Morning came slowly.
Not because the sun was late.
But because the light didn't feel… real.
It slipped through the blinds in thin lines, stretching across the floor, climbing the walls, touching everything in the room—
Yet somehow…
It felt distant.
He was awake before it arrived.
Sitting in the same position.
Unmoving.
The place where the shape had stood still held his attention.
Nothing had appeared again.
No flicker.
No distortion.
No delay.
Just a wall.
Plain.
Silent.
But the silence wasn't the same.
It hadn't been the same since last night.
A knock broke through it.
Sharp.
Measured.
The door opened before he could respond.
Two people stepped in.
Not nurses.
Not doctors.
Different.
Their presence shifted the room instantly.
Controlled.
Quiet.
Observant.
They didn't rush.
Didn't speak right away.
They just looked at him.
Like they were… confirming something.
One of them finally stepped forward.
Mid-40s. Clean suit. No badge visible.
The other stayed by the door.
Watching everything.
"Good morning," the man said.
Calm voice.
Careful tone.
He didn't answer.
The man didn't seem surprised.
"I'm going to ask you a few questions," he continued. "Just answer what you can."
A pause.
"Do you remember what happened to you?"
Silence.
He stared at him.
Not confused.
Not lost.
Just… empty.
"I see," the man nodded slightly. "That's fine."
He pulled out a tablet.
Tapped it once.
The screen lit up.
And for the first time—
Something in the room reacted.
Not the machines.
Not the people.
Him.
A faint pressure pulsed in his chest again.
Small.
But immediate.
The crimson echo.
The man glanced up.
Just for a second.
He noticed.
"…Interesting," he murmured.
He turned the tablet slightly.
Not enough to show everything.
But enough.
"Let's try something simple," he said.
"Do you recognize this?"
The screen displayed a name.
Blank.
No reaction.
Then—
The screen flickered.
Just for a fraction of a second.
The name changed.
Not visibly.
Not in a way anyone else would notice.
But he saw it.
A different name.
Something unfamiliar.
Something wrong.
His breath hitched slightly.
The man noticed that too.
"Your heart rate just increased," he said calmly. "Why?"
He didn't answer.
Because he didn't know.
But his body did.
The pressure in his chest tightened again.
Not pain.
Recognition.
The screen flickered again.
And this time—
The man saw it.
He froze.
Just slightly.
Then he tapped the tablet again.
Harder this time.
The screen stabilized.
The original name returned.
"…That shouldn't happen," he said under his breath.
The person by the door stepped forward.
"System glitch?" they asked quietly.
The man didn't respond immediately.
His eyes stayed on him.
Focused.
Sharp.
"No," he said finally.
Another pause.
"Not a glitch."
The room felt colder.
He didn't understand why.
But he felt it.
The man lowered the tablet slowly.
Then asked a different question.
"Do you feel anything… unusual?"
Silence.
He considered the question.
The answer should've been simple.
But it wasn't.
Because everything felt unusual.
"…Yes."
His voice came out rough.
Barely above a whisper.
The first word he had spoken since waking up.
Both of them reacted.
Just slightly.
"What do you feel?" the man asked.
A pause.
He searched for the right word.
Couldn't find it.
"…Something," he said.
Not helpful.
But true.
The man nodded slowly.
As if that answer meant more than it should.
He stepped back.
The person near the door leaned in slightly.
"Is he…?"
"Not confirmed," the man cut in quietly.
Another glance at him.
Careful this time.
Measured.
"We'll continue later," he said.
Then they turned to leave.
The door opened.
And just before they stepped out—
The lights flickered.
Again.
Both of them stopped.
Slowly—
They turned back.
But this time—
They weren't looking at him.
They were looking behind him.
At the wall.
At the exact same place.
The same place he had seen it.
The air shifted.
Heavy.
Wrong.
The man's voice dropped slightly.
"…You saw it too, didn't you?"
He didn't answer.
Didn't move.
Didn't even blink.
Because he didn't need to.
The silence answered for him.
The man stared at the wall for a long moment.
Then said something that didn't belong in a hospital.
"…It's not supposed to manifest this early."
The second person tensed.
"We need to escalate this."
"No," the man said immediately.
Firm.
Controlled.
"…Not yet."
A pause.
"Because if this is what I think it is…"
He looked back at him.
"…then we're already too late."
The lights stabilized.
The pressure faded.
The room returned to normal.
But the damage was done.
They had seen it too.
Which meant one thing.
Whatever was watching him…
Wasn't hiding anymore.
And now it has more than one witness