The old high school on the edge of town had been abandoned for over thirty years, its rusted gates standing like sentinels guarding a forgotten past. Students still whispered about it, not out of fear, but curiosity. They spoke of the girl who never left the library, the boy who vanished during lunch, and the ghostly laughter that echoed through the empty halls at night. But no one ever went inside—until the summer before their senior year. A group of friends, drawn by the mystery, decided to explore the crumbling building. The air was thick with dust and the scent of damp wood, as if the school itself had been holding its breath. They moved cautiously through the hallways, their footsteps muffled by layers of old carpet. The windows were fogged, and shadows seemed to stretch unnaturally across the walls. In the library, they found a stack of yellowed books, their spines cracked and brittle. One book, titled *The Forgotten Lessons*, caught their attention. It was bound in black leather, its cover embossed with a strange symbol that looked like a spiral of eyes. When they opened it, the pages were blank, but faint words appeared as they turned each one, as if the book was writing itself. "Be careful what you read," one of them muttered, but the others were too fascinated to stop. The words described events that had never happened—students who disappeared without a trace, teachers who never returned from their classes, and a secret room hidden behind the wall of the old science lab. They followed the directions in the book, which led them to a door they hadn't noticed before. It was hidden behind a row of cabinets, its handle rusted and cold to the touch. Inside was a small, circular room with a single chair and a mirror that reflected nothing but darkness. As they stepped closer, the mirror began to shimmer, and the image within shifted. It showed a classroom filled with children, their faces pale and their eyes vacant. They sat silently, staring forward as if waiting for something. One of the friends reached out to touch the mirror, but before his hand could make contact, the reflection turned to look at him. Its mouth moved, forming words that weren’t spoken aloud. The friends stumbled back, heart pounding, and the mirror went dark again. They ran out of the school, leaving the book behind, but the experience lingered in their minds. The next day, the library was gone, replaced by an empty lot. No one remembered the building, and even the students who had been there couldn’t recall what had happened. But the book remained, tucked away in a drawer, its pages still changing. Weeks passed, and the friends tried to forget. But the book called to them, its words more vivid each time they read it. It told of a student named Elara, who had once lived in the school and had been trapped in the mirror room. She had written the book to warn others, but her message had been lost in time. Now, the story was repeating itself, and the book was choosing new readers. One by one, the friends began to vanish. Some were found wandering the streets, whispering incoherent sentences. Others simply disappeared, leaving behind only their belongings. The town started to talk, but no one believed the stories. The school was gone, the book was gone, and the friends were gone. But the book wasn’t really gone. It had found a new home, in the hands of a new student, someone who had heard the stories and wanted to know the truth. And as they opened the book, the words began to appear once more, waiting for the next chapter to be written.