Iris's POV
Darkness.
Not the peaceful darkness that arrived with sleep.
This one felt alive.
It breathed.
Shifted.
Curled around the world like an endless sea without beginning or end.
The air was strangely cold.
Every breath scraped against my throat.
"...Kaizer?"
My own voice sounded distant.
Almost unfamiliar.
It disappeared into the emptiness before even reaching my ears.
No answer.
I looked around.
Nothing.
No sky.
No ground.
No horizon.
Only an endless grey mist stretching in every direction.
Then...
A figure.
Standing ahead.
Motionless.
"...Kaizer!"
My heart immediately recognized him before my eyes did.
His shoulders.
His height.
The way he stood with one hand hanging loosely by his side.
Relief rushed through me.
I immediately ran.
"Kaizer!"
He didn't turn.
The distance between us remained the same.
I frowned.
Why wasn't I getting any closer?
I ran faster.
The sound of my own footsteps echoed strangely beneath me.
As though I was running across water instead of solid ground.
"Kaizer!"
Still...
Nothing.
The mist slowly thinned.
Enough for me to finally notice...
His clothes.
My breathing halted.
His shirt...
It wasn't white.
Dark crimson stains spread across the fabric.
Fresh.
Wet.
Blood.
Too much of it.
It dripped from the edge of his sleeve.
Fell soundlessly onto the invisible ground beneath him.
My heartbeat violently pounded inside my ears.
"No..."
My voice trembled.
"No..."
I forced myself to run faster.
Please...
Please let me reach him.
Just once.
Just this once.
"...Kaizer!"
Almost...
Just one more step...
He slowly turned around.
His face looked pale.
Far too pale.
Yet...
He smiled.
The same quiet smile he always carried.
Gentle.
Warm.
As though he was trying to comfort me instead.
"Iris."
His lips moved.
I couldn't hear the words.
The darkness swallowed every sound.
I shook my head desperately.
"No..."
Then...
Something shimmered.
Behind him.
At first...
Only one thread.
Thin.
Golden.
Beautiful.
It floated through the air almost gracefully.
Then another.
And another.
Within seconds...
Hundreds.
No...
Thousands.
They slowly emerged from the darkness itself.
Golden threads surrounded him from every direction.
Like rays of sunlight.
Except...
Sunlight never felt frightening.
These did.
They gently wrapped around his wrists.
His shoulders.
His waist.
His ankles.
Almost lovingly.
Before tightening.
Slowly.
Painfully.
I saw him flinch.
"...No!"
I screamed.
"Leave him!"
The threads ignored me.
More continued winding around him.
Around his arms.
His neck.
His chest.
As though trying to pull him somewhere far beyond the darkness.
I lunged forward.
My fingertips stretched desperately toward him.
Almost...
Almost...
The distance remained.
Always just beyond my reach.
"Kaizer!"
I threw myself forward again.
This time...
I almost reached him.
My fingers brushed against—
...
Nothing.
The world shattered like fragile glass.
---
I jolted upright.
A sharp breath escaped my lungs.
For several long moments...
I simply sat there.
Unable to move.
Morning sunlight quietly filtered through the curtains.
Birds chirped somewhere outside.
The familiar walls of my room slowly came into focus.
"...Again..."
The whisper escaped before I realised I'd spoken.
I lowered my head.
My fingers slid into my hair.
Why...
Why was it always the same dream?
Every two...
Maybe three nights...
It returned.
Always him.
Always blood.
Always those golden threads.
Always...
Being unable to reach him.
Frustration suddenly surged through me.
Without thinking—
I grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it across the room.
It struck the cupboard with a dull sound before collapsing onto the floor.
"...Stupid dream."
Silence answered.
The anger faded almost immediately.
Replacing it...
Was the familiar dull ache behind my temples.
"..."
I quietly closed my eyes.
Not again.
The headache wasn't unbearable.
Not yet.
Just enough to remind me it hadn't truly left.
I pulled my knees closer to my chest and rested my forehead against them.
Slowly.
Patiently.
Waiting for it to settle.
A minute passed.
