I tried to stand.
My legs barely responded.
Everything felt… lighter.
Too light.
Wrong.
I looked at my hands.
They were there.
I could see them.
I could move them.
So why did they feel… distant?
Like they didn't fully belong to me anymore.
I forced myself up.
One step.
Unstable.
Another.
My body didn't feel heavy.
It felt… hollow.
Like I was walking through myself.
I looked around.
People everywhere.
Talking.
Laughing.
Living.
Normal.
Too normal.
"Hey…"
My voice came out weak.
I stepped toward a guy passing by.
"Excuse me—"
I reached out.
My hand touched his shoulder.
Or at least—
It tried to.
My hand went through him.
I froze.
No.
No, no, no—
I tried again.
Faster this time.
My hand passed through him like smoke.
He didn't react.
Didn't turn.
Didn't feel anything.
My breathing broke.
"This isn't real…"
I stepped back.
My heart racing wildly.
I looked at my hands again.
Still there.
Still moving.
But not… real.
I turned quickly.
A group of students.
Closer.
I walked straight toward them.
One of them stepped forward—
And passed through me.
Like I wasn't there.
Like I was air.
Like I was nothing.
My chest tightened painfully.
"No…"
I spun around.
Faster now.
Desperate.
"Can anyone hear me?!"
Nothing.
No reaction.
No movement.
No eyes turning toward me.
It was like screaming into a void.
I wasn't part of their world anymore.
I stumbled back.
My breathing out of control.
"This can't be happening…"
But it was.
I felt it.
Deep inside.
That same presence.
Closer now.
Stronger.
Watching me.
Always watching.
I closed my eyes for a second.
Just one second.
When I opened them—
The world flickered.
For a split second—
Everything changed.
The people…
Stopped moving.
Completely.
Frozen.
Mid-step.
Mid-laugh.
Mid-life.
My heart pounded.
"No…"
The air grew heavy again.
That same pressure.
I knew this feeling.
I turned slowly.
They were there.
Not one.
Not two.
Dozens.
Standing between the frozen people.
Watching me.
Different shapes.
Different sizes.
All wrong.
All incomplete.
All focused on me.
My breath stopped.
I didn't move.
I couldn't move.
One of them stepped forward.
Or maybe it just appeared closer.
"You see us clearly now."
That voice.
Not one voice.
Many.
Layered.
Echoing.
I shook my head slowly.
"Stay away from me…"
No reaction.
Another one moved.
Closer.
"You crossed."
Another voice.
Different.
"You stayed."
Another.
"You belong."
My chest tightened painfully.
"I don't belong to you!"
Silence.
Then—
All of them tilted their heads.
At the same time.
Like they heard something funny.
"You already do."
The words hit from everywhere.
Inside my head.
Around me.
Through me.
I stepped back.
But there was nowhere to go.
They were everywhere.
Watching.
Waiting.
Like I was something they had been expecting.
"What do you want from me?" I whispered.
A pause.
Then—
"Nothing."
My heart skipped.
"What?"
"You are already becoming."
Cold.
Empty.
Final.
"No…"
I shook my head harder.
"I'm still here. I'm still me."
Silence.
Then—
One of them moved right in front of me.
Too close.
Its shape unstable.
Shifting.
Trying to hold itself together.
Just like before.
But clearer now.
Worse now.
"Look at yourself."
My body froze.
Slowly…
My eyes dropped.
To my hands.
They flickered.
For a second—
They weren't there.
Then they came back.
Then gone again.
My breathing stopped completely.
"No… no, no, no…"
I tried to grab my arm.
My hand went through it.
Like it wasn't solid anymore.
Like I wasn't solid anymore.
"You are leaving."
The words echoed.
"You are fading."
My vision blurred.
"I can fix this…"
Silence.
"You cannot."
My chest felt empty.
Like something was being pulled out slowly.
Piece by piece.
"What happens… when I'm gone?" I asked.
A long pause.
Then—
"You remain."
Remain.
That word again.
Same as before.
Same meaning.
Same nightmare.
"With us."
My heart broke completely.
I looked around one last time.
At the frozen world.
At the people who couldn't see me.
At the life I lost.
And for the first time—
I understood.
I wasn't losing it.
I had already lost it.
My vision flickered again.
The world cracked.
Light broke through.
Everything shattered.
And then—
I was back.
Same street.
Same noise.
Same people.
Moving again.
Alive again.
Like nothing happened.
But something was different.
I looked at my hands.
They were there.
Solid.
Normal.
I could feel them again.
My breath came back slowly.
Fast.
Broken.
I was back.
Or…
Almost.
Slowly—
I reached into my bag.
Pulled out the notebook.
Opened it.
The page was already written.
"Temporary return."
My heart dropped.
"No…"
More words formed.
Slow.
Cold.
"Final stage approaching."
My hands trembled violently.
And below that—
One last sentence.
"Next time… you won't come back."