The chair That demands a Life

81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1G32jD4Rde

Chapter 12: The One Who Waits

Darkness.

Endless.

Breathing darkness.

Aanya could no longer feel her body.

No heartbeat.

No air.

Only voices.

Hundreds of voices.

Whispers.

Crying.

Begging.

All trapped inside the endless void surrounding the chair.

At first, Aanya screamed with them.

But time didn’t exist here.

Minutes felt like years.

Years felt like centuries.

And slowly…

The screaming stopped hurting.

That terrified her most.

Far away, she could still see the real world.

Like watching through broken glass.

She saw her body walking through the city.

Smiling at people.

Talking normally.

Pretending.

But it wasn’t her.

It was the other Aanya.

And every time someone looked afraid…

The smile on its face grew wider.

Days passed.

Or maybe months.

Aanya couldn’t tell anymore.

Then—

She heard a familiar voice.

“Please…”

Aanya turned.

Meera.

Faint.

Broken.

Standing among the trapped souls.

“Meera!” Aanya ran toward her.

But before she could reach her—

Chains of darkness wrapped around Meera’s body.

Pulling her back.

“No!” Aanya screamed.

Meera looked at her with tears in her eyes.

“It changes us…” she whispered.

Aanya froze.

“What…?”

Meera’s expression trembled with fear.

“The longer we stay…”

Her voice cracked.

“The less human we become.”

The shadows dragged her deeper into the darkness.

“MEERA!”

Aanya reached for her—

But her fingers touched only cold emptiness.

Gone.

Again.

Silence returned.

Then—

Footsteps echoed behind her.

Slow.

Heavy.

Aanya turned.

The artist stood there.

Watching her silently.

“You understand now,” he said softly.

Tears filled Aanya’s eyes.

“There’s no escape…”

The artist shook his head slowly.

“No.”

His face looked tired.

Ancient.

Broken.

“We all believed we could stop it.”

Aanya whispered, “Then what happens to us?”

The artist looked into the endless darkness.

“We become part of the waiting.”

The void trembled.

Suddenly—

Aanya felt something cold enter her chest.

Pain exploded through her soul.

She screamed.

The darkness wrapped around her arms.

Her throat.

Her eyes.

“No—GET IT OFF ME!”

But it kept spreading.

Filling her.

Changing her.

The voices around her began whispering faster.

Louder.

And then—

They all stopped.

At once.

Silence.

Aanya slowly looked down at her hands.

Dark shadows crawled beneath her skin.

Her breathing slowed.

Her fear faded.

And something else replaced it.

Hunger.

A voice echoed through the void.

“A new keeper must rise.”

Aanya shook her head weakly.

“No… I’m not like you…”

But the darkness inside her pulsed happily.

The artist stepped back slowly.

Almost afraid.

Because he recognized the truth before she did.

The entity had chosen.

Not another victim.

A successor.

In the real world—

A storm covered the city.

An old abandoned house stood silently in the rain.

Inside it—

The chair waited.

And beside it—

A girl stood smiling in the darkness.

Aanya.

But not the Aanya who once cried.

Or feared.

Or loved.

Her eyes were empty now.

Deep.

Endless.

The house door creaked open.

A young boy stepped inside nervously.

“Hello…?” he whispered.

Aanya smiled softly.

Warmly.

Almost kindly.

“Come in,” she said.

The chair creaked behind her.

Waiting.

Hungry.

And as the boy slowly walked closer—

Aanya’s smile widened.

Because now…

She finally understood the truth.

The chair never wanted lives.

It wanted someone…

To continue the cycle.

And now—

That someone was her.

🌑 THE END

“Sit once… and your future will cost you a life.”81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4HcVPwCXPQ

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