Then another.
Finally...
The pain softened just enough for me to breathe normally again.
Bzzzt.
My phone vibrated across the bedside table.
I slowly reached for it.
Anya Calling...
The moment I answered—
"Iris! The juniors are asking for permission for the farewell!"
I blinked.
"...Good morning to you too."
"I already wished three people good morning."
A tired sigh escaped me.
I swung my legs off the bed and stood.
The clock beside the wardrobe displayed...
8:00 A.M.
"They could've asked me directly."
"They did."
"...What?"
"I mean—they asked Kaizer to ask you."
I stopped halfway toward the window.
"...Why?"
Anya sounded genuinely confused.
"Because apparently no other junior shares a house with you."
"...Oh."
Silence.
Then...
"...What's with that 'oh'?"
"What?"
"That tone."
"There wasn't any tone."
"There absolutely was."
I rubbed my forehead again.
"I just..."
"...had a bad dream."
Anya's voice softened.
"Oh?"
"What happened?"
I quietly closed my eyes again.
The lingering headache pulsed once.
"...Nothing."
Before she could continue...
I gently ended the call.
The room became quiet once more.
I slowly lay back on the mattress.
Staring blankly at the ceiling.
"...Why do you keep appearing..."
The question escaped my lips before I could stop it.
No answer came.
Only another memory.
Nearly...
One year ago.
The day the neighbourhood had fallen strangely silent.
The day everyone whispered about the accident.
The day I learnt...
Kaizer's mother hadn't survived.
And...
That he had also been inside the same car.
I remembered standing outside the hospital room.
Not saying a single word.
Just...
Watching him.
He had been unconscious.
Machines quietly beeped beside him.
Bandages covered his forehead.
I hadn't dared step closer.
It didn't feel like my place.
So instead...
When the afternoon sunlight entered through the window...
I shifted just enough for my shadow to reach his.
I had lifted my hand.
And gently rested my shadow over the outline of his face.
Without touching him.
Without crossing a boundary that existed only inside my own heart.
A tiny smile had found its way onto my face that day.
Because...
Somehow...
Even that had felt enough.
My eyelashes fluttered.
The memory faded.
"..."
I slowly sat up again.
I picked the pillow up from the floor.
Placed it back onto the bed.
Then quietly walked toward the washroom.
The sound of running water soon filled the silence.
Yet somewhere...
Hidden deep beneath all the ordinary sounds of another morning...
The image of golden threads refused to leave me.
Kaizer's POV
Morning arrived quietly.
The sunlight had only just begun filtering through the curtains when I stepped out of my room.
The house still carried that familiar calm that always existed before conversations properly began.
A faint smell of freshly brewed coffee lingered somewhere nearby.
I barely noticed it.
My thoughts were still somewhere else.
Somewhere dark.
Somewhere silent.
The alley.
The scream.
Those strange voices.
I rubbed my eyes before absentmindedly reaching toward the folded newspaper lying on the coffee table.
I wasn't particularly interested in reading it.
It had become little more than a habit.
I unfolded it.
My eyes drifted lazily over the headlines.
Politics.
Weather.
Business.
Local events.
Then...
They stopped.
---
Another Youth Reported Missing
---
My fingers unconsciously tightened around the edge of the newspaper.
I read the article.
Once.
Then again.
The victim...
Had disappeared the previous night.
The location...
Ashwood Alley.
...
My breathing slowed.
Ashwood Alley.
Yesterday.
The same place where Iris and I had stood.
The same place where—
My eyes immediately dropped back to the article.
No.
Maybe I remembered it wrong.
I read the location once more.
The letters remained exactly the same.
Ashwood Alley.
"..."
I lowered the newspaper.
For several seconds...
I simply stood there.
Maybe...
It was only a coincidence.
People disappeared.
Coincidences happened.
They had to.
Didn't they?
I folded the newspaper.
Unfolded it again.
Read the article one last time.
The uneasy feeling refused to disappear.
Without thinking much further, I quietly returned to my room.
I shut the door.
Walked straight toward my desk.
