I couldn't feel the ground.
Or maybe I could…
But it didn't feel real.
Everything around me was dark.
Not just dark like night.
Dark like… nothing existed.
No walls.
No sky.
No sound.
Just me.
And something else.
My breathing echoed too loudly, like I was inside a hollow space that had no end.
"Hello?" I called out.
My voice didn't travel far.
It just… stopped.
Like the air swallowed it.
A cold wave passed through me.
This wasn't a place.
This was absence.
I turned slowly.
There was nothing.
No shapes.
No shadows.
No movement.
And yet…
I wasn't alone.
"You stayed too long."
The voice came again.
Right behind me.
I spun around.
And froze.
It was there.
Closer than ever before.
Clearer than before.
And worse than anything I imagined.
It didn't have a fixed shape.
It kept shifting.
Like something trying to decide what it should be.
A head that stretched… then collapsed.
Eyes that appeared… then disappeared.
A mouth that almost formed words…
Then broke apart.
I couldn't breathe.
My legs refused to move.
"You see us now."
My chest tightened.
"I… I didn't mean to," I whispered.
The thing tilted slightly.
Or maybe the world around it moved.
It was hard to tell.
"No one ever means to."
My heart pounded painfully.
"What… is this place?"
Silence.
Then—
"This is where we remain."
Remain.
The word echoed in my head.
"This isn't real," I said, shaking my head.
"This can't be real."
The thing moved closer.
Not walking.
Not stepping.
Just… appearing nearer.
Reality bent around it.
"This is more real than what you call reality."
My mind couldn't process it.
"No… no, I was just at school."
"Fragments," it said.
"Copies."
"Echoes."
Each word felt heavier than the last.
My stomach twisted.
"You're lying."
Silence.
Then—
"We don't lie."
Something about the way it said that…
Made it worse.
"What do you want from me?" I asked.
The question came out broken.
Weak.
It moved again.
Closer.
Too close.
"You already gave it."
My heart skipped.
"Gave what?"
A pause.
Then—
"Attention."
My breath stopped.
"Every time you looked…"
My hands started shaking.
"Every time you tried to understand…"
The space around us shifted slightly.
Like something was pulling tighter.
"You brought us closer."
A cold realization hit me.
"No…"
"Yes."
Its voice wasn't loud.
But it was everywhere.
"You made us clearer."
I staggered back.
"This isn't my fault."
Silence.
Then—
"It always starts like this."
My chest tightened painfully.
"How many?" I asked.
"How many people… like me?"
The thing didn't answer directly.
Instead, the darkness around us… moved.
Not like wind.
Not like shadows.
Like something watching.
Dozens.
Maybe more.
I couldn't see them clearly.
But I felt them.
All around.
Waiting.
Observing.
My breathing broke completely.
"I want to go back," I whispered.
A pause.
Long.
Heavy.
"You can."
Hope.
Small.
Fragile.
"But not fully."
My heart dropped again.
"What does that mean?"
"You touched us."
The memory hit instantly.
The hand.
On my shoulder.
"You crossed."
My mind spun.
"Crossed what?"
The thing leaned closer.
And for the first time—
Its "face" stabilized.
Just for a second.
Enough for me to understand.
And I wished I hadn't.
"The line."
Everything inside me screamed.
"No…"
"You are no longer separate."
My body felt cold.
Empty.
Wrong.
"I didn't choose this."
"You did."
"No, I didn't!"
"Every time you looked."
The words hit like knives.
Every time.
Every single time.
A sudden thought hit me.
"The girl…"
Silence.
"Does she come here too?"
For the first time—
The thing paused longer than before.
Then it said:
"She avoided it."
Avoided.
Past tense.
My stomach twisted.
"What does that mean?"
No answer.
Instead—
The darkness around us began to shift violently.
Like something was pulling me back.
Or pushing me out.
"You are not ready," it said.
My vision blurred.
"No—wait!"
Too late.
The world cracked.
Literally cracked.
Lines of light breaking through the darkness.
Everything shattered.
And then—
I was back.
I collapsed on the floor.
The cold tiles of the school hallway hit my hands.
Voices returned.
Noise.
Light.
Reality.
But something felt…
Wrong.
Different.
I looked around.
Students were walking like nothing happened.
Normal.
Too normal.
My breathing was still broken.
I grabbed my arm.
My skin felt the same.
But deeper…
Something had changed.
I could feel it.
Like a presence under my skin.
Watching.
Waiting.
I slowly reached into my bag.
Pulled out the notebook.
Opened it.
The page was already filled.
"Now you understand."
My hands trembled.
"I don't…" I whispered.
The ink shifted.
New words forming.
Slow.
Deliberate.
"No."
A pause.
Then—
"Now you belong."
My heart stopped.
And across the hallway—
I saw her again.
But this time…
She wasn't looking at me.
She was looking at something behind me.
Something I didn't need to turn around to feel.