When Heka finally got home, a heavy weight pressed down on his chest. He tried desperately to push away the memories of what had just happened, as if by sheer force of will he could erase the nightmare from his mind.
For him, it was more than just a bad day. It was a fracture in reality itself. He prayed silently that whatever had happened wouldn't repeat.
As he stepped inside, the familiar scent of spices and simmering food greeted him. His mother was in the kitchen, moving rhythmically as she prepared dinner.
He opened his mouth to speak, his voice trembling slightly. "Mom, I've already eaten."
But there was no response. It was the same as before. His mother was completely unaware of his existence.
He saw his mother was cooking and seemed to have not heard anything at all because there was no response.
He called again, a little louder this time. "Mom… Mom… " His words hung in the air, unanswered. It was as if she hadn't heard him at all.
Growing uneasy, Heka moved closer, standing right beside her. His voice cracked with desperation. "Mom, do you not see me either?"
His mother continued her task, chopping vegetables with steady hands, completely oblivious to his presence. Panic began to rise in Heka's chest.
Then his eyes caught the gleam of the knife she held. Instinctively, he looked for his reflection in the blade's polished surface.
There was no reflection of his figure at all. No shadow. No sign that he existed in this world anymore.
It was as if he had become invisible, not just to his mother, but to everyone. Like a ghost trapped between worlds, forgotten and erased. The loneliness was suffocating, driving him to the brink of madness.
The only person who realized his existence was the person who had hit him. He had absolutely had no idea about what exactly happened.
He took step back from his mother slowly. Then, he turned around. There was one thing that crossed his mind. It might be the way to resolve the puzzle. Determined, he drove back to the creepy forest.
After he entered the forest, he saw the car he was chasing before. He felt that something was waiting for him.
He realized that Heka had returned to the forest. He drove his car. He followed him. He didn't care where the car led him to a very strange place.
Although Heka was certain deep in his bones that something had deliberately trapped him in this invisible prison, cutting him off from the world so no one could see or hear him, he clung to a fragile hope.
He hoped, with all his heart, that somehow, everything would return to the way it was before. That the nightmare would unravel and he would be restored to the life he once knew.
He stopped for a while to pay attention to the car he had been chasing earlier. It passed slowly between a pair of towering, ancient trees, their gnarled branches stretching out like silent sentinels.
Right between those trees, a thick, swirling fog had gathered, dense and impenetrable. It hung in the air like a living thing, pulsating with an eerie glow.
"Is that a portal?" Heka whispered to himself, his voice barely audible over the rustling leaves.
The fog was so thick it seemed to swallow the light around it, casting the surrounding forest into premature twilight. A chill ran down his spine, a mixture of fear and curiosity tightening his chest. The unknown loomed before him like a vast, white abyss.
Despite the growing darkness and the gnawing dread inside him, Heka forced himself forward.
The fog was very thick and covered the view completely. There was nothing he could see other than the white mist. But he had to go to get out of the fog.
He didn't even care about anything around him. He didn't care about the danger or what might lurk unseen in the fog. All that mattered was moving forward through the fog, through the uncertainty, through whatever barrier kept him trapped in this liminal space.
It was also something that he hit, or he would find a way out. He had to find answers, thus he kept forward.
After what felt like an eternity wading through the thick mist, the fog began to thin. Shapes emerged slowly from the white haze, a crooked path, the twisted trunks of trees, and finally, the silhouette of a mansion. It was the same mysterious mansion he had seen before.
Parked in front of the house was that car, the very one he had been following. It sat silently.
Heka's heart pounded in his chest as he approached the vehicle. He climbed out of his own car and crept closer, every muscle tense with anticipation. Peering through the window, he saw that the car was empty.
No driver, no passengers. It was as if the person he had been chasing had vanished into thin air.
His mind raced. The only logical conclusion was that the person must have entered the mansion.
Somehow, he felt something weird. He was taken to the same place. But in a different way.
The road he had taken yesterday was clear, open, and free of any fog. But today was different. The entire stretch was swallowed by a thick, impenetrable fog that clung to the ground.
Despite the eerie surroundings, Heka didn't feel the biting cold he had expected. He turned toward his car, half-expecting to see frost or ice covering the windows as before.
But there was none. The glass was clear and warm to the touch. He pressed his palm against the window, surprised by the comforting heat radiating from it.
"It's warm. I don't freeze, like before." He murmured to himself.
He turned to the mysterious mansion. "What exactly is this place?"
His eyes shifted to the mysterious mansion looming ahead through the fog. The house was dark and silent, its silhouette stark against the swirling mist. Not a single light flickered from within, no glow of candles, no hum of electricity.