Mimi's journal still rested exactly where I had left it the previous night.
I placed today's newspaper beside it.
For a long moment...
I simply looked at both.
Then...
I pulled my laptop closer.
The screen slowly lit up.
My fingers hesitated above the keyboard.
This was ridiculous.
Absolutely ridiculous.
Yet...
I typed anyway.
> Recent disappearance, City
The search results appeared almost instantly.
Article.
After article.
After article.
I opened the newest one.
Then another.
Then another.
Different names.
Different faces.
Different ages.
Different occupations.
Nothing connected them.
Until...
I stopped reading about the victims.
And started reading about the locations.
A deserted alley.
An abandoned service road.
An empty underpass.
A construction site after sunset.
Another narrow alley.
Another isolated street.
Not...
The same place.
The same pattern.
Places...
Where people usually walked alone.
A strange chill slowly travelled down my spine.
Almost without thinking...
My eyes shifted toward the journal.
I opened it.
The translated pages.
The ones Anya had helped decipher.
One line quietly stared back at me.
It eats alone.
...
I frowned.
"No..."
The words escaped almost automatically.
There had to be another explanation.
There always was.
I wasn't going to start connecting every strange coincidence to...
Golden threads.
Voices.
Or impossible journals.
Ever since Mom's accident...
Every answer had only led to more questions.
I wasn't doing this again.
I closed the journal.
A little harder than necessary.
Whatever these disappearances were...
They had nothing to do with me.
...
That thought settled my mind.
At least...
For a moment.
I quietly stood.
And stepped outside.
---
She was already there.
Sitting on the chair.
Both hands wrapped around a warm mug.
She wasn't drinking it.
Simply staring somewhere beyond the window.
Lost in thought.
"..."
For a second...
I forgot why I had come outside.
I simply walked toward her.
She noticed me almost immediately.
A small smile appeared.
"Good morning."
...
I heard her.
I simply...
Didn't answer.
My feet continued carrying me forward.
One step.
Then another.
"...Kaizer?"
She frowned slightly.
I stopped only when I stood directly in front of her.
Close enough that she instinctively tilted her head upward to look at me.
Silence.
Neither of us spoke.
Her fingers slowly tightened around the mug.
"...Is something wrong?"
Still...
Nothing.
I looked at her.
Really looked.
There were faint signs of tiredness beneath her eyes.
Her hair still carried a few damp strands from washing it.
She looked...
Different this morning.
No.
Not different.
Just...
Quiet.
I found myself leaning forward.
Slowly.
Almost unconsciously.
She blinked.
Then leaned backward by instinct.
Not because she wanted to move away.
There simply wasn't enough space left between us.
The coffee mug remained trapped between her hands.
Our eyes met.
Neither of us looked away.
The ticking wall clock suddenly sounded unusually loud.
One second.
Two.
Three.
"...Kaizer?"
Her voice came softer this time.
Almost uncertain.
Only then did my eyes shift.
Past her shoulder.
Toward the table behind her.
...
The empty cup.
"..."
Oh.
Right.
Without another word...
I reached one arm past her shoulder.
My sleeve lightly brushed against a loose strand of her hair.
She stiffened.
I quietly picked up the empty cup resting behind her.
Straightened again.
Turned around.
Walked toward the kitchen.
Three steps later...
Realisation struck.
"..."
"What was I doing..."
I muttered under my breath.
I placed the cup inside the sink.
Forgot to turn on the tap.
Rubbed my forehead.
Then...
Curiosity quietly won.
I leaned just enough to peek from behind the kitchen doorway.
She...
Hadn't moved.
Still holding the mug.
Still sitting exactly the same way.
Her lips remained slightly parted.
Her expression completely frozen.
She continued staring toward the kitchen...
As though her mind hadn't yet caught up with whatever had just happened.
A tiny, almost relieved smile escaped me.
"...Good."
I whispered.
"...It wasn't only me."
Then I quietly disappeared back into the kitchen before she could notice me watching her.
The kitchen suddenly felt much smaller than usual.
I picked the cup up again.
Put it down.
