Fifteen years had passed since that night. The building, the screams, the white sheets all of it lived in Aria’s mind like a shadow she could not escape. She had grown into a young woman now, tall, careful, and cautious in the way only someone who had lost so much could be.
Aria lived with her mother in a small, rented house. Her mother had become a baker, her hands always dusted with flour. Life was quiet, peaceful, and safe or at least that was what Aria tried to tell herself. She went to college, laughed with friends, and sometimes even felt like a normal girl. But deep down, a part of her heart had never left the past.
It started with small things.
A cold spot in her room that made her shiver even under blankets. A soft whisper in the middle of the night: “Aria… why…”
She tried to ignore it. “It’s my imagination,” she whispered to herself, shaking her head. But the feeling would not go away.
One night, as she brushed her hair before bed, Aria saw it. Her reflection in the mirror seemed… wrong. Behind her, a shadow lingered, tall and pale. She spun around, but no one was there.
Then she heard it again, louder this time, and unmistakable.
“Why… didn’t… you come?”
Her heart hammered. She wanted to run, but her feet froze. The air in the room grew icy, and the whisper repeated, growing angrier, more desperate.
“Aria…”
Aria’s chest ached. Somewhere deep inside, she knew. She had lost Siya once. She had never been able to forget her. And now, somehow
, Siya had returned.
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