Zane POV(first person point of view) (unknown point of time)

  I died. That’s what I remember.

  When I came to this pce, I thought it was just a dream. Then, I remembered-I got shot. Straight in the head. I definitely rememeber that moment.

  That person-Loran, or whoever he is-killed me. And yet… I’m not sure if this is the afterlife. I'll take that as good news for the moment.

  I’m wearing the same clothes. My body feels normal. The air is cold, the scent of pine and frost lingered in the air. A gentle snowfall drifted around me, the fkes catching the dim, gray light of the sky. Tall trees, their branches heavy with snow, stretched endlessly in all directions. And yet… this pce is comforting.

  I’ve seen this scene before. Many times. In my childhood, during Christmas with my parents. Later, with Victoria and Decn. It was always a ndscape that brought me peace, even in the most chaotic moments of my life. A symbol of warmth, joy, and the best memories I held close to my heart.

  But then-something impossible.

  In the middle of this snowy forest stood my grandparents’ home.

  That shouldn’t be here.

  Their home was in another country. A pce where it never snowed. And yet, somehow, this pce had merged fragments of my life into one surreal world. But why? What was this pce?

  But one thing was certain-I was not moving on. Not until my son was safe.

  I could feel it, deep within me, my soul was unusually resilient in this state. That was a relief. Even as a doctor, I had always believed in the supernatural, in the strength of the soul. Ever since childhood, I had held onto a belief formed through endless contemption: that the soul was the purest and most indestructible part of ourselves. The body can rot, but the soul is eternal. That belief had never wavered.

  Is that what was happening to me? It was the best possible expnation I got in my head right now.

  I wandered through the dark forest, my footsteps muffled by the snow. The air was still, the silence heavy. As I stepped towards my grandparent's home, my thoughts became more contemptive and focused.

  I needed to do something. Something that will let me return to my body-to save my son. I despised the idea of possession, of hijacking someone else’s body. That wasn’t an option. I would never steal another person’s will.

  Then… the craziest, most impossible thought entered my mind.

  What if I used my own body?

  That was when it happened.

  A sharp, painful sensation twisted in my chest. My breath hitched. My right hand began to rot before my eyes.

  The gray sky above darkened, shifting into an deep bck color.

  I staggered, dropping to my knees as an excruciating pain shot through me. Blood spilled from my mouth, staining the pure white snow beneath me.

  What the heck is happening-?!

  I forced myself to look down. My left hand-rotting. My chest-decaying.

  A realization crept into my mind.

  The pain, the decay… It began the moment I thought about returning to my body.

  Could it be-?

  Was my soul responding? Trying to move back to my corpse?

  Was my soul forcefully rejoining a body that no longer functioned?

  Was that even possible?

  I needed to test it.

  With effort, I stopped thinking about returning. I focused on not wanting to go back.

  The rot stopped.

  The pain vanished.

  I looked at my hands-whole again. My body returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

  That confirms it.

  My soul was bound by my will. The moment I decided to return, it tried to reattach to my body-no matter its condition. My refusal to move on was not just a thought. It was a force.

  A force that could either save me…

  Or destroy me.

  I calmly thought to myself: if my will and thought process can command my soul to rejoin my body, that means two things.

  First of all, this snowy world must be a reflection of my own inner soul-like my emotions, senses, or perhaps a pce that is most comforting to me. It’s a combination of two aspects of my life, scenes I often saw and enjoyed throughout my existence.

  Second, when my body began to rot, it revealed the condition of my actual dead body. Apparently, my soul was attempting to reconnect with it, which caused my appearance to change and resemble what my body looks like in its current state.

  Another thought and realization came into my mind. Could it be that in order to truly return to my body, I may need to experience unbearable pain? Sure, this would sound like bad news, but it also proves something else to me: I can return to my dead body. However, the process may take a long time because the pain itself will force my thoughts to wish to avoid it. In doing so, I’ll effectively reset-starting over again.

  Or, if I do somehow manage to endure it, the body won’t be controlled by the brain and its natural functions, nor by the physical aspects of the body as it once was. This time, the soul will dominate, taking control of most of it.

  I’m scared.

  Not of the universe. Not of the consequences.

  I don’t fear breaking the ws of nature. I don’t fear death. I don’t even fear what comes after.

  No-what terrifies me is failure.

