Chapter Two: The Changing Photograph

Xingyao’s hand was no longer raised toward the camera. She held a silver disc against her chest. Behind her, the clock on a black tower read 2:07. Shen Yan glanced at the wall clock. It was 2:03. The second hand inside the photograph moved. He stumbled backward, overturning a tray. Chemicals spread across the tiles. Onscreen, Xingyao turned as if she had heard something. Three figures in white masks emerged from the bridge’s shadows. Their coats did not flap in the wind; the hems floated upward as though submerged. She silently shaped four words: Go to the observatory. A bell seemed to sound through the screen. Pain stabbed Shen Yan’s right eye, and white starlight consumed his vision. Then the darkroom vanished.