115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvNBFEdEW1bAnna stood there like a statue. By the time she realized she was late, she grabbed her bag and ran—not with the effortless grace she once had, but with the desperate lungs of someone terrified of missing their train. As she neared the station, the train’s horn let out a mournful cry. She had missed it again. She glared at the departing carriages as if the train itself were mocking her, just as the fates seemed to do.
Resigned, she sank onto a bench to wait. As the minutes ticked by, her mind drifted back to the day's events—and the dream from the night before. The way darkness had wrapped around her, light flickering painfully against her eyes while shadows hunted her through the void. Even the memory made her heart ache. But more than the shadows, it was the thought of Nexie’s embrace that haunted her... the way she had simply melted into that touch.
Anna felt a surge of anger at her own weakness for letting her enemy draw so close. Yet, deep down, she knew why she hadn't pulled away: that touch had finally silenced the cruel voices in her head.
Beep! The sound hit her like a brick. The next train was arriving, mercifully less crowded than the morning rush. Anna pushed her way inside the moment the doors slid open, ignoring the glares of those trying to exit. She didn't care about their silent judgment—not with the mounting pressure behind her eyes.
Finding a window seat, she stared out at the passing world. Her earlier anger had faded, replaced by a hollow, haunted look. At least the trees outside were safe from her wrath today.
"Hey, kid."
The sudden voice made Anna flinch. She looked up to find a woman in her late thirties watching her. Usually, Anna loathed being called a 'kid,' but today, the word didn't sting as much.
"I’m talking to you," the woman prompted when Anna didn't immediately respond.
"Hey.." Anna said, watching the woman who sliding into the seat beside her. "You alone?"
The question forced Anna to meet the woman’s gaze. Alone? Usually, the answer was a simple yes, but now it felt complicated. Was it because of the strange intensity in the woman's eyes?
"I think so," Anna finally replied. The woman nodded slowly, as if that vague answer made perfect sense. "Sometimes being alone is better than being with others, isn't it?"
Anna stopped fidgeting and looked back out the window. She couldn't bring herself to answer; the statement felt like a truth and a lie all at once. After a long silence, she turned back to the woman.
But the seat was empty.
Anna’s head snapped around in confusion. The train hadn't stopped, yet the woman was gone. A sudden chill raced down her spine, leaving her skin prickling with goosebumps. She remembered the woman’s gaze—it had looked soft, but there was something undeniably... off.
The train lurched to a halt at her station. Anna scrambled out, but the sense of unease followed her like a shadow. Something was wrong.
She reached her house quickly, but as she approached the door, voices drifted from inside.
"That’s what we’re saying, Lucina. You can't just take her. Who knows what might happen?" It was her mother's voice.
"Yes, we don’t want anything happening to her like it did to Roxmil..." Her father’s voice trailed off abruptly as he spotted Anna standing in the doorway.
"Anna, you’re late," he said, trying to steady his tone. But Anna didn't hear him. Her world had narrowed down to a single, impossible sight: the woman from the train was sitting right there beside her mother, acting as if she had been there all along.
"You...?"115Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡruFvHRRJNP
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