In the dead of night, I startled awake to those familiar "clack... clack..." sounds. That bizarre noise seemed to drill into my eardrums, leaving a dull, persistent ache in my head. I hurriedly covered my ears, whispering numbers under my breath, forcing myself back into sleep to escape its presence.
I didn't know when the dream finally took over, bringing the soft comfort of my pillow to drown out the static in my ears. In a half-awake, half-dreaming state, the image of the disguised monster from this afternoon flashed back. Would it "visit" me again tonight? The thought looped in my mind until I finally drifted off completely...
Outside the window, a sinister moon hung suspended in the void, slowly sinking as if finishing its "shift" to make way for the dawn. Yet, at that fragile moment of intersection between night and day, a dry "Knock... Knock... Knock..." echoed from the bedroom door, dragging me out of my brief slumber. I slowly opened my eyes, struggling to pull my mind from the sluggishness of sleep. Then, I threw off the blanket and sprang out of my cozy bed. My bare feet touched the freezing floor, sending a shiver that jolted me wide awake.
( Who is knocking? Is it the real Yashu, or is it that creature again? ) A series of worst-case scenarios flashed through my head. I took a deep breath, holding it as I crept toward the door. Suddenly, a soft female voice whispered from the other side:
-"Tianxia, Tianxia... Are you awake?"
That familiar question again. I took each step as light as silk, pressing myself against the door to peek through the peephole. Under the dim light, a slender figure with smooth, sky-blue hair appeared. Yashu was softly calling my name, looking around anxiously as if wary of something lurking in the shadows.
Yashu seemed to realize I was watching through the peephole. She hurriedly fumbled through her pocket, pulled out the bracelet I had given her, and held it high in front of the lens. It was our private signal. Seeing that familiar proof, the heavy stone in my heart was momentarily lifted. I quietly turned the lock, cracking the door open just enough for Yashu to slip inside.
She whispered, her voice trembling as if fearing the walls had ears:
-"Let's go. I just went down to the kitchen to check the time; it's exactly 3:15. If we leave now, we'll make it just in time."
I only gave a brief "Mm" in response. Both of us began to tiptoe toward the coffee shop door. The pre-dawn space was not just cold, but carried an indescribable, overwhelming dread. That goosebump-inducing feeling of walking alone in the dark hit me again-as if an invisible pair of eyes was pinned to the back of our necks.
Reaching the counter, I watched Yashu skillfully pluck a strand of hair and drop it into a glass jar placed on the table. I silently followed suit, my heart brimming with doubt.
( This is truly too strange... ) - I thought. This feeling was exactly like participating in some ancient occult ritual.
Once everything was done, we stepped outside.
A gust of wind carrying the biting chill of the night rushed in, stroking my skin. The towering trees lining the roadside swayed and rustled with every blast. The street, usually bustling by day, was now so desolate there wasn't a soul in sight-as silent as an open-air graveyard. Standing in this pre-dawn space, a strange sense of excitement suddenly welled up inside me, like preparing for an adventure. In the past, I used to love the atmosphere at night-cool and quiet. That was when I used to snuggle into my grandmother's arms, listening to fairy tales filled with mystical colors.
Suddenly, Yashu nudged my shoulder, her trembling hand tugging at my sleeve:
-"What are you dazing off for? Thinking about something?"
-"Just... some old memories," I replied, my voice dropping low, dissolving into the void.
-"Yeah, my heart feels heavy too..." Yashu sighed softly, then suddenly regained her urgency: "Move fast, or we won't make it."
We headed straight for the road-precisely into the middle of the lane, where the view was clearest to observe the entity above. To be honest, I still couldn't distinguish between the moon and the sun in this world, for both took the shape of a giant eye, bloodshot and menacing.
That grand entity in the sky was like a ruler monitoring every living soul. The moment we stood tall in the middle of the road, that eye immediately shifted its eyeball, staring intently at our position.
Yashu also looked up at the demonic entity reigning in the sky. She took a deep breath and signaled to me:
-"Now, do exactly as I do."
Saying that, she crossed her arms in front of her face in a strange posture. Waiting until I had mimicked her perfectly, Yashu continued, her voice turning sharp:
-"Now... absolutely do not blink. Stare at that moon for ten seconds-just like we discussed."
As soon as she finished speaking and tilted her head back, both of us fixed our gaze intensely on that giant eye.
Honestly, if any normal person happened to pass by and saw this, they would surely think we had lost our minds. In the middle of a deserted street, two people standing frozen, arms crossed, staring blankly at the sky... A scene so bizarre and insane that no words could describe it.
For the first few seconds of keeping my eyes open, everything around remained terrifyingly still. However, as time ticked toward the final seconds, the giant entity above suddenly moved. Its pupil contracted into a razor-sharp slit, aiming directly at us. That look made my heart skip a beat, a shiver running down my spine.
Then, abruptly, reality shattered.
The space around me vanished in an instant, replaced by a dark, gaping void. I realized with horror that my body no longer had any support; my entire weight seemed to dissolve as I began to free-fall into a bottomless abyss. Every sense was paralyzed, limbs flailing in the nothingness, I completely lost control over my own body. I just kept sinking deeper into the darkness, letting myself be swallowed by the uncertainty...