  Failing my son. Failing to protect him from the hands of those who would use him. Failing to save the one person who still needs me.

  To the universe, I apologize for what I’m about to do. I know it’s madness-even heresy against the very bance of existence itself. But I don’t care.

  I have no other choice.

  I’ve had enough.

  I watched my son get taken from me, powerless to stop it. I have already lost so many people-especially her. Victoria. Even as a doctor, even with all my knowledge, I couldn't save her from her illness. I could do nothing but watch as she faded away.

  I can’t lose anyone else. I won’t.

  But deep down, I have always doubted myself.

  Even when I saved lives, even when I held onto hope, a voice within me always whispered: Someone else could do this better. Someone else could be a better doctor. A better husband. A better father.

  I have always felt… repceable.

  But not this time.

  I can’t afford doubt.

  I reach out-to myself. To my own corpse.

  Please.

  Don’t let me be the failure I believe myself to be.

  Let me save my son.

  If pain is the price, then I will pay it.

  If suffering is what it takes, then I deserve it.

  I will use my own failures-my own regrets-as fuel.

  And with that thought, I begin.

  The pain came instantly.

  A violent, mind-shattering agony that tore through me like I was being ripped apart at the seams.

  I colpsed, my knees smming into the frozen ground. I barely even registered it over the raw, searing torment spreading through my body.

  I screamed.

  Not in fear.

  Not in desperation.

  But in pure, unfiltered pain.

  My hands rotted before my eyes, the flesh splitting open, bckened decay consuming my skin as it peeled away in chunks. I felt the bones beneath crack, splintering apart. My veins ignited with agony as my blood thickened like tar, forcing itself sluggishly through a body that was no longer meant to function.

  My vision blurred. My face rotted.

  I felt my lips crack open, my teeth exposed as parts of my jaw disintegrated. My throat burned as if it were lined with razors. My legs, my arms-weakening, decaying, breaking down into something monstrous.

  And yet, I didn’t stop.

  I refused.

  Even as my body twisted and broke apart, even as blood dirtied the once-pristine snow, even as the night itself darkened, suffocating all light.

  I would not stop.

  I dug my fingers into my skull, gripping onto my head like I could physically hold myself together. A fresh wave of agony nced through my brain, hot and merciless. It felt as if my very soul was being shredded apart—like a thousand nails were being driven into my skull all at once.

  But I couldn’t think about the pain.

  I couldn’t dare let my mind wish for it to end.

  Because if I did…

  I would go back to zero.

  So I held on.

  Through the suffocating darkness. Through the agony that threatened to consume me. Through the overwhelming, all-consuming pain.

  And then-

  A voice.

  Feminine. Sweet. But ced with something dangerous.

  Possessive. All-encompassing. Familiar.

  It didn’t echo in my ears. It vibrated through the very core of this world, slipping into my soul like a whisper against my skin.

  "Oh… my sweet, sweet dear… Let me help a bit, shall I? Hmph… even now, you need me, my lovable idiot… I am so very pleased."

  My entire body froze.

  And then-

  The pain stopped.

  The agony that had consumed every fiber of my being vanished instantly.

  It was so abrupt, so unnatural, that I gasped-not in relief, but in sheer shock.

  My body-still twisted, still half-rotted-suddenly began to repair itself at an inhuman speed. Flesh stitched itself back together. Bones snapped into pce. My heartbeat, which had been sluggish and irregur, steadied.

  But I barely noticed.

  Because my mind was stuck on that voice.

  No… it couldn’t be…

  "Tch. You’re such an idiot, Zane. Honestly, how much longer were you going to let yourself suffer like that? You think I am gonna let you do that?"

  I felt my breath hitch.

  A shadow flickered through the snowy ndscape, her presence wrapping around me like an invisible chain.

  "You still think you’re repceable? That someone could’ve done a better job? Are you really that stupid? Hmph. I should kill you myself for having such an awful mindset and then I should be making you have a good one. But, well… you’re already dead, so that would kinda be redundant, wouldn’t it?"

  I clenched my fists. That tone. That snarky, sharp edge beneath the smooth, haunting sweetness.

  "Ugh. You just love making things difficult for yourself. You always have. I swear, if I wasn’t here, you’d just keep suffering until your soul shredded itself into nothing. Do you even realize how stupid that is? Honestly, Zane, sometimes I wonder how you managed to be that dense you know?"