Picked it up once more.
Only then did I realise...
I hadn't even washed it.
"..."
I let out a quiet sigh before finally turning the tap on.
Cold water rushed against the porcelain.
Normally...
It would've taken less than thirty seconds.
Today...
It somehow took two whole minutes.
Not because the cup was dirty.
Because my mind refused to leave the living room.
Or rather...
The person sitting in it.
I switched the tap off.
Dried my hands.
Took a slow breath.
Then finally walked back out.
---
She was still sitting there.
Although...
Now she had finally taken another sip of coffee.
Her eyes, however, immediately flickered toward me before pretending they hadn't.
...
Right.
So she had recovered.
At least partially.
I walked toward the dining table instead.
Placed my notebook there.
Pulled out a chair.
Sat down.
The silence between us quietly settled once again.
Usually...
It never felt uncomfortable.
Today...
It somehow did.
I opened my biology notes.
The page stared back at me.
Human Physiology
I read the first line.
Read it again.
By the third time...
I still hadn't understood a single word.
My attention drifted.
Almost involuntarily.
Toward the sofa.
Iris now had a mathematics guide spread open across her lap.
A calculator rested beside her notebook.
Her pencil moved...
Paused...
Moved again.
She frowned.
Erased something.
Wrote another number.
Then...
Without warning...
She looked up.
Our eyes met.
"..."
She immediately looked back down.
"..."
So did I.
---
Five minutes passed.
Or maybe only two.
Time had become strangely difficult to measure.
The only sounds inside the house were...
Pages turning.
Pencils scratching paper.
Occasionally...
Coffee cups touching wooden tables.
Nothing else.
---
"..."
I glanced toward her again.
This time...
She wasn't writing.
She had been staring at the same question for quite some time.
Her eyebrows remained slightly knitted together.
The pencil tapped lightly against the paper.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then she sighed.
Softly.
Very softly.
Almost impossible to hear.
Almost.
---
Another ten minutes passed.
This time...
I actually managed to read two pages.
Progress.
Small progress.
Still progress.
Then...
A quiet sound interrupted the silence.
Crunch.
...
I looked up.
The sofa...
Was empty.
"..."
Where—
My eyes slowly drifted toward the kitchen.
There she was.
Standing in front of the open refrigerator.
One hand hidden behind the door.
The other...
Holding...
Chocolate.
A very small piece.
She looked toward the entrance of the kitchen.
Carefully.
Suspiciously.
As though making sure no one was watching.
Satisfied...
She broke off the tiniest bite imaginable.
Placed it into her mouth.
Closed her eyes.
Chewed.
Slowly.
The expression on her face...
Almost resembled pure happiness.
She broke another tiny piece.
Then another.
Each bite looked as though she intended to make the chocolate last forever.
I quietly leaned back in my chair.
"..."
So that's where she disappeared yesterday as well.
She liked chocolate...
Far more than I had realised.
The faint smell of cocoa reached me a few seconds later.
"..."
No wonder.
She finally finished the last piece.
Closed the refrigerator.
Looked around once more.
Completely unaware that someone had witnessed the entire operation.
Then...
She casually walked back toward the sofa.
Sat down.
Opened her mathematics notebook.
Picked up her pencil.
As though absolutely nothing had happened.
"..."
I lowered my head before she noticed me looking.
A small smile quietly found its way onto my face.
Somehow...
Watching her secretly eat chocolate...
Felt strangely...
Like something only she would do.
---
The rest of the morning settled into a comfortable rhythm.
This time...
Neither of us spoke much.
Occasionally...
One of us would ask,
"Can you pass that notebook?"
Or,
"Is the calculator beside you?"
Nothing more.
The earlier awkwardness slowly dissolved into the familiar quiet we shared almost every day.
Comfortable.
Simple.
Ordinary.
Yet...
Somewhere beneath that ordinary morning...
The newspaper still rested folded on the centre table.
Grandma's journal remained closed inside my room.
And no matter how hard I tried to focus on biology...
Every now and then...
One sentence quietly echoed inside my mind.
> ...Come...
