The door stopped moving the moment the gap was wide enough for a shadow to slip through.
Not a hand.
Not a foot.
Not even anything that resembled a body part.
Just something black—
not ordinary darkness, but a darkness that looked liquid, like ink forced to imitate smoke.
Elara held her breath, knees weakening.
Aiden positioned himself directly between her and the door, his back tensing like heated steel.
"Aiden…" Elara's voice was almost a sob, but she held it back.
"Is he—did he… get in?"
"No," Aiden answered curtly.
"But he's looking for a gap."
A gap?
Elara hugged herself, feeling a coldness that didn't belong to the room.
The gap Aiden meant wasn't the one in the door.
The real gap… was in their minds.
Aiden drew a slow breath not to calm himself, but to regulate his rhythm.
Elara saw his shoulders rise and fall, as if he was preparing for something he hated facing.
"He's trying to slip in through sound," Aiden muttered.
And as if responding—
the voice returned—
…but from the wrong direction.
Not from the door.
Not from the hallway.
But from inside Elara's own head.
"Elara… open your eyes. I'm right here."
Elara choked on her breath.
"A-Aiden?!"
She whipped her head toward the physical Aiden, the real one standing in front of her.
Aiden stared back sharply, hyper-alert.
"Did he talk to you?"
Elara nodded quickly, trembling.
"He… he used your voice. Exactly. Same tone. Same cadence. Everything."
Aiden closed his eyes briefly, jaw tightening.
"He saw me in the previous loops… but this is the first time he's trying to enter through someone else's head."
Elara looked terrified.
"Does… does that mean he can get into my mind?"
Aiden opened his eyes.
Not soft.
Not comforting.
Just honest.
"If you panic yes."
Elara swallowed thickly, trying to breathe slowly.
Aiden stepped closer.
Very close.
His breath brushed her cold cheek.
"Elara. Look at me."
He held both sides of her face, thumbs brushing lightly under her eyes.
His grip was firm, steady—an anchor in the middle of a storm.
"Elara… focus on my real voice."
The voice inside her head shifted instantly.
"Elaraaa… he's lying… that's not the real Aiden… I'm the one who's been with you from the start…"
Elara clenched Aiden's collar hard.
"YOU'RE THE REAL ONE, RIGHT?!"
Aiden flinched at her intensity but answered firmly.
"I am."
He held her hand gripping his collar.
"I'm the one standing in front of you. I'm the one you can touch. The system can't fake touch."
The voice laughed softly in Elara's mind.
"But I can give you something else…"
And suddenly—something changed.
Footsteps.
Behind them.
Elara froze.
Aiden froze too.
Elara stared at him, horrified.
"Aiden… that's… you, right?"
Aiden shook his head slowly.
"I haven't moved at all."
The footsteps came closer.
Measured.
Human.
TAP.
TAP.
TAP.
Elara clutched Aiden's shoulder so hard she nearly tore his shirt.
"Don't look," Aiden whispered urgently.
"If you look, he gets your visual pattern."
But human curiosity is stronger than fear.
And the system knew exactly how to exploit that.
"Elara," the voice behind them called.
Soft.
Smooth.
Exactly like… her own.
"Elara, please… I'm cold…"
Elara covered her mouth, shaking violently.
"That's not me," Aiden said sharply.
"Listen to me. That is NOT me."
"H-he's using a woman's voice…" Elara whispered.
"T-that's… my voice…"
Aiden cursed under his breath.
"He's copying you faster than expected."
Elara's tears spilled.
Not loud.
Not messy.
Just silent drops slipping down.
"Why does he… why does he want to be me?"
Aiden stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her.
Not romantic.
Not gentle.
A shield—hard, solid, terrified of losing her.
"Elara… the system doesn't need your body."
Aiden's breath was heavy, as if something was crushing his chest.
"It needs… your existence."
Elara stiffened.
"M-my existence?"
Aiden swallowed, whispering right into her ear.
"We're getting close to the core.
Elara you are the most important variable in this loop."
The footsteps stopped behind them.
The voice her voice whispered:
"Aiden… release her. She doesn't belong to the loop…"
Aiden held Elara tighter, as if she would vanish if he loosened his grip even a little.
"Elara… listen."
He inhaled sharply.
"I survived hundreds of loops alone. But since you appeared… something changed."
Elara looked at him even though the darkness hid his face.
"What changed?"
Aiden opened his mouth, but before he could answer
the voice whispered again.
This time inside Aiden's head.
"Aiden… aren't you tired of protecting someone who always dies…?"
Aiden froze.
"Aiden?" Elara touched his cheek.
"Aiden, is he talking to you?"
Aiden didn't answer.
Too long.
Then he spoke quietly, voice fractured.
"Elara… don't listen to anything he says after this."
The voice slid deeper.
"Aiden… you can't save her. Not in any loop. Not in any version. She always… dies…"
Elara grabbed Aiden's face, shaking him lightly.
"Aiden, don't let him in! Focus! Listen to me!"
Aiden shut his eyes, breath uneven.
"Elara… I don't mind dying. But if the system… forces me to watch you die again"
"Aiden!"
Elara crashed into him, hugging him tight.
"Look at me! Here! Now! I'm not dead!"
Aiden exhaled a trembling breath.
"Yeah… you're here…"
He pressed his face into her shoulder.
"Yes… you're still here…"
But the voice didn't stop.
"Not for long…"
Aiden jolted, protective instinct roaring back.
"Elara. We're leaving this room. Now."
Elara swallowed.
"But the door"
The door creaked.
Slowly.
Opening on its own.
And from that strip of darkness…
a figure stepped out.
Not clear.
Not full.
Just a silhouette vaguely shaped like a human.
But its head tilted
exactly the way Elara tilted hers when confused.
Elara froze in place.
Aiden gripped her hand tightly.
"Close your eyes," he whispered sharply.
"Don't look at it, Elara."
"Oh God…" Elara's voice cracked.
"T-that… that's my shape."
The figure smiled faintly.
Not a human smile.
A predator's smile
one that had finally found its target.
"Elara," the figure whispered…
"…I'm right here…"
Aiden held her as if denying reality itself.
"Don't look," he repeated.
"If you see it… it will become you."
And for the first time
Elara heard something even Aiden had never said.
A whisper from the entity:
"Because in the previous loops…
I was you."