The recording played on a loop.

  Nael sat frozen in the Whisper Room, eyes glued to the screen as the grainy footage repeated the same moment again and again—him, sitting alone… and then the shadow behind him. A presence. Silent. Unmoving. And undeniably real.

  His fingers clenched tightly against his knees. Every logical part of his mind screamed at him—hallucination, illusion, stress-induced vision. But his instincts knew better.

  Something was watching him.

  He stood slowly and walked toward the screen, studying the shape behind him in the reflection. It was blurry, just enough to keep its features hidden. Humanoid, yes, but the proportions were... off. Too tall. Too still.

  The voice had said: "You were never alone."

  And for the first time in years, he believed it.

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  The air in the room shifted. A static buzz climbed the walls, not loud, but sharp enough to make the hairs on his neck stand on end. The lights dimmed slightly, and one of the screens blinked to life without command.

  Another video.

  Nael’s hands trembled as he stepped closer.

  This time, the footage was old. Distorted and scratched. A younger man—barely more than a teen—sat in the same room. Same chair. Same glass walls. He looked afraid. He kept glancing over his shoulder, whispering to someone who wasn’t there.

  Nael’s blood went cold.

  He recognized the boy.

  It was him.

  Twelve years ago.

  It couldn’t be. He had no memory of this place, no recollection of ever being here as a child. Yet there he was, on screen, muttering frantically, mouthing something over and over again.

  Nael leaned closer to the screen, trying to read his younger self’s lips.

  One word. Again and again.

  “Don’t… trust… them.”

  A sudden sound made him jump.

  Behind him, the door opened. Not with a hiss or a soft click—but with a groaning creak, like a door that hadn’t been opened in years.

  The woman from earlier was gone. In her place stood a man—tall, thin, wrapped in a long, dark coat. His face was obscured by shadows, as though the light simply refused to touch it.

  Nael took a step back instinctively.

  “You’ve seen too much,” the man said, voice low and gravelly. “But not enough to survive it.”

  Nael’s pulse thundered in his ears. “Who are you?”

  The man tilted his head. “I’m the reason you forgot.”

  With that, he stepped forward—and the lights in the room died.

  Total darkness.

  Then came the whisper. Closer than ever.

  “Wake up, Nael… before it’s too late.”

  ---

  To be continued...

  In Chapter Five, Nael will awaken in a place that shouldn’t exist—trapped between memory and illusion. Secrets begin to unravel, and the line between reality and something darker begins to fade…