Lena was fourteen years old, with a quick step and a notebook full of school legends and door diagrams. The one she liked best was the one about the lift, supposedly stopping at an invisible floor outside the school plan. School number seven had an old cage, closed since a noisy refurbishment that spooked the pigeons. Each morning, a star sign flashed on the display instead of the usual numbers and winked at her insistently. Rumour had it that the floor only responded to those looking for something. That evening she stayed after choir rehearsal while Miko watched over the microphones and cables. Outside it was thundering, the lights were flickering and the corridors smelled of dust and ozone. - 'This will just be a test,' she whispered, pressing the star button with her finger in the paint. The display flicked on, the door slid open hard, and the smell changed to forest and resin. The bell sounded different, like a string someone had pulled in secret. Instead of numbers, words scrolled: Garden of Whispers, Corridor of Birds, Catalogue of the Lost. An old brass key, worn on a string, became suddenly warm against her skin. She had found it at a flea market, engraved with the same mark as on the panel. - Do you hear that echo? - Asked Miko as her delayed name came back from the lift, as if called from under the water. The shadows in the cabin moved as if they had their own quiet breathing. Inside, instead of a mirror, there was a sheet through which the alien forest and thin mist could be seen. Two moons shone above the crowns, one pale, the other with a ring like a halo of gold. A clipart map hung next to the buttons, and an arrow ended in her name. - Is this a joke by someone from the technical school? - muttered Lena, although her heart sped up as if after a run. In the margin of the map someone had annotated with a pen: Don't go in alone, the clock lies. The door vibrated, half-closed and pushed back again, as if hesitating. The voice of the automaton sounded metallic: Level Catalogue of the Lost, side direction, please keep your balance. The cabin jerked, the light dimmed and the trace of a hand writing her name backwards appeared on the glass from inside. The key jerked a string, as if something on the other side had already grabbed it. - Lena... you're late,' whispered someone from the woods as she lifted her foot over the threshold.