The world stopped.
It seems she entered in the different planet or timeline.
It stopped all at once- may be as some pressed the switch button.
The moment the clock hit again to 3:18am.
She checked at her phone.
The neon street light brighten and flared.
They are bright enough to burn aftermaiges of her eyes.
And then:
No sound! No movement!
Aira staggered forward, lungs burning, and nearly tripped. Her foot struck the pavement with a dull, hollow thud that echoed far too loudly in the silence. She clapped a hand over her mouth.
"Hello?" She shouted.
But her voice didn't echo... It simply disappeared.
The people in the street were frozen where they stood. The woman with the pram was locked mid-step, her fingers curled white around the handle. The child's hair hung unnaturally still, every strand suspended in the air. Even dust motes seemed caught, glittering faintly in the neon glow.
"This isn't real." She told herself,"this isn't real."
She slowly walked towards the man in the outdated coat (that one who didn't blinked).
But now he is completely frozed . Even everything in the surrounding also froze.
She still tried. Waved her hand on front of his face.
"Can you listen?" She asked.
No response.
His skin looks normal, too normal. Warm light reflected faintly on her checkbone.
He didn't seem dead..
He is alive but just not reacting.
Ariana tired to calm her down by counting her breadth.
One-two-three....
Her own eyes are buring so she has to look away.
This world seems totally different from the earth. The things there seems like they never exist on the earth.
The neon veins pulsed again slower now, deeper, like a heartbeat settling into a steady rhythm. The frozen people didn't move, but the city itself did. Lights hummed. The street seemed to stretch, imperceptibly, as if relaxing now that time had stepped aside.
"You're inside," a voice said.
Aira gasped and stumbled back.
The girl from before stood a few meters away, no longer frozen. Her shoulders sagged with exhaustion, her eyes rimmed red, as if she hadn't slept in years.
"You made it past the minute," the girl said softly. "That means it's decided."
"Decided what?" Aira demanded. Her voice came out sharper than she intended. "What is this place? Why can you move when no one else can?"
The girl glanced around the frozen street, then back at Aira. "Because we're not… new."
Aira's stomach dropped. "New to what?"
"To being forgotten."
The words settled between them, heavy and cold.
Aira looked again at the people locked in place. "They're alive."
"Yes," the girl said. "For now."
A chill crawled up Aira's spine. "And the man who doesn't blink?"
The girl followed her gaze. For the first time, something like fear crossed her face.
"Him?" she whispered. "Don't talk to him."
"Why not?"
"Because," the girl said, lowering her voice, "he's awake even when the city isn't."
Aira's breath caught.
As if in response, the man's eyes shifted just slightly.
And for the first time since she entered the city, Aira felt certain of one thing:
She was no longer alone.
Aira stumbled back, nearly colliding with the frozen woman and her pram.
"His eyes moved," Aira whispered. "I saw it."
The girl didn't argue. That scared Aira more than denial ever could.
"Listen to me," the girl said quickly, stepping closer. "You have to stop looking at him."
"But he can move," Aira insisted. "You said he's awake."
"Yes," the girl said. "And he notices when people notice him."
As if summoned by the words, a low creak rolled through the street. Not footsteps. Not wind. Something deeper like old metal bending under weight.
The man's head turned.
Not fast, not slow,just deliberately.
His eyes finally blinked.
Once.
Aira's stomach dropped so hard she thought she might be sick.
"Oh no," the girl breathed. "You shouldn't have stayed this long."
The frozen people around them began to change. Their shadows stretched first long, thin shapes dragging across the pavement in the wrong direction.
The neon veins flared brighter, tracing cracks that hadn't been there seconds ago.
Aira clutched her phone. "What's happening?"
"You crossed during your first minute," the girl said. "That makes you… interesting."
The man took a step forward.
The sound echoed heavy, final.
"I don't like that word," Aira said, her voice shaking. "I really don't."
The man smiled.
It wasn't wide. It wasn't cruel. It was worse curious.
"New ones always say that," he said.
Aira flinched. "You can talk."
"Yes." He tilted his head, studying her like a puzzle. "And you can hear me. That means the city hasn't finished deciding what to do with you."
The girl grabbed Aira's wrist. "Don't answer him."
But the man's gaze locked onto Aira's eyes, heavy and impossible to look away from.
"You felt it, didn't you?" he said softly.
"The stillness before the minute. The way the city leaned toward you."
Aira's throat went dry.
"That's how it starts," he continued. "You notice. Then you remember. Then you belong."
"I don't belong here," Aira snapped.
The neon dimmed.
The city seemed to listen.
The man's smile faded. "Everyone says that too."
A sharp pain burned across Aira's wrist.
She gasped and looked down.
A thin symbol jagged and glowing faintly had appeared on her skin, pulsing in time with the city's hum.
"No," the girl whispered. "It marked you already?"
Aira yanked her hand back. "What does that mean?"
The man's eyes gleamed. "It means you'll see us again tomorrow night."
The streetlights flickered.
Far above them, somewhere beyond the frozen sky, something ticked slow, enormous, counting.
The girl pulled Aira close. "When the city releases you," she whispered urgently, "don't come back. No matter what you hear. No matter who you see."
"Why?" Aira demanded.
Because the city had begun to move again.
Shadows crawling.
Neon spreading.
Frozen mouths opening, as if trying to scream.
The man stepped aside, revealing the street behind him longer now, deeper, stretching into darkness that hadn't existed before.
And from that darkness, something answered the city's call.
Something that knew Aira's name.