The Unseen Circle
Cuco didn't sleep the rest of the night.
By morning, his eyes were red, and his thoughts were tangled like a knot that couldn't be undone. He kept replaying the whisper. The open window. The way the wind seemed to know his name.
He didn't tell his mom.
What would he even say?
---
At school, everything looked the same—but something felt wrong.
The halls were quieter than usual. Conversations stopped when he passed. Laughter died mid-breath. And when he walked by a group of students near the lockers, they all turned to stare.
Then looked away just as fast.
Tariq met him by the classroom door.
"We need to talk. After school."
"About the dreams?" Cuco asked.
Tariq's voice dropped low.
"Not just dreams. There's more you need to see."
---
The day dragged on, thick with tension. Even Linux—the usually loud, confident captain of the basketball team—seemed uneasy. He kept glancing at Cuco, like he was something unfamiliar. Something dangerous.
---
When the final bell rang, Tariq led Cuco through the back hallways, past locked doors and abandoned storage rooms no one used anymore.
"Where are we going?" Cuco asked.
"There's a door," Tariq said. "It's always been here. But only some of us can see what's behind it."
At the end of the hall, there was nothing but a dusty janitor's closet and a cracked wall.
Tariq stepped forward, placed his hand on the closet door—and the air shimmered. Like heat rising off asphalt.
Then, something shifted.
A seam in the wall. A hidden line.
And from it, a thin, almost invisible door appeared—like it had been waiting.
Tariq turned to him.
"Welcome to the Circle."
---
The door creaked open.
Inside was a small, shadowy room lit by flickering candles. Strange symbols were painted across the walls—some Cuco recognized from his dream. Others made his skin crawl just looking at them.
Three other students were already there. Cuco had seen their faces around school but never spoken to them.
They all had one thing in common:
The mark.
Faintly glowing on their hands.
A girl with short black hair stepped forward.
"You saw it, didn't you? The Beast."
Cuco nodded slowly.
She looked at the others, then back at him.
"Then it's started," she said. "The seal is weakening. And the one who woke it..."
She paused.
"Is already among us."