The college hallway buzzed with noise — students rushing to classes, some standing by lockers chatting about nothing, some just staring at their phones like the world outside didn't exist.
Addie walked through it all, quiet.
Her headphones were in, but she wasn't listening to music.
Just using them to avoid talking.
She didn't like crowds. She didn't hate them either. It was more like… they didn't feel real to her. Like watching a movie on mute.
---
She walked into her literature class and took her usual seat at the back.
Next to the window. Always next to the window.
The teacher, Miss Clara, was already writing something on the board.
"Romeo and Juliet," she announced. "Tragic love, endless fate, poetic nonsense and deep pain. I want a five-hundred-word essay by Friday."
The class groaned. Addie didn't.
She just stared out the window.
The sky was cloudy today — grey, but not stormy. Just... heavy.
Like it was holding something in.
---
Someone tapped her shoulder.
"Hey. You okay?"
Addie blinked and turned.
It was Rayan.
Her best friend since high school.
And her... kind-of boyfriend. Not official, not dramatic. Just real.
"I'm fine," she lied, forcing a smile.
"You look like you fought a demon in your dreams," he said softly, half-joking.
Addie hesitated.
What if I did?
"Bad sleep," she replied instead.
---
The class went on, but Addie's mind didn't.
It wandered again.
Back to that girl's voice — "Mommy, come back…"
To the glowing feather.
To the man with crystal eyes.
To her own reflection — the one that didn't feel like hers.
---
After class, Rayan walked with her toward the canteen.
He offered her his drink. She shook her head.
He held the door for her. She didn't notice.
He said something about weekend plans. She didn't reply.
He finally stopped walking.
"Okay," he said. "Tell me what's going on."
Addie looked up. "What?"
"You're not here. Not really," he said. "You look like you're stuck between now and… I don't know, somewhere else."
She blinked.
That was exactly how she felt.
"I'm just tired," she said again.
"You always say that."
She didn't know what else to say. Because how could she tell him the truth?
> "I see dreams I can't explain.
My heart misses a child I don't remember.
My soul feels older than my body."
No.
No one would believe that.
Not even Rayan.
---
Later, after the last lecture, Addie went to the small garden behind the library. Nobody really came there. Which is why she loved it.
She sat under the old tree and took off her necklace — the feather pendant.
It shimmered again.
This time… brighter.
And she felt something strange — a breeze, even though there was no wind.
> "Your power is sealed."
The voice wasn't outside.
It was inside her head.
She stood up quickly, looking around. No one. Just silence.
Then, something brushed past her cheek — like a wing.
She froze.
"Who's there?" she whispered.
No answer.
Just one white feather… slowly falling from the air… onto her palm.