(PB 2)
rain had stopped.
But the old building was still dripping.
Water slipped from the broken edges of the ceiling, falling onto the concrete floor at irregular intervals. Somewhere in the darkness, a loose metal sheet moved with the wind, producing a faint scraping sound.
Anie stood near the entrance.
Her breathing had almost returned to normal, but her fingers were still trembling.
She looked at the place where the stranger had disappeared.
Nothing.
No footprints. No movement. No trace of another person.
Only the wet floor and the strange silence that followed their confrontation.
She slowly lowered her eyes to her right hand.
There was a small cut near her palm. She hadn't noticed when it happened. A thin line of blood had mixed with the rainwater, leaving a faint red mark across her skin.she pressed her thumb against it.
It hurt.
That small pain somehow made
everything feel real again.
"That wasn't an illusion..."
Her voice sounded unfamiliar in the empty building.
She remembered the moment clearly.
The stranger had been standing several metres away. Then the air had twisted. Not like smoke, not like a reflection in water. It had looked as though a part of the world had briefly forgotten how to exist.
And then he was somewhere else.
Anie turned towards the place where he had appeared.five metres,perhaps ten.
She couldn't be certain.
But she remembered something else.
The rain had stopped falling for a fraction of a second when he disappeared.not everywhere only around the space he had occupied.
Anie closed her eyes she tried to remember the sensation she had experienced before the movement.
A strange pressure.
A brief disturbance.
Something that felt like a silent warning inside her head.
It was similar to the sensation she experienced whenever reality seemed to hesitate.
But this time, it hadn't come from her.
Someone else could perceive those gaps.
Someone else could use them,her stomach tightened.
"How many people are there?"
No answer came.
She took a step backwards, but a sudden wave of dizziness forced her to stop. Her hand moved towards the wall. The cold surface steadied her for a moment.
Her head was beginning to hurt.
She had already experienced that feeling after using Moment Hold. But this was different. She hadn't intentionally frozen anything. She hadn't even understood what had happened during the confrontation.
Yet her body was reacting as though she had pushed herself beyond her limits.
Perhaps it wasn't only her ability that was unstable.Perhaps being near another person's fracture affected her too.
She didn't know,and that was becoming the most frightening part.anie picked up her phone the screen illuminated her face.
2:46 AM.
There were three missed calls from Mira.
Anie stared at the screen.
She had forgotten about the outside world during the confrontation. She had forgotten the time, the rain, and even the reason she had come to the building.
Mira had probably been waiting for her.
Anie immediately called back.
The first ring ended.
The second continued.
"Where the hell are you?"
Mira's voice came through before Anie could say anything.
Anie closed her eyes briefly.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't start with that. I've been calling you for nearly twenty minutes."
"I know."
"Where are you?"
Anie looked towards the dark hallway.
"The old building."
There was a pause.
"Why?"
"I needed to check something."
"At almost three in the morning?"
Anie didn't answer.
Mira exhaled sharply.
"Are you alone?"Anie looked around.
The empty corridor seemed longer than before.
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
That question made her fingers tighten around the phone.
She glanced towards the far end of the hallway.
For a moment, she thought she saw something move near the broken doorway.she blinked,nothing .
"Anie?"
"I'm fine."
"That's not what I asked."
"I'll explain later. I'm coming back."
Mira remained silent for a few seconds.
Then she spoke more quietly.
"Just come back safely, okay?"
Anie nodded, even though Mira couldn't see her.
"Okay."the call ended she slipped the phone into her pocket and started walking.
The road outside was almost empty.
Rainwater covered the uneven pavement, reflecting the few streetlights that remained functional. Anie walked slowly, keeping her injured hand close to her body.
The night air felt unusually cold.
She passed a closed shop and stopped near its glass window.
Her reflection looked exhausted.
Her hair was wet and tangled. There were dark circles beneath her eyes, and her face had lost its usual expression.
For a moment, she didn't recognise herself.
Then something happened.
Her reflection moved.
Only slightly.
Anie remained completely still.
The image in the glass seemed to turn its head a fraction later than she did.
She immediately stepped away.
Her heartbeat accelerated.
She looked back.
The reflection was normal.she stared at the glass for several seconds, searching for any possible explanation.
A passing vehicle's headlights moved across the window, distorting the image.hat was all.
Probably.
But the strange sensation remained.
Anie pressed her fingers against her forehead.
"Not now..."
She continued walking.
She didn't want to investigate another disturbance. She didn't want to test her abilities or discover something new.
For the first time since reading Sam's diary, she wanted an ordinary night.
A night when a reflection was just a reflection.
A shadow was just a shadow.
And a person disappearing from one place and appearing somewhere else was something that only happened in stories but she knew better now.
The world wasn't as ordinary as she had believed.
At the hospital, Mira was sitting beside Eli's bed.room was quiet except for the rhythmic beeping of the monitor.She had placed her phone on the bedside table and was watching the corridor through the partially open door.
Eli hadn't woken up.
His condition had remained stable, but the absence of any meaningful response was beginning to trouble her.
She looked at his face.
"You're taking too long."
There was no response.
Mira adjusted the blanket near his shoulder.
"You know, Anie is becoming impossible to deal with."
She paused.
"She disappears without explaining anything. Then she comes back pretending everything is normal."
Her expression softened.
"Maybe you should wake up and help me deal with her."
monitor continued its steady rhythm.
Mira leaned back in the chair.
Her thoughts returned to the young man who had visited earlier.
Adrian.she still remembered his face and the way he had avoided answering certain questions.He had seemed polite.
Almost too polite.
He had asked about Eli, but there was something unusual about his interest. Mira couldn't explain it.
She remembered how his eyes had moved towards Eli's belongings before he left.
