Nora couldn’t breathe.

The words remained in the darkness.

“Now remember why you killed him.”

She turned quickly.

“Julian?”

“I’m here.”

His voice came from somewhere behind her.

Nora reached for him.

Her fingers found his hand.

Cold.

“That wasn’t funny.”

“I wasn’t joking.”

The lantern suddenly came back to life.

Julian stood beside her.

His face was pale.

Nora stared at him.

“Did I kill you?”

Julian didn’t answer.

“Tell me.”

He looked down.

“Not exactly.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means the memory isn’t the whole truth.”

Nora stepped closer.

“You knew this was coming.”

“Yes.”

“You knew I’d remember.”

“I hoped you wouldn’t.”

“Why?”

Julian looked into her eyes.

“Because once you remember everything, the house will want you to stay.”

A deep vibration moved through the walls.

The room trembled.

Dust fell from the ceiling.

Nora looked around.

“What was that?”

“The house.”

“It can’t be alive.”

Julian gave a bitter smile.

“You’ve seen enough tonight to stop believing in impossible things.”

The cassette recorder suddenly turned on again.

Static filled the room.

Then Nora heard her own voice.

This time, it wasn’t the voice of a child.

It was her voice at seventeen.

“Julian, if you love me, you have to leave.”

Nora froze.

The recording continued.

“They’ll hurt you because of me.”

A man’s voice answered.

Julian.

“I don’t care.”

Nora’s eyes filled with tears.

“You should.”

A pause.

Then another sound.

A door slamming.

A scream.

The recording stopped.

Nora looked at Julian.

“What happened after that?”

He closed his eyes.

“You disappeared.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know.”

“But you found me.”

“Years later.”

“How?”

Julian walked toward the wall.

There was a small photograph attached to it.

He touched it.

“I followed your dreams.”

Nora stared.

“My dreams?”

“Every time you dreamed about the house, I could see it too.”

“That’s impossible.”

“So is everything else here.”

Nora looked at the photograph.

It showed a young Nora sleeping.

Beside her bed stood Julian.

But the date was only three years ago.

Nora stepped backward.

“You were watching me.”

“I was protecting you.”

“You could have told me.”

“You weren’t ready.”

“Who decides that?”

“I did.”

Nora’s anger rose.

“You don’t get to decide what I remember!”

Julian looked at her.

“I know.”

His voice broke slightly.

“I’ve spent seven years wishing I could change that.”

Nora became silent.

Seven years.

Something about the number felt important.

Then the room began to change.

The walls became transparent.

The stone disappeared.

Nora suddenly found herself standing beside a lake.

It was nighttime.

Snow covered the ground.

She was seventeen again.

Julian stood across from her.

But this time, she could hear everything.

“You have to forget me,” he said.

Young Nora shook her head.

“No.”

“If you remember me, they’ll find you.”

“I don’t care.”

“I do.”

He walked toward her.

“You have a life waiting for you.”

“My life is with you.”

Julian touched her cheek.

“Not anymore.”

Young Nora began crying.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because I love you.”

Then someone appeared behind Julian.

An older woman.

Nora’s grandmother.

She held a small silver box.

“Enough.”

The memory froze.

Present-day Nora stared at the scene.

“Grandmother.”

Julian stood beside her.

“She used the box to remove memories.”

“What did she remove?”

“Everything connected to me.”

Nora looked at the frozen image of herself.

“Why did she think I would be safer without you?”

Julian hesitated.

“Because your dreams were becoming stronger.”

“What does that mean?”

“You weren’t just seeing the future.”

Nora’s stomach tightened.

“What was I seeing?”

“The possible future.”

She looked at him.

“Possible?”

“Every dream showed you a different future.”

“And one of them involved you dying.”

“Yes.”

Nora remembered the grave.

JULIAN VALE.

Tomorrow.

She whispered:

“The grave.”

Julian nodded.

“It’s not my grave.”

“What?”

“It’s yours.”

Nora stared at him.

“But the name said Julian Vale.”

“The house changed the name.”

“Why?”

“Because it wants you to believe I’m the one who dies.”

A cold silence filled the room.

“Then who dies?”

Julian didn’t answer.

Nora suddenly understood.

“Someone close to me.”

He nodded.

“Tomorrow night.”

“Who?”

Before he could respond, the memory changed again.

The lake disappeared.

Nora saw herself standing in the house.

She was holding the silver box.

Julian was on the floor.

Blood stained his shirt.

Nora screamed.

“Stop!”

The vision continued.

Young Nora was crying.

“I didn’t mean to.”

Julian reached toward her.

“You have to run.”

She dropped the box.

Her grandmother entered the room.

“You killed him.”

Nora watched in horror.

“But he was still alive.”

Her grandmother smiled.

“Not for long.”

The vision shattered.

Nora fell to her knees.

“I did it.”

Julian knelt beside her.

“No.”

“I saw it.”

“You saw what the house wanted you to see.”

“But the blood—”

“Was real.”

Nora looked up.

“Then what happened to you?”

Julian took her hand.

“I survived.”

A loud crack echoed through the underground room.

The stone floor split open.

A staircase appeared.

At the bottom was a door made of black wood.

Julian stared at it.

“We have to go.”

Nora stood.

“Where?”

“To the room where it all began.”

They descended.

At the bottom, Julian opened the black door.

Inside was a bedroom.

Nora recognized it immediately.

Her childhood bedroom.

The bed.

The blue curtains.

The small wooden desk.

The moon-shaped lamp.

Everything was exactly as she remembered.

Except for one thing.

A girl was sitting on the bed.

A six-year-old Nora.

She looked directly at them.

“You’re late.”

Nora’s eyes widened.

The little girl smiled.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

Julian stepped forward.

“Who are you?”

The child looked at him.

“You know who I am.”

Then she pointed toward Nora.

“I’m the memory she left behind.”

Nora couldn’t move.

The child stood.

“You came back because tomorrow is the day you finally remember everything.”

She walked toward the door.

Before disappearing, she turned around.

“And when you remember…”

Her eyes moved toward Julian.

“…you’ll understand why he has to die.”

The door slammed shut.

Julian looked at Nora.

Neither of them spoke.

Outside, thunder rolled across the forest.

Tomorrow was approaching.

And somewhere inside the house—

a clock began counting backward.