The fluorescent light above buzzed faintly.
It was the only sound in the small interrogation room besides the slow ticking of a wall clock.
Furbiris shifted in his chair.
The metal legs scraped slightly against the tiled floor. His wrists weren't cuffed, but the way the officer sat across from him made it clear that leaving wasn't an option.
"So… could you tell me your name, address and other relevant information." The officer leaned forward, forearms resting on the table, eyes locked onto Furbiris' face as if trying to peel something back.
"Biri Barzani. Konak, Izmir. And that's it."
The officer's pen scratched across a notepad.
"Now do you know what you're here for?"
Furbiris blinked.
"…No."
The officer stared at him for a long moment. Not angry. Not aggressive.
Studying.
"You were found," the officer continued slowly, "standing in the middle of Cumhuriyet Boulevard at 3:17 AM."
Furbiris frowned.
"…Okay?"
"In the rain."
"…It rains sometimes."
"Barefoot."
Furbiris looked down instinctively at his feet.
They were clean now. Dry.
He didn't remember taking his shoes off.
The officer slid a small plastic evidence bag onto the table.
Inside it.
Ash.
Fine, gray ash.
"This was in your hands."
Furbiris stared at it.
"…That's not mine."
"You were clutching it," the officer replied calmly. "Tightly."
A pause.
Furbiris swallowed.
"I don't remember that."
The officer leaned back in his chair now, crossing his arms.
"That's what concerns me."
Silence filled the room again.
The ticking clock felt louder.
Furbiris rubbed his temple.
The last thing he remembered was walking home.
There had been a strange glow in the sky.
Warm.
Almost comforting.
Then, Nothing.
"You were saying something when we approached," the officer added.
Furbiris' eyes flicked up.
"What?"
The officer's gaze hardened slightly.
"You kept repeating one phrase."
The room suddenly felt smaller. Furbiris felt a strange, unexplainable tightness in his chest.
"…What phrase?"
The officer flipped the notepad closed.
"You said." He paused. "'It's not a god.'"
The air in the room shifted.
Furbiris' breath caught for just a second.
"I" he began, but the words felt foreign in his mouth. "I don't know what that means."
The officer watched him carefully.
"You don't remember looking up at the sky?"
"No."
"You don't remember shouting?"
"No."
"You don't remember the heat?"
Furbiris froze.
Heat.
For a split second, an image flickered in his mind. The night sky. Brighter than it should have been. Like the sun had risen at the wrong time. He blinked and it was gone. The officer stood up slowly.
"We ran blood tests," he said. "No drugs. No alcohol."
He gathered the file.
"But something happened to you, Mr. Barzani."
Furbiris' hands clenched slightly on the table.
"…Can I go?"
The officer hesitated. Then nodded once.
"For now." As Furbiris stood, the officer added one last thing.
"If you start remembering anything… anything at all…" Furbiris paused at the door.
"…Yeah?"
The officer's eyes didn't leave him. "Come back before someone else brings you."
Furbiris stepped out into the hallway.
The lights felt too bright.
Too warm.
And somewhere deep in his mind, a voice he didn't recognize whispered softly.
"You saw it."
A tall figure leaned casually against the wall, hands tucked into the pockets of a long coat. Bright orange hair fell messily around their head, almost glowing under the fluorescent lights. Thin-framed glasses reflected the ceiling lamps, hiding their eyes for a moment.
Furbiris frowned.
He didn't recognize them.
But something about them felt,
Wrong.
Not threatening.
Just… out of place.
The figure pushed off the wall slowly and began walking toward him. Shoes made no sound against the tile.
Furbiris glanced behind him briefly.
The interrogation room door was still closed.
No officers in sight.
When he turned back, The person was much closer than they should've been.
Up close, he could see their eyes now behind the lenses. sharp. Observant. Almost amused.
They stopped a comfortable distance away.
"You handled that well," the stranger said casually.
Their voice was light. Calm. Gender hard to place.
Furbiris stiffened.
"…Handled what?"
"The questioning," they replied. "Most people panic when they realize they don't remember shouting at the sky."
Furbiris' stomach dropped.
"You were listening?"
The stranger smiled faintly.
"I was waiting."
"For what?" Furbiris asked, a hint of irritation creeping into his voice.
