I was happy.
For the first time in days, I felt free. I told myself it was over—whatever it was, it had ended with the card. I felt saved, as if I had narrowly escaped something meant to take me.
That weekend, I lived fully.
I watched movies with my friends. We laughed, talked, and partied late into the night. Music, noise, people—everything felt normal again. I let myself enjoy it, telling myself I deserved this happiness after everything I had been through.
I felt alive.
After a long, exhausting night, I came home. I didn't even bother changing my clothes. I lay down on the bed exactly as I was, smiling to myself, convinced the fear was finally gone.
I slept happily.
Believing it had ended.
But happiness has a way of lying when it arrives too easily.
I was back in that place again.
Still wearing my party dress.
The same burning sky.
The same fire-colored ground.
The same black gate, glowing like it was alive.
And the man.
Seven feet tall. Covered in black.
Those demonic red eyes fixed on me—then slowly shifting to my hands.
My chest tightened. I didn't know what to say. I didn't even know what words would mean here.
I looked down.
The card was in my hand again.
Welcome, Cristina.
My stomach dropped.
Without thinking, I threw the card away and ran.
But ran where?
The ground burned beneath my feet. The land was endless—fire, twisted shapes, scorched earth that looked almost like trees but wasn't. There was no direction. No exit.
I expected him to follow me.
He didn't.
He simply bent down, picked up the card, and stood there—as if I had never mattered.
That scared me more than being chased.
I looked at my legs.
They were moving—but painfully slow. Like my body had forgotten how to run. Like I was trapped inside myself, moving through thick air.
I wanted to scream.
The thought crossed my mind—was I losing my mind? Was this what insanity felt like? Running without moving. Escaping without distance.
The place never changed.
No matter how far I tried to go, the image stayed the same—like a frozen picture I was trapped inside.
And in that moment, surrounded by fire and silence, one terrible realization settled in: