The city outside looked calm, gray, indifferent. But inside the apartment, nothing felt still.
I sat on the edge of the couch, knees pressed to my chest, staring at the window. The neon lights reflected in sharp angles, fragments that didn't match the real streets. My reflection in the glass didn't move exactly like me. It smiled faintly, though I hadn't.
The hum returned. Low, constant, curling around my ribcage. I could feel it like a heartbeat that wasn't mine.
The whisper followed. Soft, polite, amused.
"Hy… do you remember?"
I shook my head. Nothing made sense. The photo, the mirror, the wardrobe knocks… all blurred in my memory. But the residue remained, crawling under my skin, settling in my chest.
I stood. Feet heavy on the polished floor, following the sound of the hum toward the kitchen. The fridge and kettle were still. Nothing moved. But I knew I wasn't alone.
The wardrobe door was slightly ajar. I hadn't touched it since last night.
I froze. The hum became laughter, low and soft. Almost human.
I wanted to leave. But the apartment felt… aware. Each step I took shifted something subtly. Shadows stretched longer, reflections bent impossibly, angles that shouldn't exist.
I touched the wardrobe. Metal cold. I peeked inside. Empty. But the air smelled different damp, like soil after rain. A residue, familiar and wrong.
The whisper came from everywhere at once.
"Hy… we've been waiting."
I stumbled backward, pressed myself against the wall. The mirror in the living room caught my eye. WELCOME BACK. The letters pulsed faintly. I blinked. They stretched toward me. My own reflection leaned forward, smiling.
I wanted to scream. My mouth opened. No sound. The apartment swallowed it.
The hum rose, louder, circling me. And I realized it wasn't just the apartment.
It was inside me.
Every heartbeat echoed with it.
Every breath carried its presence.
And I understood, finally: I had never been alone.
I would never be alone.
I didn't move for what felt like hours. The hum had settled into a rhythm with my heartbeat. The whispers came and went, polite, urgent, mocking.
"Hy… lookcloser."
"Hy… listen."
"Hy… youknowus."
I felt the apartment shift under me. The floorboards were the same, but the shadows stretched differently. The kitchen counter seemed to tilt slightly toward the living room, and the light spilling from the window formed impossible patterns on the walls.
I forced myself to breathe slowly. One… two… three. Each inhale heavy, each exhale trembling.
The wardrobe door creaked. Slowly, deliberately.
I didn't want to look. But curiosity burned hotter than fear.
I stepped closer. Metal cold under my fingers. Empty. Yet the smell of damp soil lingered. I could feel it creeping under my nails, curling around my wrists.
The mirror reflected me again. Or someone like me. Lips curved into a faint, knowing smile. Eyes wide, pupils too large, staring straight through me.
"Hy…"
I froze. The whisper wasn't outside anymore.
It was inside me.
Inside my chest. Inside my throat.
I wanted to scream. The sound stuck in my lungs.
I remembered the photo under the bed. The letters on the mirror. The knocks in the wardrobe.
All of it existed at once, overlapping. Memories, presence, reflections, whispers…
A maze inside my skull.
I backed away, heart racing. The walls seemed to pulse in time with the hum. The window reflected fragments of the city I didn't recognize. I couldn't tell what was real anymore.
"Hy… we're inside you now."
The words weren't loud. They didn't need to be. I felt them in every fiber of my body, in my thoughts, in my breath.
I sank to the floor. Hands pressed over my ears. Eyes closed.
But even then, the whispers followed.
I couldn't escape.
I wouldn't escape.
I couldn't stay on the floor forever. My body ached, trembling from the weight of fear. The hum had become unbearable, vibrating in my bones, in my teeth, in my skull.
I stood. My legs were shaky, my arms weak, but I had to move. I had to see.
The living room stretched impossibly. Shadows curled around corners that didn't exist before. Reflections in the glass multiplied, each one smiling, breathing, waiting.
"Hy… come closer,"they whispered.
I shook my head.
"Hy… we've been waiting for you," they said together.
I raised my hand. The mirror reflected dozens of fingers, reaching out, bending, impossible angles.
I shouted. My voice finally escaped. "Stop! Leave me alone!"
The apartment paused. The hum dropped for a second. The whispers were silent.
Then, slowly, laughter. Low, almost gentle, curling around my chest.
"Hy…"
"We're part of you now."
I realized it. Every memory, every shadow, every whisper… it was part of me. And I couldn't separate myself from it.
I ran toward the wardrobe. Slammed it open. Empty.
Yet the smell, the presence, the pulse remained. I slammed it shut.
I didn't care anymore. I screamed, even though the apartment swallowed the sound.
The reflections on the walls stretched, bent, multiplied. The air vibrated with voices polite, urgent, amused, cruel.
I could feel them in my lungs, my stomach, my skull. They weren't outside anymore. They were everywhere.
I sank to the floor again. Hands clutched my head. Eyes squeezed shut.
And I understood: there was no escape. Not in the apartment. Not in myself. Not ever.
I had stepped into the maze.
And the maze had stepped inside me.