The silver charm lay on the chair like a ghost from another lifetime. 👻
Feriha stared at it without moving, without breathing, feeling the weight of Selene's words echo through her skull.
You left her.
You ran.
You saved yourself. 😏
Ravihan gently touched her shoulder.
"Feriha… look at me."
She didn't.
Her eyes were glued to the charm.
"It's the same one," she whispered.
"Mine and hers… they were matching." 🔗
Ravihan hesitated.
"Which means that girl… she wasn't just trapped with you. She was connected to you."
"She was my friend," Feriha murmured.
"No… more than that. We were like…"
Her voice cracked.
"Sisters." 👭
The realization hit her like a tidal wave.
But with it came something else;
guilt. 😩
A deep, suffocating guilt she didn't understand.
Ravihan stepped in front of her, forcing her eyes up to his.
"Listen to me. Selene wants to break you. Everything she says is designed to confuse you."
"But what if she's right?"
Feriha's voice was barely a whisper.
"What if I really left that girl behind? What if she's in danger because of me?" 😥
"Then we fix it together," Ravihan said firmly.
"You're not doing anything alone."
Feriha shook her head.
"She told me to come alone."
"And you won't," Ravihan said instantly.
Feriha looked at him;
really looked at him. 👀
His eyes were steady, grounding.
The one constant in her spinning world.
"But if I don't," she whispered, "Selene might hurt her."
Ravihan didn't answer immediately.
His silence said enough. 🤐
This was a trap.
A perfect one.
Selene knew exactly which strings to pull.
Feriha finally picked up the charm.
Her fingers trembled as she closed it in her palm. 🤦
"I'm going," she said quietly.
Ravihan's eyes widened.
"Feriha—"
"You said we'd fix it together," she said softly.
"And we will. But I need her to believe I'm coming alone."
Ravihan paused.
Slowly… painfully… he understood.
"You're going to pretend to follow her plan."
Feriha nodded.
"She expects me to walk into danger blindly. So I will—just not as blind as she thinks."🙅
Ravihan exhaled, half in frustration, half in reluctant agreement.
"So what's the plan?"
Before she could answer, a sudden movement caught their attention.
The nurse from earlier stood by the doorway,
but something was off.
She was gripping the edge of the counter too tightly.
Her eyes were wide with fear.
"Are you okay?" Feriha asked cautiously.
The nurse opened her mouth, but no words came out;
only a shaky breath. 🌬
Then she lifted her hand.
Between her trembling fingers was a small phone.
A video played on the screen.
A dark room.
A mattress on the floor.
And a small figure sitting with her knees to her chest;
The girl with the blue ribbon. 💠
Feriha stepped forward, heart slamming.
"Where did you get this?"
The nurse swallowed hard.
"She… she slipped it into my pocket," she whispered.
"Who?" Ravihan asked sharply.
The nurse's voice broke.
"The woman you just spoke to."
Selene.
Of course.
The video continued playing, and the girl finally lifted her face toward the camera.
Her eyes were wide, frightened, pleading.
And she whispered one line;
a line that shattered Feriha's entire world:
"Feriha… hurry. She said you're the only one who can save me… before she makes me forget you too." 🔊
Feriha's breath stopped.
Forget.
That was the word.
Selene didn't just torture.
She erased.
And the girl was next. 👩