The room was drowning in an unnatural cold, a chill that did not stem from winter, but from death itself. That entity clung to Rouya's clothes, moaning in a soul-shattering voice: "Help me..." Rouya's breath froze in her chest as she watched the void transform into a visual hell; the walls were closing in, and the temperature plummeted until she could see her own trembling breath. Before her eyes, the woman's body began to multiply, her skin cracking like parched earth, until they were face to face.
Rouya's eyes widened with sheer terror, and tears streamed down incessantly—not out of fear of ugliness, but because of those hollow, sorrowful eyes that clung to her as if she were "her last lifeline." Rouya asked in a fractured, trembling voice: "How... how can I help you?" The woman tried to speak, to cry for help, but instead of words, a bitter scream of agony erupted, shaking the corners of the room before she vanished like black ash before Rouya's eyes. She tried to reach for her hands, but they evaporated, followed by a cold whisper directly behind her ear—a whisper that was not human.
Rouya shut her eyes tightly as she felt black hands clamping over her vision, plunging the world into absolute darkness. She searched for an exit, but the walls had vanished. She thought it was a hallucination, until warm, viscous drops began to fall on her head. She wiped them away only to find her hand coated in crimson. Slowly, she looked up, and the blood froze in her veins; the same woman was hanging in the void, knives piercing her chest violently as blood flowed like a river. Suddenly, the setting shifted into a derelict warehouse reeking of rust and death. She saw a man in dark clothing smiling coldly; Rouya was completely paralyzed, like a doll watching its own demise. She screamed with all her fading strength: "Stop!"
The man turned toward her, and in that moment, Rouya fell into an abyss of horror; he had no face—it was a "man's skull" gleaming under a dim light.
She woke up terrified, with the morning light filling her room. She ran to the mirror; it was intact, without a single crack. "Impossible... yes, it was a dream," she told herself, though she was used to hearing their voices or noticing their shadows. Yet, this manifestation exceeded all her imaginations. She glanced at the clock and screamed: "I'm late!"
She rushed out of the house after ensuring the door was locked tight. At the bus stop, the place was nearly deserted. Standing beside her was a towering man, nearly 190 cm tall, his skin as white as snow. His blue eyes were flecked with amber, like a forest at dusk. His hair was as black as the abyss, and he wore a heavy cotton coat. Noticing she was staring, she said timidly: "Sorry," and returned to her phone. As she boarded the bus, she pulled out one earphone, only to hear his deep voice echoing in the depths of her ear: "Beware of the eyes that watch you in the dark."
She turned, but he had already vanished. "Madman," she whispered as she boarded the bus, her heart thumping like a drum. At the university, while the professor with brown hair and hazel eyes began his lecture, Rouya's mind was drowning in those words. The day ended at 4:00 PM. On her way back through the empty park, she felt that gaze again. She saw his shadow. She quickened her pace; he did the same. She ran with all her might, the shadow pursuing her like a hungry beast through the trees.
She reached the police station panting and shouted at the officer: "Someone is following me!" He looked behind her calmly and said: "There is no one there." Rouya turned in shock; the shadow had evaporated. "I swear someone was there!" she said despairingly. He gave her his number to call in case of an emergency.
She returned to her apartment, changed her clothes, prepared dinner, and decided to sleep early to escape this ill-fated day. But as soon as she closed her eyes, she found herself back in that warehouse—this time, she was bound in iron chains, her body feeling every wound yet to come. She screamed internally: "Damn this! I have become the victim now!"
The screech of a rusty door cut through her thoughts. The man with the skull mask entered, holding a massive pair of nail clippers designed for animals. He grabbed her hair forcefully, and she screamed: "Please, leave me alone!" But she was stunned when words she hadn't even thought of came out of her mouth: "I have a child!" She realized she was inhabiting the victim's consciousness, seeing the scene through the eyes of someone else who was about to die. The man leaned toward her and whispered with a terrifying hiss: "No... no... I am going to make you into another artistic masterpiece," as he raised the tool toward her face to begin the true scream