Kai and Soren - Days - Chapter Five: A World That Pretends

The neon light in the room flickers.

There is silence now.

Ruairidh lies sprawled on the floor, arms wide, breath ragged, eyes fixed on the ceiling.

Slowly, his fingers curl into a fist. His eyes close.

“Ah… that hurts.”

He mutters. Then he pushes a monitor off his chest, shoving the cables aside.

The tension drains away, little by little.

He drags himself toward the bed, leaving a thin smear of blood behind him.

Hannah is visibly shaken.

Her hands are clenched against her face, long hair soaked with sweat, droplets sliding down her forehead.

“Hannah, love… are you okay? Are you hurt?”

Ruairidh reaches the bedside, lifts one arm, and gently moves her hand away from her forehead.

“Love… look at me.”

Hannah gasps for air.

Her pupils are dilated, her gaze unfocused for a moment that feels endless.

When her eyes finally lock onto Ruairidh, a sob tears through her chest.

“There was…”

Her voice breaks. She swallows hard.

“There was someone.”

Ruairidh brushes her cheek with the back of his hand, wiping away a tear as it runs down her face.

“I know.”

Hannah lowers her eyes.

Her fingers tremble as they clutch the bedsheet.

“But… is he gone?”

Ruairidh slowly turns toward the spot where Olafson stood only moments ago.

The floor is wrecked.

Monitors ripped apart. Cables torn free.

“It’s as if… he was never here.”

No footprints.

No signs of struggle or escape.

As if that immense mass had never truly rested its weight on this place.

The neon flickers again.

Hannah wraps her arms around herself.

“When you screamed…”

Her voice is barely a whisper.

“I felt something pulling me back. Like I was about to fall… but not through space.”

Ruairidh looks at her.

And understands.

Olafson didn’t flee.

Somehow, he was pulled back.

“Listen to me.”

His voice is steady, but low.

“Whatever that was… it isn’t over.”

Hannah nods slowly, as if she already knew.

A soft cry rises from the cradle, only a few steps from the bed.

One of the twins stirs in his sleep.

Ruairidh turns toward them.

For a moment, the air around the babies feels… different.

Heavier.

As if it were waiting for something.

Behind them, the window trembles almost imperceptibly,

as though something on the other side of the glass had just changed its mind.

Then everything stops.

Silence.

But not peace.

ns216.73.216.10da2

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