It wasn't my thought, but something that insinuated itself directly into my mind:
"You are ready."
My body froze. The air seemed to weigh heavily, and the room's temperature dropped several degrees all at once. The vibration in the walls returned, stronger this time, pulsing beneath my fingers as I touched the necklace. It was as if every triangle, every speck of paint, was awakening. I tried to convince myself it was imagination. It didn't work.
The floor creaked on its own. The lamp flickered, and a strange shadow stretched impossibly along the wall, as if something were passing through space. My heart raced. The feeling of not being alone filled the room, crushing the normality I tried to maintain.
Then I heard soft footsteps outside the door—steps that shouldn't have been there. My eyes fixed on the doorknob, but no one opened it. And then, the presence appeared—not out of nowhere, but with an unsettling naturalness. A female silhouette emerged in the corridor's dim light, illuminated only by the streetlight filtering through the window.
She stood there, watching me. Loose hair, slightly tousled, dark eyes glowing with an almost magnetic intensity. My body reacted before my mind: I froze, captivated, feeling every inch of the room vanish around me. It was impossible to look away.
She took a slow, deliberate step and stared at me directly, as if she had been waiting for this moment for a long time. My heart raced, and even without words, I felt a silent, intense mutual curiosity. Something about her seemed to decode pieces of me I hadn't yet known.
"You…" I began, but my voice failed. "Who…?"
She smiled faintly, unhurried, without explaining anything. She didn't need to. The way she moved, the way my eyes couldn't stop following every gesture, spoke more than words ever could.
"You're… different," she said, in a low voice, almost a whisper that passed through the air and settled on my skin.
I didn't know why, but the phrase hit me deeply. Different from all the encounters, different from anyone I had ever seen before. And at the same time, a strange warmth rose in my chest, mixed with a tingling at the back of my neck, as if something inside me recognized something in her.
She extended her hand, a simple, almost natural gesture. I wanted to recoil, to keep distance, but my body moved closer on its own. When our hands touched, for a few brief seconds, I felt an almost silent electricity course through my arm. I didn't know what it was, but the sensation left my breath caught and my heart racing.
"Don't be afraid," she finally broke the silence. "I just wanted… to see you."
I couldn't respond. I only smiled foolishly, unable to look away. She leaned in slightly, as if wanting to get even closer, and the entire world outside disappeared. There were no streets, no buildings, no Pedri or anyone else. Just the two of us, suspended in that moment.
When she finally pulled away, she left a space that felt too empty. But the feeling remained: something had connected without words, without explanation, only with presence. And as the door closed behind her, the room seemed to tremble slightly. The walls' vibration returned, but this time it was different—less threatening and more… beckoning, as if responding to her presence.
My heart still racing, I sat on the bed, clutching the necklace. Confused thoughts piled up: who was she? Why did my body react like that? Why did I feel as if everything inside me was on alert, as if something had changed forever, even though I couldn't name it?
The omen of the phrase returned, echoing in my mind: "You are ready." This time, the feeling of destiny mixed with a strange promise, something I still did not understand.
The world outside remained silent, but nothing felt truly calm.