You... are you talking?

Alex squatted in front of the desk, his fingers still resting on the watch, the low "Hey, kid," echoing in his ears. The dim light of the dorm room fell on his face, revealing his furrowed brow. "A hallucination, or..." He stared at the watch, its second hand ticking, as if answering his doubts.

A clear "ahem, ahem" came from the watch, like an old man clearing his throat. Alex jumped, his hand trembling, nearly dropping the watch on the ground. "What the hell?" He widened his eyes, adjusted his glasses, and tentatively asked, "You... are you talking?"

The watch vibrated, its case warming slightly, and a raspy voice sounded again: "Of course it's me, kid, don't get so startled. I don't have that much energy to waste on you." The voice had a hint of impatience, like an old man who had been woken up, yet it was also strangely affable.

Alex swallowed: "Are you... something inside the watch?" His mind raced, trying to process this absurd scene. "Am I going crazy, or are you really talking?" he muttered.

"Heh, don't scare yourself silly," the watch scoffed. "I'm not a 'something,' I have a name, it's Jason. I'm just stuck in this broken shell. You locked me up for a whole night, I thought I was going to suffocate."

"Jason?" Alex's voice was full of doubt. He stared at the watch, the "To J, 1963" inscription on the back catching his eye. "Are you human? Or... a monster?" He remembered the props Scarlett had mentioned, those things in the association that could change the body. Could this watch be one of them?

"Human?!" Jason's voice suddenly rose. "I'm not a weak being like a human!" Alex's words seemed to have touched on a sore spot, enraging him.

Alex continued, "If you're conscious, who sealed you in that box?"

"What a load of rubbish!" Jason snapped. "How could I talk to you if I wasn't conscious? But that box was a real pain in the neck, it sealed me up tight, like a coffin. I could barely breathe when you opened it last night. Then you lock me in the drawer, what rude punk."

"The box?" He recalled the wooden box with the obscure carvings.

"That box is strange, it can suppress our movements. When I was locked inside, I couldn't do anything. When you took me out last night, I relied on the energy of those runestones to regain some consciousness. But look, the stones are all crushed to powder. I had to suck them dry to have the strength to speak."

Alex looked down at the drawer, the pile of gray-red powder catching his eye. He was a little confused: "The energy of the runestones? You ate them?" There was a hint of surprise in his voice.

"Eat?" Jason snorted. "That sounds terrible. I just borrowed a little energy, or I'd have to go back to sleep. Those stones didn't have much energy, just enough to clear my head. You should thank me, otherwise they would have crumbled on their own, making a mess of your drawer."

"Then what are you? A soul, or..." He paused, then muttered, "Do you know about the Other Side?"

"The Other Side?" Jason was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "I know where you're talking about, some people also call it the Kingdom. As for me, I'm half a soul, half... something else. I don't remember the details, it's been too long. But I can tell you, that box wasn't just picked up randomly, the carvings are an old kind of sealing technique."

Just as Alex was about to press him for more information, his phone suddenly vibrated on the desk, the screen lighting up with an unfamiliar number. He frowned, saying, "Hold on a second." He answered the phone: "Hello?"

"Alex?" A familiar voice came from the other end of the phone, it was Amy, a classmate, her voice anxious. "Did you see Tom after class?"

"Tom? No, what's wrong?" He remembered Tom, short, bespectacled, usually quiet, he'd been sitting in the front row during "Rituals and Taboos" today.

Amy said in a low voice, "He asked me to wait for him at the entrance of the Philosophy Hall after class, saying he'd left something in the classroom and had to go back and get it, but he's gone missing. I looked all over the classroom, but it's not that big, and I can't get through to his phone. Have you seen him?"

Alex's heart tightened. "The Philosophy Hall?" he muttered. He remembered the strange sounds from the "Urban Legend Association" thread – tapping from inside the walls. "Are you still there?" he said in a low voice.

"No, I'm back in my dorm." Amy said quietly, "I think something's wrong, we usually go to and from class together, and he wouldn't just disappear without a word. I can't get in touch with him at all, but if I call the police now, they definitely won't listen to me..."

Alex said in a low voice, "Don't worry, let's look around the school first, maybe something suddenly came up for him. If that doesn't work, we'll call the police." He hung up the phone, thought for a moment: "Tom's missing... the Philosophy Hall..." The rumour of the tapping sounded again, and a sudden dread shot through his mind: "Could it be the Other Side?"