Aera told herself it had been nothing.
Just a normal conversation. A crowded café. A few unfamiliar faces who happened to be easy to talk to.
That was all.
She walked down the street at her usual pace, one hand loosely holding her bag, the other wrapped around the warmth of her coffee cup. The city moved around her in its familiar rhythm..cars passing, people talking, footsteps overlapping into a steady hum.
Everything felt the same.
And yet not quite.
She noticed it first in the sound.A car passed by, its engine noise stretching just a fraction longer than it should have, like an echo that didn't fully belong. Someone laughed nearby, but the sound cut off slightly too early, as if it had been interrupted mid-air.
Aera slowed down.
It wasn't obvious enough to alarm her. If anything, it was subtle enough to ignore.
And she tried to.
You're just overthinking again.
She adjusted her grip on the cup and kept walking.
Ahead of her, the pedestrian signal turned green.
People began crossing.
She stepped forward with them.
For a moment, everything was normal.
Then it stopped.
Not gradually.
Not slowly.
Everything stopped.
A car in the middle of the road froze, its wheels still in motion but going nowhere. A man mid-step stood suspended, one foot hovering slightly above the ground. A voice that had been speaking nearby cut off completely, leaving behind a silence so complete it felt unnatural.
Even the air felt still.
Aera didn't move.
Her mind didn't race.
She didn't panic.
She just… stood there.
Because something inside her refused to believe what she was seeing.
It lasted no more than a second.
Maybe less.
Then everything resumed.
The car was slightly ahead of where it should have been. The man's foot hit the ground a fraction too late. The voice continued as if it had never stopped.
No one reacted.
No one noticed.
Aera remained where she was, her steps halted in the middle of the crossing."That didn't happen."She said it under her breath, almost automatically.But she didn't believe it.
She crossed the rest of the road more slowly, her gaze moving from one person to another, searching for any sign.. any reaction that matched what she had just experienced.There was none.Except....A man standing near the sidewalk looked at her.
Not for long.
Just a brief glance.
But something about it felt wrong.
Like he had noticed her noticing.
And then he looked away too quickly.
Aera's grip tightened slightly around her cup.
She didn't stop walking.
She didn't turn back.
But the thought stayed with her..quiet and persistent.
I wasn't the only one.
By the time she reached campus, everything had returned to normal.
At least, on the surface.
Students moved between classes, conversations overlapped, someone laughed too loudly at something that wasn't that funny. The world continued as if nothing had happened.
But Aera wasn't the same.
Now she was watching.
A group of students passed by her.
One of them said something, and another laughed, then repeated the same laugh again, softer this time, as if the moment had echoed.
Aera slowed down.
Two steps ahead, someone turned slightly too late when their name was called.
Behind her, a sentence began and then started again, as if the first attempt had been erased.
Her chest tightened.
It's not the world.
The thought came instinctively.
It's me.
But even as she thought it something didn't sit right.Because if it was just her, why did it feel so consistent?
"You felt it."
The voice came from beside her.
Aera stopped.
She didn't need to look to know who it was.
Still...
she turned.
He stood there, calm as always, his expression unreadable.
The silent one.
"What?" she asked.
"The delay," he said.
The word settled into place too easily.
Aera's fingers tightened slightly.
"You're talking like it was real."
He didn't respond immediately.
Just watched her.
"It was," he said finally.
Something in her expression shifted.
Not fear.
Not relief.
Recognition.
"You saw it too?" she asked.
"I see more than that."
Before she could respond, another voice cut in..sharper this time.
"You shouldn't be talking about this."
Aera turned.
The intense one stood a few steps away, his posture controlled but his tone edged with something less contained.
"This isn't her concern," he added.
"It already is," the silent one replied calmly.
A brief tension passed between them.
Not loud.
Not obvious.
But there.
Then..
the leader stepped in.
"She's already involved."
The words were quiet.
Final.
No one argued.
Aera looked between them, her confusion sharpening into something more focused now.
"You keep saying things like that," she said. "Involved in what?"
No one answered.
For a moment, it felt like the air itself had shifted.
Then everything went silent again.
This time, it was different.
The world didn't just pause..
it disappeared.
Sound vanished completely. Movement ceased. The space around her felt suspended, like she had stepped outside of time itself.
Aera's breath caught slightly.
But she could still move.
She turned slowly.
The students around her were frozen in place. A leaf caught mid-fall hovered in the air. Even the faint movement of distant traffic had stopped completely.
And then she saw them.
The seven.
Standing exactly where they had been..except now, one of them moved.The leader.He stepped forward, his gaze fixed on her, his expression no longer distant but focused.
Present.
Aware.
Aera's breath faltered slightly.
They were looking at each other.
Not across a crowd.
Not through passing moments.
Directly.
"You're early," he said.
The words were quiet.
Measured.
But they carried weight.
Aera stared at him, her mind trying to catch up with what was happening.
"What does that mean?" she asked.
But before he could respond..everything snapped back.Sound rushed in. Movement resumed. The world continued exactly where it had left off, as if nothing had happened.
Aera stood still, her breathing uneven now.Around her, students walked past without noticing anything.As if it had all been nothing.
But it wasn't.
She looked at them again.All seven stood there.
Still.
Watching.
And this time she didn't look away.
"This isn't the first time, is it?"
🌑 End of Chapter 5