We arrived at the market with my head still down, hands buried inside the pockets of my jacket. I almost fainted earlier, but Hosana had tapped my shoulder and smiled—genuinely.
Like she was telling me it's okay. Like there's nothing wrong.
But the stares I received on the way here still linger in my head. It's like they were watching my every move. It made me want to turn back and curl up under the blankets again.
But I didn't want to be rude to Hosana.
So I swallowed the lump in my throat—along with the restlessness gnawing at my chest.
I looked around the market. It was crowded, but at least no one here was looking at me. People were busy with their own business: shouting, calling out to customers, chatting as they chopped meat or cleaned fish. Some were swatting away the flies hovering over their goods.
It was loud, but not the kind of noise that pierced the ears.
No—at least for me, it felt… alive.
The market was muddy and smelled foul. But I didn't mind.
It's a dirty market for a reason.
My eyes landed on Hosana, who was busy chatting and laughing with one of the vendors. From the way they talked, they seemed to know each other well—like old friends.
When she glanced back at me, she nodded with a smile.
Then she turned to the seller again and pointed in my direction.
She must've been talking about me.
The seller followed her gesture and stared. A little too long.
I quickly looked away and pretended to be interested in something nearby.
But the way she stared… it was unsettling.
Like she was judging my soul.
Her eyes held something I couldn't quite read—not just curiosity, but a quiet wariness. Like she didn't trust what she was seeing.
Then a sudden ache crept into my head. It wasn't sharp, but enough to make the muscles around my skull twitch. My brows furrowed, and I instinctively reached up to press my fingers against my temple.
I clutched my chest when a strange pounding began beneath it—like something was banging from the inside. My heart started racing.
I couldn't breathe.
Panicked, I stood up from where I was sitting. A few vendors nearby glanced over. Some even stepped toward me, but I shook my head and quickly walked off toward the nearest alley beside the market stalls.
The narrow path was grimy and damp, but I didn't care.
I braced myself against the wall and tried to breathe—slow, deep, steady.
In. Out. In. Out.
But it wasn't working.
My body felt like it was burning from the inside out.
What… is this feeling?
And then I heard it—voices. Words I couldn't understand. A chant. Whispering inside my head like a broken record.
Over and over again.
The more I tried to make sense of it, the more my head throbbed—sharper now. Deeper. It pressed against my skull like it was trying to force its way out.
I gasped, and a cry almost escaped my lips.
It was suffocating.
"Stop..." I weakly muttered.
Then I saw it.
A figure… again. Standing at the edge of the alley where the shadows were deepest. Its eyes glowed faintly—two dim lights cutting through the dark.
I couldn't see its face, only the silhouette.
But I knew—it was watching me.
A tear slipped from my eye. I wanted to scream, cry, claw my chest open just to let this suffocating ache out.
I was so tired. So, so tired.
When will it stop?
Why does it keep showing up?
Why am I feeling this at all?
Isn't it enough that I've already lost everything? Haven't I been punished enough?
Why this?
Why now?
I shut my eyes and cried. Not loudly. Not dramatically. Just that silent, hopeless kind of crying that made me feel even smaller.
I wrapped my arms tighter around myself.
I was so exhausted.
And then—after a while—the pain in my head began to ease. The suffocating weight in my lungs lifted, just a little.
I gasped for breath.
Then—movement.
A faint shift in the dark. When I opened my eyes, the figure was gone from where it had stood—but something moved deeper into the shadows.
I pulled my knees closer to my chest.
"Who are you?" I asked, voice trembling, barely audible. I wasn't even sure I wanted a reply.
But something deep down… hoped.
This one felt different.
It wasn't like the ghostly figure that haunted my visions.
This one was real. Alive.
Present.
Still, I got no reply.
So I asked again—this time louder, though still weak:
"I'm asking you… who are you?"
It shifted again—slowly, as if studying me.
Then it spoke.
"You're not from this world, are you?"
The voice…
It was deep. Baritone. But not just that. It was rough and unpolished, like gravel grinding against cold metal. Each syllable rolled out with the weight of a storm—calm, but brimming with restrained violence. There was no warmth. No humanity. Just this hollow, unsettling resonance that sank into my bones and made my skin crawl.
A voice that sounded like it belonged to someone who had seen too much. Or perhaps… someone who had caused too much.
"So are you… right?"
I didn't even know where I found the nerve to speak—especially after hearing that voice—but the words slipped out before I could stop them.
The figure didn't answer right away. Its glowing eyes just stared at me, unmoving. Watching.
I instinctively pulled my knees tighter to my chest—a hollow form of protection.
"You're from my world," I whispered.
It wasn't a question. It was a fact. A realization falling into place like a slow, bitter truth.
"Mm." It hummed low. I didn't speak again.
Instead, I leaned my head back against the wall.
My mind was quieter now. The storm had dulled into a cold drizzle. But still, I was wary.
Whoever—or whatever—this person was… I didn't trust them.
Still… I didn't move. I should have. I should've stood and run the moment I realized where he came from.
But I was tired.
Or maybe I just didn't want to run anymore.
"You were the one I saw that night," I murmured, recalling the faint light in the park. "Did those bastards send you here? To capture me?"
"Oh, so you're that one," he said, placing heavy emphasis on the word that. "The sister who let her twin burn."
My forehead creased.
My blood boiled in an instant.
His voice—mocking. Cold. Cruel.
"You don't know anything." I clenched my teeth, swallowing the curse threatening to escape.
"Oh, I know," he replied, finally stepping out from the shadows.
"You're the hybrid who sacrificed her sister just to survive. A selfish twin who ran while her sister begged for her life. You had the power to save her—but you didn't. You envied her. Am I right?"