Morning arrived not with warmth, but with a heavy, unnatural silence. Reyan stirred on the cold floor of the abandoned department store. Mira was already awake, perched on a crate, her eyes scanning the flickering streetlights through a cracked window.
He rubbed his face, still feeling the phantom echo of footsteps from last night. The metallic scrape that had chased them through the streets haunted him even in daylight. "Did… did you sleep at all?" he asked quietly.
Mira didn't look at him. "Sleep doesn't matter here. Not when you don't know what waits outside after dark."
Reyan shivered. "You make it sound like… like something is hunting us."
She finally turned to him. Her dark eyes, sharp and alert, softened slightly, but only for a moment. "It is. I've seen it. It follows us. Mimics us."
He swallowed. He didn't want to believe her, but deep down, a part of him already did.
---
**The Exploration
By late morning, they cautiously left the department store. The city was unnervingly still, like a painting frozen in time. Cars stood abandoned at intersections. A street vendor's cart had half-spilled fruits, their smell rotting in the sun.
Reyan walked slowly, noticing details he hadn't the night before. A newspaper fluttered near the curb. He picked it up. Dated **seven days ago**, the headlines screamed about a minor traffic accident—nothing that hinted at the city's emptiness.
"This is… yesterday?" he murmured. "No, wait… seven days ago?"
Mira, scanning the surroundings, kept her hand near the crowbar. "Everything stopped seven days ago. I don't know why. No one's… here."
He glanced at the houses they passed. Half-open doors revealed half-cooked meals, television screens frozen on paused frames, toys lying where children had apparently left them. The more he looked, the more unreal it felt.
"It's like the city forgot us," he whispered.
Mira gave him a sharp look. "No. The city didn't forget. *Someone* wants us to feel this."
Her words sent a chill down his spine.
---
Signs of Life?
They ventured further, moving cautiously from building to building. Mira had started marking their path with chalk, carving simple arrows on walls and street signs. "If we get separated," she said, "we follow the marks back."
Reyan noticed another detail: the clocks. Every single one, on the walls, on the towers, in homes, and even inside cars, was stuck at **12:07 PM**. He shook his head. "Every clock… it's like time froze."
Mira didn't respond immediately. She was studying a large map of the city she'd pulled from a forgotten kiosk. Red zones were marked across streets, and some areas had cryptic symbols he didn't recognize.
"What are these?" Reyan asked.
"They're dangerous," she replied flatly. "Places the… things… go. You don't go there."
Reyan looked at her. "Things? You keep saying that like it's real, but I haven't seen anything yet."
She didn't flinch. "You will. And when you do, you'll understand why I carry this." She lifted the crowbar slightly, its metal glinting in the faint light.
---
A Moment of Vulnerability
By mid-afternoon, they reached a small park. A swing swayed in the wind, though no breeze moved anything else. Reyan sat on a bench, letting the silence press down on him.
"Why… are you here?" he asked suddenly. "I mean… why are *you* still alive? Why didn't it get you before me?"
Mira hesitated. For the first time, she seemed unsure of what to say. "I woke up… like you did. Three days ago. I thought I was the only one left. I don't know why I survived."
Reyan nodded slowly. He felt a strange connection to her in that moment. Someone else understood the fear he had felt last night, someone else had faced the emptiness and lived through it.
"Day 3…" he murmured. "So you've been here alone for four days?"
She nodded, her lips pressed into a thin line. "Four days. Every night, I hear the echoes. Every night, I hide. Every night, I wonder if… someone will come for me, or if I'll vanish like everyone else."
Reyan's throat tightened. He hadn't realized he had been holding his breath. "I… I'm glad I found you," he said quietly.
Mira's eyes flickered. She looked away, then muttered, "Don't… get used to it. Things can change in a second."
---
Night Approaches
As the day faded, the city transformed. Shadows stretched unnaturally long, deepening into black shapes that swallowed the streets. Reyan felt a gnawing sense of dread.
"I don't like this," he said. "Something is waiting for us."
Mira didn't reply immediately. Then she said, "They always come closer after dark. Whatever is out there… it watches, it learns. It mirrors you. It wants to know fear."
Reyan shivered. "Mirrors… me?"
She nodded. "You'll see."
They moved quickly toward an old library Mira had spotted earlier. The building was massive, its doors heavy and creaking. She pushed the entrance open, and they stepped inside. Dust motes danced in the weak light.
Reyan noticed stacks of books, newspapers, and papers scattered everywhere. For a moment, he allowed himself to imagine **the library as a safe haven**.
Then the sound hit him.
---
Echoes in the Dark
Soft footsteps. But they weren't just ordinary. They were… precise, mirroring their own. When Reyan stopped, the sound stopped. When Mira moved, it moved.
He froze. "Mira… do you hear that?"
She nodded, her jaw tight. "It's them."
"What… what are they?" he whispered, panic creeping in.
"They're shadows," she said quietly, almost reverently. "They follow us, copy us. They wait for mistakes. They know fear better than we do."
Reyan's heart raced. He wanted to run, but his legs refused. Mira took his hand, gripping it tightly. "Breathe. Don't panic. Don't show it."
Outside, the footsteps paused. Then a low, dragging sound started—a heavy scrape against the asphalt. Reyan could almost feel it through the floor, as if the city itself were alive and breathing.
Then, the radio.
It crackled to life, static first, then the same warped voice:
> ❝ Day 8 begins tomorrow. One of you will disappear. ❞
Reyan froze. Mira's grip on his hand tightened. "Tomorrow?" he whispered.
She nodded, her face pale. "It's a warning… a promise. One of us may not make it through the next night."
They stayed there, huddled in the dim light, listening to the city breathe around them. For the first time, Reyan felt **true fear**—not just for himself, but for Mira, for the fragile connection they had barely begun to build.
He realized, then, that he didn't just want to survive anymore. He wanted to survive **with her**.
The night deepened. Outside, the city waited, watching. And in the shadows, something moved—silent, patient, and waiting for them to slip.
Reyan closed his eyes, praying silently that Day 8 would not be the day they were torn apart.