And how he had looked at the hospital corridor as though he was searching for someone.She took her phone and opened her recent calls anie's name was at the top mira sighed.
"Both of you are hiding something."
She placed the phone down again.
A few seconds passed then Eli's fingers moved.
It was barely noticeable his index finger shifted against the bedsheet.Mira didn't see it his eyes remained closed the monitor continued beeping.
Anie reached the hospital shortly after three.
She entered the building through the main entrance, avoiding the receptionist's curious glance.
The smell of disinfectant and the faint sound of footsteps brought her back to familiar surroundings.She was relieved.
For once, the ordinary hospital atmosphere felt comforting.
When she reached Eli's room, Mira immediately stood up.
"Finally."
Anie offered a tired smile.
"Sorry."Mira crossed her arms.
"You're going to explain where you've been."
"I will."
"When?"
"Tomorrow."
"Anie."
"Please, Mira. I'm exhausted."
Mira studied her face.
Then her eyes moved towards Anie's hand.
"What happened?"
Anie instinctively pulled it closer.
"Nothing."
"That's blood."
"It's just a small cut."
Mira approached her and examined the wound.
"How did you get this?"
"I scratched it somewhere."
"Somewhere?"
Anie looked away mira's expression changed.she didn't argue, but she clearly wasn't convinced.
"Sit down."Anie obeyed.
Mira brought a small first-aid kit from the cabinet and cleaned the wound.
The antiseptic stung anie winced.
"See? You can still feel pain. That's good."
Anie gave her a tired look.
"That's your medical opinion?"
"Yes. Very professional."
For a moment, both of them smiled.
It was brief.
But it was enough to make the room feel less heavy.
Mira finished dressing the wound and returned to her chair.
"Did you eat anything?"
Anie shook her head mira stared at her.
"Of course you didn't."
"I'm not hungry."
"That doesn't mean you shouldn't eat."
"I'll eat later."
Mira opened her mouth to argue, but stopped when she noticed Anie's expression.
Something was bothering her.
Something far beyond a simple late-night visit to an abandoned building.
Mira lowered her voice.
"Did something happen?"
Anie looked at Eli his face was still.
The monitor continued its steady rhythm.
She wanted to tell Mira everything.
About the stranger about the strange movement through reality.About the way the world seemed to bend around certain people.
But how could she explain something she barely understood herself?
How could she tell someone that the world had invisible gaps, and that some people could move through them?
She looked down at her bandaged hand.
"Maybe."
Mira waited.
Anie continued.
"I think there are more people like me."
Mira frowned.
"Like you?"
Anie nodded.
"People who can notice things that other people can't."
Mira didn't immediately respond she looked at Anie carefully.
"Is that what you've been investigating?"Anie hesitated.
"Part of it."
Mira leaned forward.
"Anie, I don't need you to tell me everything right now. But don't make me believe you're safe when you're not."
Anie looked at her for a moment, Sam's face appeared in her memory.
A familiar smile.
A conversation she wished she could have again.
A friendship she had understood too late.
She swallowed.
"I don't know whether I'm safe anymore."mira's expression softened.
"Then don't face everything alone."
Anie didn't answer she simply looked away.
At 3:27 AM, the hospital corridor was empty.
A security guard walked past the nurses' station, checking the doors before returning to his chair.
Inside Eli's room, Mira had finally fallen asleep.
Anie sat beside the window she wasn't sleeping.she was watching the glass.
The reflection showed the hospital room behind her: the bed, the chair, the monitor, and Mira's sleeping figure.
Everything appeared normal she raised her right hand.the reflection did the same.she lowered it the reflection followed.
Anie stared for a while before looking towards the window itself.Beyond the glass, the hospital parking area was almost completely dark.
A few vehicles stood beneath the streetlights.
Nothing unusual then she noticed something.
A light above one of the parking spaces flickered.once,twice it went dark anie watched it.
The light came back on but the shadow beneath it remained in the same position.
She leaned closer the shadow wasn't connected to any visible object.
It stretched across the wet ground like a long, narrow stain.her chest tightened
there it was again.That pressure,that familiar sensation.reality was hesitating
anie slowly stood up.shadow shifted
not towards the light.towards the hospital.she took a step backwards
the pressure in her head increased.
She closed her eyes, trying to steady her breathing.don't panic words came from somewhere deep inside her.
She remembered what the mysterious woman had told her.
Awareness came before control she didn't have to interfere with everything she noticed.
She didn't have to touch every fracture.
Sometimes, she only needed to understand what she was seeing.
Anie opened her eyes the shadow was gone.
The parking light remained steady she stood there for another minute before returning to her chair.
Her heart was still beating quickly.
But she didn't try to use Moment Hold.
She didn't force anything she simply observed.
For the first time, she wondered whether that was what the woman had wanted her to learn.not how to become stronger,not how to fight.
But how to recognise the difference between something she could perceive and something she should interfere with.
At an unknown location, a phone screen illuminated a dark room a hand reached for it.a message appeared.
UNKNOWN NUMBER:
Did you find her?
person stared at the message.
A reply was typed.
UNKNOWN:
Yes.
A second message arrived almost immediately.
UNKNOWN NUMBER:
And?
The person looked towards a rain-covered window.beyond it, the distant lights of the city shimmered through the darkness.
UNKNOWN:
She doesn't understand what she's looking at.a pause then another message.
UNKNOWN NUMBER:
That makes her dangerous..., person locked the phone.for a few seconds, the room remained completely silent.
Then a faint distortion appeared near the wall.the air folded inward a thin line of red light flashed and disappeared.
The person didn't move.
"Not yet," they whispered.and somewhere beyond the visible world, something answered with silence.