In the heart of the old town, amidst the cobbled streets and narrow alleys, there was a house that the residents called the House under the Clock. It was a house with a tall tower on which hung a huge clock, indicating the time for the entire square. When Julia, Tom and Lena decided to rent a flat there together, the old man with the key warned them: "The clock is never wrong... but sometimes it shows something that only insiders can see." Their first days passed quietly. The spacious rooms were full of shadows and creaking parquet floors, and in the evenings the gentle ticking of the clock could be heard. At night, however, something changed. At exactly midnight, the clock struck not twelve but thirteen beats, as if to mark the presence of an extra, hidden hour. One evening, as the storm raged outside the windows, Lena noticed that the hands of the clock began to move in the opposite direction. The light of the lanterns danced on the walls, and a vague silhouette appeared in the tower. Julia and Tom ran out into the corridor as the lights went out simultaneously in their flats. In the stairwell they saw a shadow which, although unidentifiable, seemed to be waiting for them. They stood under the tower, looking at each other anxiously. "Maybe it's just a hallucination?" whispered Tom, but no one dared to confirm. There was a fresh shoe print on the floor, just below the tower entrance, leading up the stairs. The door to the tower slowly swung open with a groan....