> ...You're tired...
My pen stopped moving.
Almost unconsciously...
My eyes wandered toward the window.
Outside...
Morning sunlight covered the street.
Children rode bicycles.
Neighbours chatted.
Everything looked perfectly normal.
...
Which somehow made yesterday's alley feel even more impossible.
...
It was already past 9 when I finally came out of the house.
The night air carried the familiar coolness that only arrived after the city had finally begun slowing down.
Streetlights stretched long pools of amber light across the pavement.
Some shops had already pulled their shutters down.
A few cafés still glowed warmly in the distance, their quiet conversations blending into the gentle hum of traffic.
I walked without any particular destination.
One hand remained tucked inside my jacket pocket.
The other held my phone against my ear.
Lux's voice flowed continuously from the other end.
"...I'm telling you, Anya ignored my message for three whole hours."
"Maybe she was studying."
There was a dramatic pause.
Then—
"Kaizer."
"Hm?"
"You seriously know nothing about girls."
"I never claimed I did."
"You don't."
"I know."
"..."
"..."
Lux sighed loudly.
"...Fine."
"I'll educate you one day."
"I'll pass."
"You don't get a choice."
A quiet laugh escaped me.
"You sound very confident."
"I am."
Another short silence followed before Lux spoke again.
"So..."
"Hm?"
"Where's Sister Iris?"
My gaze instinctively wandered toward the houses lining the opposite side of the road.
A few windows were still lit.
Some had already gone dark.
"I don't know."
I answered honestly.
"She wasn't home when I left."
"Still at work?"
"I guess."
Lux hummed thoughtfully.
"Call her later."
"I will."
The conversation drifted naturally into lighter topics after that.
Lux spent the next several minutes enthusiastically explaining why Anya's refusal to eat coriander automatically proved she had "terrible taste."
I listened.
Mostly.
Every now and then adding a word or two.
The familiar rhythm of walking slowly settled my thoughts.
One step.
Then another.
The cool breeze brushed gently against my face.
For the first time since morning...
My mind finally felt quiet.
"...and then she literally said coriander tastes like soap."
Lux continued.
"I ask you—"
His voice suddenly became distant.
Not because the call disconnected.
Because...
Something else reached me.
A whisper.
Soft.
Almost carried by the wind.
I stopped walking.
"...Kaizer?"
Lux's voice continued through the phone.
"You there?"
The whisper returned.
Fainter this time.
> ...Come...
Every muscle inside my body slowly stiffened.
No.
Not again.
My heartbeat quickened.
I slowly lowered the phone from my ear.
Lux was still speaking.
"...Kaizer?"
"...Hello?"
Without replying...
I quietly slipped the phone into my pocket.
The call remained connected.
The whispers grew clearer.
> ...You're tired...
Another.
> ...It's alright...
Then—
> ...Come with me...
The exact same words.
The exact same voice.
The same ones I had written inside my notebook last night.
I slowly lifted my head.
Just ahead...
The narrow entrance to an alley disappeared into darkness.
The streetlight nearest to it flickered weakly.
Once.
Twice.
Then steadied again.
My throat felt strangely dry.
I should leave.
That thought appeared immediately.
Walk away.
Call someone.
Tell the police.
Anything except walking in.
Yet...
My feet refused to move.
The whisper came again.
Closer.
> ...No one needs you...
A chill travelled down my spine.
Someone...
Was talking.
Not loudly.
Almost as if whispering directly into another person's ear.
Then...
Another sound.
A sharp intake of breath.
Followed by...
A muffled cry.
I froze.
That...
Wasn't inside my head.
Someone was actually there.
Very carefully...
I took one step forward.
Then another.
The sounds became clearer.
The darkness inside the alley swallowed nearly everything beyond the entrance.
Only fragments were visible.
The outline of a person.
Standing.
No...
Shaking.
As though struggling against something invisible.
I narrowed my eyes.
Trying desperately to see.
The whisper returned one last time.
This time...
Almost welcoming.
> ...Come...
My fingers unconsciously curled into fists.
And then...
I stepped into the darkness.