The library was quiet.
Too quiet.
Rei sat alone, his fingers tapping against a worn page.
The light overhead flickered once.
He didn't notice.
His eyes were on the symbol.
That strange, jagged mark.
The same one on Takeshi's wrist.
The same one burned into his memory.
---
He had been digging for days.
Through old school records.
News articles.
Missing students.
Weird events.
They all pointed to one thing:
This wasn't the first time.
---
He flipped the next page.
It was yellowed, edges torn.
An old article from ten years ago.
"Local Student Found Unconscious, Claiming 'He Never Woke Up'"
Rei read every line.
The boy was 17.
Quiet. Normal.
Until he started sleepwalking.
Talking to shadows.
Then one day, he never woke up again.
His body was fine—but his mind was… gone.
---
Next to the article was a note.
Scribbled in red ink.
Not part of the official file.
Just one line:
> "The Hollow doesn't take—It trades."
---
Rei leaned back, rubbing his eyes.
> "What are you caught in, Sato…"
---
He stood, walking deeper into the archives.
Lights dimmed the further he went.
Dust in the air.
Silence thick like smoke.
At the end of the row—an old cabinet.
Locked.
But not very well.
He picked it open with a pen.
Inside, old tapes.
And a black notebook.
He flipped it open.
It wasn't typed.
It was handwritten.
Sharp letters. Strange grammar.
> "Drift."
> "Tether."
> "The Bound Gate."
---
Rei blinked.
The words swam for a second.
The room felt colder.
And then—
From behind him—
A whisper.
So faint, it almost wasn't there.
> "You shouldn't be here."
---
He spun around.
No one.
Just the rows of shelves.
Still.
Dead still.
---
Rei stuffed the notebook in his bag and left in a hurry.
The mark on his wrist tingled again.
And this time, he didn't ignore it.
---
End of Chapter 28.