The voice I heard came from the silence itself.
A whisper — trembling, urgent.
"Don't… don't… don't…"
Then another voice followed.
"Hey… don't you have the key? The one you've been searching for? That key will lead you to the path you wish to see — the things you deserve to witness."
Herman's eyes shot open.
"Where am I?"
Cold iron bars surrounded him. The smell of damp stone filled the air.
A guard stood outside the cell.
"What are you mumbling about?" the guard muttered.
Herman blinked slowly.
"Ah… it's me," he whispered. "Of course. I remember now. I've always been in prison."
The prison is enormous.
Seven hundred inmates.
Seven hundred "broken minds."
That's what they call us.
My name is Hermit Austen.
They say I suffer from delusions.
They say I speak to things that do not exist.
That is why I am here.
Locked inside these stone walls.
A man from the next cell leaned against the bars.
"Hey, Hermit," he muttered. "Did you see that thing again?"
He rolled his eyes.
"Give it a rest. There is no key. Nothing exists. It's all in your head."
I stayed silent for a moment.
Then I turned to him.
"I know what I saw."
He laughed.
I didn't.
"Trust me," I whispered. "It's real."
And somewhere deep in the silence—
something listened.