(PH 2)
The page turned.,
Anie immediately noticed the difference.The handwriting was worse
not messy.shaken the words pressed harder into the paper.some lines slightly tilted.Ink darker in certain places.as if the person writing it couldn't keep their hands steady anymore.
[Diary Entry — Sam]:
I was right.
A pause.
They're real.
Another pause longer this time.
And they finally found me.
Anie's heartbeat slowed for one second.then suddenly faster harder.
Her fingers tightened around the diary.
[Flashback Begins]:,
Rain fell over the city not heavily.
but enough to blur the neon lights a cold wind moved through the streets.
Carrying the distant hum of Astra City.
Tall holographic advertisements flickered above the buildings.
Half-glitched colors shifting unnaturally through the rain.the streets were quieter tonight.too quiet sam walked faster than usual her hood covered part of her face.
Water slid down the edges slowly her breathing wasn't stable.not because she was tired because she could feel it again.that presence closer now much closer she looked behind her quickly.
Nothing only wet streets dim lights, empty sidewalks.but her chest refused to calm down.
"…stop…"
She whispered to herself.
"Stop thinking about it…" yet even as she said it her steps became faster.The sound of rain covered everything else.
Until,
"THUD."
Sam stopped walking immediately not because of the sound.Because it came from behind her.one step,heavy controlled.
Not random her breath caught slowly
she turned.the street behind her looked empty at first.
Then.....,
A figure stepped out from the shadows beneath a flickering signboard tall.
black armored coat face hidden behind a dark metallic mask.no expression.
no hesitation,only stillness and somehow that stillness felt more terrifying than anger. sam's throat tightened instantly.
"…who are you?"the figure didn't answer another step forward.
"THUD."
Metal against wet pavement sam stepped backward instinctively.Then
she noticed something worse.
another figure standing across the street.and another,near the alley entrance.three no four.
They weren't surrounding her aggressively.they didn't need to because they already knew she couldn't escape.The rain intensified slightly.water dripped from the edge of sam's hood her breathing grew uneven.
"…what do you want from me?"
Silence then the first figure finally spoke.the voice wasn't human distorted.mechanical,cold.
"Subject confirmed." sam froze.
"Fracture response level increasing."
Another voice echoed from behind her.
"Awareness stage detected."her eyes widened slightly.they weren't talking TO her they were talking ABOUT her.
Like she wasn't even a person.
"…what the hell are you saying?"the figure stepped closer.rain hit the metal mask softly.
"Do not resist."
"Containment will reduce psychological collapse."sam stared at them in disbelief.sam stared at them in disbelief.
"…containment?"
The figure tilted its head slightly almost curious.
"Emotional instability accelerating."
"Fear response confirmed."
something about the way it spoke
made Sam's stomach twist violently.
no emotion,no humanity.
Like a machine pretending to understand people.
"I asked who you are!"
Her voice cracked louder this time.
The figures remained still then another one answered.
"We are Hunters."the word hit strangely.hunters,not police, not military hunters.
Sam slowly stepped backward again.
"…hunters of what?"a pause then,
"The Called."...
silence the rain suddenly felt colder.
sam's breathing stopped for half a second.
"…what…?"
"You are identified as unstable."
"Psychological fracture progression confirmed."
"Containment required."
sam shook her head immediately.
"No— no, you're insane."
Another step backward.
"You people are insane."the hunter moved again closer.
"You are experiencing denial."
"We expected this stage."
Sam's fear shifted not into panic into anger.
"…stay away from me."
No response only another step closer.
"STAY AWAY!"!!!!!!!!
The moment she screamed something happened.the air distorted violently.
"WHOOOOM "
A sudden pressure exploded outward.
the rain itself shifted direction windows nearby trembled.one of the streetlights shattered instantly.
"CRACK!"!!!!!
The Hunters stopped moving not surprised.observing analyzing.
"Reality response confirmed."
"Fracture resonance increasing."
Sam stared at her own hands.
The air around her fingers looked wrong.distorted like invisible cracks spreading through space itself.
"…what is happening to me…?"
Her voice trembled.one hunter slowly reached toward something attached to his belt.a metallic device unfolded mechanically,blue energy pulsed across its surface.
"Containment protocol authorized."
Suddenly the pressure around Sam intensified.
"WHIIIIIIINNN " a sharp frequency filled the street.sam dropped to one knee instantly.
"AAH !" Pain exploded through her head.not physical worse
like something inside her mind was being ripped open.her vision blurred violently.the rain around her began floating unnaturally.
The hunters remained still watching.
studying her suffering like data.
"Fear spike detected."
"Fracture destabilization accelerating."
sam looked up at them through trembling eyes.
"…you're monsters…"
One Hunter answered immediately.
"No." a pause.
"You are."that sentence hit harder than the pain.her breathing broke completely.
"…what?"the hunter stepped closer.
"Called subjects eventually destabilize reality itself."
"Civilian survival probability decreases exponentially."
"We eliminate collapse before expansion."sam's eyes widened slowly.
Eliminate that word not save not help
eliminate.
"You kill people…"silence then,
"Necessary loss."
The way he said it without hesitation
without guilt,
made something inside sam crack.
not emotionally something deeper.
The pressure around her exploded again.
"WHOOOOOOM !"
The pavement beneath her feet shattered instantly.cracks spread across the road unnaturally fast.
nearby hologram lights flickered violently.the hunters immediately stepped backward.not afraid prepared.
"Reality fracture risk increasing."
"Immediate suppression recommended."
Another Hunter raised his weapon this one wasn't a rifle.it looked worse long.
sharp-edged glowing with unstable blue light.sam's breathing collapsed into panic.
"…don't…"the hunter aimed directly at her.
"Subject beyond acceptable threshold."
"Neutralization approved."
For the first time that night the hunters no longer looked like people.they looked like executioners sam tried to stand.but another pulse of pain struck instantly.
"AAHHH !"
Blood dripped slowly from her nose.
the world around her distorted again.
buildings looked bent voices echoed unnaturally.
Reality itself felt unstable and the hunters still kept walking toward her.
slowly like death already knew it would win.
[Diary Entry — Sam](before the attack )
They weren't trying to save me.
The handwriting became rougher almost scratched into the page.
They came to erase me.
a pause,
Ink smeared slightly beneath the next line.
And the worst part…
Another pause long uneven.
I think they believed they were right.
Anie's breathing became heavier because now everything connected.
the fear,the silence,the paranoia.
sam wasn't imagining anything.
She was being hunted at the bottom of the page one final sentence remained.
smaller than the others almost hidden.
If they find Anie too…
The sentence stopped incomplete as if something interrupted her.anie stared at the unfinished line her chest tightening slowly.because deep inside
she already knew they already had.....