jay didn't sleep.
He couldn't.
The desert was quiet again.
Too quiet.
He sat outside his small tent, the camera placed in front of him like something alive.
Watching.
Waiting.
"I'm not touching it."
His voice was low.
Firm.
But his eyes never left it.
The message still burned in his mind.
You are not remembering. You are returning.
"Returning to what?"
The wind moved softly across the dunes.
But this time…
It felt different.
Closer.
jay closed his eyes for a second.
Just one second.
And everything changed.
The desert was gone.
He was standing somewhere else.
Cold.
Dark.
Silent.
Stone beneath his feet.
Smooth.
Perfect.
His breath echoed around him.
"No… no, this is not real…"
But it felt real.
Too real.
He looked around.
The corridor.
The same one.
From the camera.
His heart began to race.
"I'm dreaming…"
He lifted his hand.
Touched the wall.
Cold.
Solid.
Real.
A deep vibration pulsed through the ground.
Low.
Heavy.
Like something ancient… waking up.
The symbols appeared.
Not on the wall.
Inside his mind.
Flashes.
Images.
Memories.
But not his.
A sky unlike Earth.
Dark… but full of light.
Massive structures rising from endless sand.
Not built.
Grown.
Beings.
Tall.
Silent.
Watching the horizon.
And then—
Destruction.
A sound.
Impossible to describe.
The ground breaking.
The sky tearing open.
Screams.
Not human.
Abdellah dropped to his knees.
"STOP!"
The vision shattered.
He was back.
The desert.
The night.
His breath shaking violently.
"No… no… no…"
He grabbed his head.
"I saw that… I felt that…"
His hands were trembling uncontrollably.
"That wasn't a dream…"
The camera.
It turned on.
By itself.
The screen lit up.
And for the first time—
It showed him.
jay froze.
The image was live.
But something was wrong.
He wasn't alone.
Behind him…
Something stood.
Tall.
Still.
Watching.
His breath stopped.
Slowly…
Very slowly…
He turned.
Nothing.
Empty desert.
He looked back at the screen.
It was still there.
Closer now.
Clearer.
Not a shadow.
Not a reflection.
A presence.
And its eyes
Were not looking at the camera.
They were looking at him.
"You remember more than you should."
The voice wasn't in the air.
It was inside him.
jay staggered back.
"No… I don't want this…"
But something deep inside him…
Responded.
Not with fear.
But with recognition.
And in that moment—
He understood one thing.
This was not contact.
This was not discovery.
This was not even first encounter.
This…
Had already happened before.