The Unseen Circle
Cuco didn't sleep the rest of the night.
By the time morning came, his eyes were red, and his thoughts were tangled like knots. He kept thinking about that whisper. About the open window. About 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 off.
He noticed the halls were quieter. People weren't making as much noise as usual. And when Cuco passed a group of students by the lockers, they suddenly went silent. Stared at him.
Then looked away just as fast.
Tariq met him by the classroom door. "We need to talk. After school."
"About the dreams?" Cuco asked.
"Not just dreams," Tariq said, his voice low. "There's more you need to see."
The rest of the day crawled by, the air thick with tension. Even Linux—the usually confident, loud basketball captain—seemed distracted, watching Cuco from the corner of his eye like he was something dangerous.
When school ended, Tariq led Cuco through the back hallways, past the old storage rooms no one used anymore.
"Where are we going?" Cuco asked.
"There's a door," Tariq said. "It's always been there. But only some of us can see what's behind it."
They reached the end of the hall. There was nothing there but a wall and a dusty janitor's closet.
Tariq walked right up to it, placed his hand on the closet door... and the air around them shimmered, like heat off asphalt.
Then the wall behind the closet shifted—just slightly—and a thin, hidden door appeared. Almost like it had been waiting for them.
"Welcome to the Circle," Tariq whispered.
The door creaked open.
Inside was a small, dark room lit by flickering candles. Symbols were painted on the walls—some Cuco recognized from his dream. Others made his skin crawl just looking at them.
Three other students stood in the room already—students Cuco had seen around school but never spoken to. They all had one thing in common:
The mark.
Glowing faintly on each of their hands.
A girl with short black hair stepped forward. "You saw it, didn't you? The Beast."
Cuco nodded slowly.
"Then it's starting," she said. "The seal is weakening. And the one who woke it... is already among us."