiar voice.
"Actually, Lucien..."
The handle slowly turned.
"It's exactly what happened."
Imagine your life one year from now, going well. What does an ordinary day look like?