3:15 p.m.
Ryan City Elementary. Grade 3, Class B.
The final bell had rung nearly twenty minutes ago.
Most of the students had already gone home.
Only four children remained inside the classroom.
A boy with glasses.
A girl with two braids.
A boy with a scraped knee.
And a little girl quietly clutching a dinosaur-shaped eraser.
The classroom felt unusually silent.
Asiya stood at the doorway.
A gray hoodie.
Both hands tucked into her pockets.
The jade bracelet rested quietly beneath her sleeve.
The child ghost peeked around the doorframe.
The long-haired ghost remained outside in the hallway.
The class teacher forced a small smile.
"Miss Lei... these are Asher's closest friends."
"I've told them you wanted to ask a few questions."
Asiya nodded.
"...Thank you."
The teacher quietly left.
Click.
The classroom door closed.
Silence.
Four nervous pairs of eyes looked toward Asiya.
She didn't sit.
Instead, she leaned lightly against the teacher's desk.
"...I'm not here to scold anyone."
Nobody answered.
"...I'm here because Asher is still asleep."
The girl with braids lowered her head.
"...And he won't wake up."
The room became even quieter.
Asiya's voice remained gentle.
"...Do any of you know why?"
The boy with glasses quickly shook his head.
"...No."
"We don't know anything."
"...Mm."
She simply nodded.
Walking toward the blackboard, she picked up a piece of chalk.
Scratch...
A few simple lines appeared.
A broken gate.
A large house.
Overgrown vines.
She tapped the drawing.
"...Do you recognize this place?"
The scraped-knee boy froze.
The little girl squeezed the dinosaur eraser tighter.
The child ghost floated closer to Asiya.
"...The boy on the left."
"...He's scared."
"...Not because of you."
"...Because he remembers."
Asiya never looked toward him.
Instead, she calmly placed the chalk back on the tray.
"...I can find the truth without asking."
"...But it will take longer."
She looked at the four children.
"...Asher doesn't have much time."
Silence.
Five seconds.
Ten.
Twenty.
Finally-
The girl with braids burst into tears.
"...I'm sorry..."
"...We didn't mean for this to happen..."
The boy with glasses closed his eyes.
"...It was our idea."
"...Some older students kept talking about an abandoned villa outside the city."
"They said nobody dared stay there after sunset."
"...So we wanted to prove ghosts weren't real."
Asiya listened quietly.
"...When?"
"...Last Saturday."
"...After our tutoring class."
"...There were five of us."
The scraped-knee boy swallowed nervously.
"...Asher came too."
The little girl whispered,
"...We climbed through a broken wall."
"...The front gate was locked."
"...Everything inside smelled old."
"...And dusty."
The child ghost hugged itself.
"...I don't like dusty haunted places."
The long-haired ghost sighed outside the classroom.
"...Neither do I."
Asiya folded her arms.
"...Then what happened?"
The scraped-knee boy answered.
"...There was a room in the middle of the villa."
"...Strange red lines were drawn on the floor."
"...We thought they were just old paint."
The boy with glasses lowered his voice.
"...Asher walked into the middle first."
"...Then he smiled."
"He closed his eyes."
"...And made a wish."
Asiya's expression remained calm.
"...What wish?"
Nobody answered.
Instead-
The room became frighteningly quiet.
Finally-
The girl with braids whispered through her tears.
"...He said..."
"...I wish my dad would come home..."
She wiped her eyes.
"...Even if I have to stay here."
The words lingered in the air.
The child ghost slowly turned toward Asiya.
"...That..."
"...Was a very bad thing to say there."
Asiya said nothing.
She simply stared at the drawing on the blackboard.
Not a haunted room.
A sealing formation.
The scraped-knee boy continued quietly.
"...The moment he finished speaking..."
"...The air became cold."
"...Our phone lights started flickering."
"...The lines on the floor..."
"...They glowed."
The little girl covered her face.
"...Asher stopped moving."
"...He just stood there."
"...No matter how much we called him..."
"...He didn't answer."
The boy with glasses clenched his fists.
"...We got scared."
"...So..."
"...We ran."
Silence filled the classroom.
Asiya closed her eyes for a moment.
"...Did anyone touch the symbols?"
All four children shook their heads.
"...Did anyone return afterward?"
Again-
They shook their heads.
Asiya gave a small nod.
"...Good."
The children looked confused.
"...Good?"
She smiled faintly.
"...Because that means the seal wasn't disturbed again."
The four children blinked.
They clearly had no idea what she meant.
Asiya walked toward the door.
Before leaving, she looked back.
"...You aren't bad children."
"...You made a mistake."
"...Next time..."
She smiled gently.
"...Don't explore haunted villas after school."
The scraped-knee boy actually laughed through his tears.
"...Okay..."
The atmosphere finally relaxed.
Asiya opened the door.
The two ghosts followed her outside.
Behind them-
The children remained seated quietly.
For the first time since Asher had collapsed...
They felt like someone truly understood what had happened.
Outside-
The evening breeze carried the scent of approaching rain.
The child ghost floated beside Asiya.
"...So it wasn't a ghost."
"No."
"...It was the seal."
"Mhm."
The long-haired ghost folded his arms.
"...The forbidden formation accepted his words."
"...A promise made inside a completed seal..."
"...Can become a binding."
The child ghost shivered.
"...Can we still bring him back?"
Asiya looked toward the western horizon.
"...Yes."
"...His soul is still there."
"...He's waiting."
Her jade bracelet pulsed softly beneath her sleeve.
Golden light flickered for only an instant.
"...We're going tonight."
Far beyond the lights of Ryan City-
An abandoned villa stood forgotten behind rusted iron gates.
Its broken windows reflected the fading sunset.
Wild vines swallowed the outer walls.
Everything appeared silent.
Empty.
Dead.
Yet beneath the cracked stone floor-
Ancient crimson lines slowly awakened.
The forbidden sealing formation had sensed something.
Not another victim.
Someone else.
Someone carrying the Light.
Deep below-
Where countless restless souls had been bound for decades-
A faded talisman fluttered without wind.
Its ink had almost vanished.
Almost.
Somewhere in the darkness-
A cold pair of eyes slowly opened.
Not the eyes of a beast.
But the lingering will of the shaman who had created the seal.
His voice echoed through the empty underground chamber.
"So..."
"The Keeper has finally arrived."
Silence returned.
Outside-
The villa stood exactly as it always had.
Waiting.