The person tilted their head slightly, studying him.
"To see if you'd remember."
"Remember what?"
A pause. The stranger reached up and adjusted their glasses.
"The light."
Furbiris felt that same tightness in his chest again.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Not yet," the stranger corrected softly.
Silence stretched between them. The fluorescent lights flickered once. Furbiris took a step back.
"Who are you?"
The stranger's smile widened just a fraction.
"You can call me…" They tapped the side of their glasses thoughtfully. "Let's say I'm someone interested in people who look at the sun and don't blink."
Furbiris felt a chill despite the warm hallway.
"I didn't look at anything."
The stranger's eyes narrowed slightly, studying him more intensely now.
"But you did."
Another step forward.
Close enough that Furbiris could see faint freckles across their nose.
"Tell me," the stranger continued quietly, "when you were standing in the road… did it feel like something was looking back at you?"
The question hit harder than it should have.
For just a split second,
He remembered warmth.
Blinding warmth.
And the feeling of being observed.
Furbiris shook his head quickly.
"No."
The stranger watched him for a long moment.
Then nodded once.
"Alright."
They stepped past him, walking toward the exit doors.
As they passed, they spoke softly, just loud enough for him to hear.
"You will, though."
Furbiris turned sharply.
"Hey!"
But the hallway was empty. The exit doors at the far end were still closed.
No footsteps.
No sound. Just the buzzing fluorescent lights. Furbiris stood there alone, heart beating a little faster than before. He didn't recognize that person. But somehow, It felt like they recognized him.
Furbiris stood frozen for a few seconds longer.
The hallway felt colder now. Or maybe that was just him.
He glanced once more toward the exit. The glass doors reflected only his own figurec slightly hunched, shoulders tense, eyes unfocused. He looked smaller than he felt a moment ago.
"…I'm just tired," he muttered.
Sleep deprivation. Stress. A weird coincidence.
That's all it was.
He forced his legs to move. Each step toward the exit felt heavier than it should have, like he was walking through shallow water. The automatic doors slid open with a soft mechanical hiss, and the cool night air hit his face immediately.
It was quiet outside.
Izmir at this hour felt almost peaceful. Streetlights painted the pavement in dull orange. Rainwater from earlier still clung to the asphalt, turning the road into a sheet of dark glass. Somewhere in the distance, waves rolled faintly against the shoreline.
It should've been calming.
It wasn't.
Furbiris stepped fully outside. The doors closed behind him with a muted click. He didn't walk away right away. He just stood there, hands slowly sliding into his jacket pockets.
His fingers brushed against something gritty.
He ignored it.
Without meaning to, he looked up.
The sky stretched endlessly above him. Heavy clouds drifted lazily, breaking just enough to reveal scattered stars. The city lights dulled their brilliance, but they were still there. tiny, distant, ancient.
His chest tightened.
It felt… familiar.
Too familiar.
"It's just the sky," he whispered.
The words didn't convince him.
For a moment, the clouds shifted.
And through a thin opening. There was a glow.
Not lightning. Not the moon. Not a plane.
Just… light.
His breathing slowed.
The glow didn't move like something in the atmosphere. It didn't flicker like a star. It just… burned. Quietly. Watching.
Heat prickled across his skin, subtle but real.
Ash.
Rain evaporating midair.
The memory hit him in fragments.
"You saw it."
The voice from the hallway echoed in his head.
Furbiris took a step back. His heel splashed lightly in a shallow puddle.
The clouds drifted again, covering the glow completely.
The sky returned to normal.
Stars. Darkness. Nothing unusual.
And yet his heart was pounding like he had just escaped something enormous.
"…I don't know what's happening," he murmured.
No answer came.
A car drove past at the end of the street. A stray dog barked once before going silent. The world continued exactly as it had before.
But something had shifted.
He could feel it.
Like noticing a crack in glass that had always been there, you just hadn't seen it until now.
Furbiris stared upward a few seconds longer.
Half-expecting the sky to blink back. When nothing happened, he finally lowered his gaze.
He turned to walk home.
He didn't notice the faint warmth lingering on his skin. He didn't notice the tiny fleck of gray ash still caught between his fingers.
And far above the drifting clouds. Something burned steadily.
To be Continued in Chapter 15.