FAYE
The sound didn’t just echo.
It settled.
Heavy.
Like it belonged there.
For a second, I didn’t move. I didn’t even breathe properly. My eyes stayed on the doors, like they might explain themselves if I stared long enough.
They didn’t.
They just… stayed shut.
A faint ringing filled my ears, or maybe it was just the silence stretching too far, pressing in on everything. No one spoke. No one moved. I could feel it—the shift in the room, the way everyone had gone quiet without needing to be told.
I blinked.
My gaze flickered briefly to the side, then back to the doors again, like I had missed something.
Someone must have pushed them.
That was the first thought that came.
It had to be.
Except—
No one was near them.
My throat felt dry all of a sudden.
I swallowed, forcing my
