The air suddenly vanished from my lungs.
Darkness engulfed me, swallowing everything. And the deeper I fell, the more I felt my body slowly sinking into it.
I opened my mouth, trying to breathe… but nothing entered my chest.
I moved my hands fearfully, trying to grab onto anything around me, but there was nothing.
Just the fall into that black void.
And suddenly… that faint blue light appeared before me.
A transparent screen appeared in the middle of the darkness.
[System]
Last Chance
Accept / Decline
5...
4...
3...
2...
Thoughts raced through my head as time ran out.
And before I could think, I pressed "Accept."
And the next moment
I gasped sharply and opened my eyes.
I was sitting on my bed, breathing rapidly, sweat covering my face.
I placed my hand on my chest, trying to calm my heartbeat… but that blue light remained stuck in my head.
That dream kept coming back to me every time
The same darkness… the same screen… and the same strange feeling when I pressed "Accept" without thinking.
I didn't know why this was happening,
or why I couldn't get rid of it
My clothes were scattered in the corners, books on the floor, and my dishes left untouched.
The orange rays of the sunset were quietly seeping through the window.
I turned my head toward the clock on the wall… 4:30.
I tried to get up, but my body barely responded.
A sharp pain pierced my muscles with the slightest movement; even my legs felt as if they were carrying a heavy weight after a long run…
The cold water that ran over my body restored a little of my energy, but that feeling didn't disappear completely.
Hours passed while I remained motionless in front of the TV.
Then I heard the call to prayer.
At that very moment… that familiar chill crept into my limbs and neck, then slid very slowly down my spine like fingers of ice. I felt my energy seeping out of me like water leaking from the cracks of a broken jar.
No sooner had I thrown my body onto the bed than I felt my bones turn into heavy sand sinking into the mattress;
it was a deep sleep, but mixed with drowning; I felt my chest tighten as if a rock were settling on top of it,
and my breathing was ragged. I was drowning in that dark void.
" It was the same feeling as the dream, coming back again."
And suddenly
I woke up with a gasp that tore through my chest; my eyes were filled with terror, and tears hung at the corners of my trembling eyelids. I found my mother's face close to mine, her features drenched in worry she couldn't hide, and her hand trembling as she shook my shoulder.
She said in a choked voice:
"Siraj! My son, are you all right? You were thrashing about in your sleep as if you were in a terrifying nightmare… Tell me, what happened?"
I didn't answer her right away; a severe headache had struck me,
causing the memories of the dream to evaporate and leave behind a confused void. She gave me a glass of cold water, a sedative, and a light dinner, then sat beside me, watching me with eyes overflowing with tenderness, and asked anxiously:
Are you okay now? Should we go to the hospital? Don't hide anything from me, my son.
I remained silent for a long time, staring at the glass, then muttered with difficulty:
"No, Mom… I don't need anything. I'm fine."
I took a few bites of my dinner, then flopped back onto the bed. Sweat was pouring from my forehead and streaming down my face profusely despite the coolness of the room.
Sleep had completely deserted me; every trace of drowsiness had vanished from my eyes, and I lay awake, staring at the ceiling.
The sounds around me faded, then a cold whisper crept in, very close, as if a breath had settled on my earlobe.
"Siraj…"
The blood froze in my veins. I turned suddenly, my eyes scanning the corners of the dark room… but there was nothing there. Yet my heart began pounding violently in my chest, and I felt beads of sweat trickling slowly and uneasily down my neck.
I reached for my phone and turned the TV volume up to the maximum, trying to drown out that whisper beneath the noise of the screen, and convince myself that everything was fine. But the voice returned… and this time it was closer and more insistent:
"Siraj… Siraj…"
My eyes fixed on a dark corner of the room, where a completely black figure was crouching, pulling his knees up to his chest with thin arms, his head buried between his shoulders. He was rocking back and forth.
In a strange rhythm, and with every movement, a sharp creaking sound emanated, as if old, worn-out wood were rubbing against itself.
I felt a chill creeping through my feet, which began to tremble involuntarily. I took a single step toward him, and his creaking grew sharper, mingling with a faint muttering in which he repeated strange words.
I stammered:
"W-who are you?"
He didn't stop moving or pay me any attention. I moved closer; the whispering became clearer but remained incomprehensible.
As if it were coming from a deep well. I suppressed my fear and asked again:
"Who are you?"
A sudden silence fell, then I reached out with my trembling hand and placed it on his shoulder. At that moment, he slowly turned his head toward me.
My heart stopped beating; he had no face, only dry, skull-like bones and a wide, jagged grin stretching across his face. Where his eyes should have been, I saw only two deep, pitch-black hollows.
I screamed with every ounce of air left in my lungs.
He exploded right in front of me
Then... darkness swallowed me.