  My chest tightened.

  I knew that voice.

  Knew it better than I knew my own.

  Slowly, shakily, I forced myself to whisper her name.

  "Victoria…?"

  And in the darkness of this snow covered world, I felt something shift.

  A warmth- yet unsettling.

  A presence-so close, yet so untouchable.

  A giggle-sweet, twisted, dripping with dangerous affection.

  "Oh, my dear, dear husband…"

  My breath hitched as her voice curled around me, suffocating and intoxicating all at once.

  "Did you really think I’d let you go through this alone...Dear?"

  Her voice dripped with amusement, but underneath it y something dangerous-something possessive, something unrelenting.

  I wanted to respond. To say anything. But my throat locked up, my breath caught between fear and disbelief.

  Victoria didn’t care. She continued.

  "Listen carefully, dear. When you wake up, you’ll be undead. Not fully alive, not fully dead. Caught somewhere in between. Oh, and just so you know, I can only talk to you in your dreams whenever you sleep. So don't even think about ignoring me. Not that you'd dare, right?"

  A pause.

  Then, her voice dropped lower, teasing yet undeniably commanding.

  "Your first task? Get yourself equipped. It’s going to be a very long journey to find our son… and there will be so much destruction along the way. So much fun, don’t you think?"

  I swallowed hard, still unable to force words out.

  Then-

  "Ah… but before all that… before I tell you what to do, where to go, what to kill and all that-"

  Her voice took on a sickeningly sweet edge.

  "There’s something I’ve wanted to do for a very, very long time."

  The air around me shifted.

  And suddenly-she was right there.

  Standing before me in this endless snowy world.

  Victoria.

  She was just as beautiful as I remembered-no, even more so. Her long, bck-blue twin-tails cascaded behind her, her dress flowing like liquid midnight. And her eyes-those amber eyes-glowed with an eerie mix of mischief, longing… and something much, much darker. Oh no.

  And then-

  She lunged.

  Before I could react, she crashed into me, wrapping her arms around me so tightly that I swore she was trying to break me apart just to put me back together herself.

  Two hands gripped the back of my head, one twisting into my hair, the other pressing against my neck with a possessive, unyielding strength.

  Finally, finally, I managed to find my voice.

  "Wai-"

  "Nope."

  She grinned. Crazy. Wicked. Absolutely unhinged.

  Yep its definitely Victoria.

  And then-

  She kissed me.

  Hard.

  Possessively.

  Like she was ciming me all over again.

  Like she was punishing me for making her wait.

  I tried to pull back-but she refused to let me. She pushed me down into the snow, her weight pressing against me as her lips devoured mine.

  Her tongue forced its way past my lips, intertwining with mine, refusing to let go. My head spun, my body locked in pce-not by fear, but by her.

  And it went on. And on.

  Way too long.

  To the point that we were both left gasping for breath-even though neither of us should need breath.

  "Ha…HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

  Victoria threw her head back, ughing.

  Laughter that sent chills through my already frozen body.

  Wild. Euphoric. Deranged.

  As if something inside her had finally snapped after being restrained for far too long.

  And then, as her amber eyes burned into mine, she spoke-

  "Mine."

  Her nails dug into my shoulders, her grip firm, unyielding.

  "Only mine."

  A shiver crawled up my spine.

  "Do you understand, dear? Not even in death can you escape me."

  Her gaze softened-for a second. But that second was a lie.

  I really should have known.

  Because then she leaned down, her lips brushing against my ear as she whispered, slow and deliberate, her hands cradling my cheek.

  "Seven years, dear."

  I stiffened.

  "Seven. Long. Years."

  Her hands traced down my jaw, her touch gentle-too gentle.

  "Do you know how patient I’ve been? How very good I’ve been? Watching you. Waiting for you. Feeling every second crawl by without you?"

  Her breath was warm, but her grip tightened.

  "So, it’s only fair… it’s only fair, dear, that I get my reward first."

  A cold sweat ran down my back.

  Because I knew-

  No matter what happened from here on out.

  No matter how undead I became.

  Victoria was the one thing I would never, ever escape.

  ...My dead wife will forever hunt me.

  Decn is so going to die of embarrassment if he ever saw this.

  But honestly? That would be pretty funny. Not gonna lie.