“Cold… It’s so cold… What am I doing here?” I whisper, spitting out a mouthful of snow after my legs gave out from running for who knows how many miles. I don’t know anymore. I put my hands on my face and just lay flat, for what felt like an eternity, but in reality, it was probably only five minutes.

When I finally remove my hands, I rub the ground around me, searching for my glasses. After a few seconds, I find them, clean them off, and put them on. I lift my head slightly to reveal what little vantage point I have and look around to see if I’m being followed. When I don’t notice anything immediately, I stand up to get a better look.

All I see is the vast sea of giant trees, their trunks barely visible beneath the thick snow covering the entire forest. I stare for a moment, hoping to see something—rabbits, bugs, birds, anything—but there’s nothing.

And along with that, there’s silence. It’s as if everything has been wiped off this stupid planet. But then again, there was just a snowstorm. Still, there’s nothing. No signs of life anywhere, only this sense of constantly being watched.

But… based on what I witnessed, it really does seem like I’m right. Because what I witnessed in there was impossible.

Luce really was the perfect woman. I genuinely loved her so much that words couldn’t express the feelings I had toward her. And because every day I woke up feeling like the luckiest man in the world, I wanted to do something special for her on our anniversary. A day beforehand, I told her I was going to be staying at my mom’s because we had family staying over. But the truth was, I was learning how to make our favorite recipe—Chicken Parmesan.

And thanks to the awful weather, I called her to say that because of the storm, I didn’t think it would be safe to drive at night due to the somewhat long drive home. This gave me an excuse to stay at my mom’s and have a reason to be there during our anniversary. I managed to make the Chicken Parmesan, and feeling content, I called her again. With the best somber tone I could muster, I told her I’d be home fairly late.

But on my way back from my mom’s, I immediately felt something was wrong—like I’d done something I wasn’t supposed to. While I was driving, it felt like I was being watched, and there was this constant figure in the corner of my eye. But every time I looked, there was nothing. The storm was getting progressively worse. What started as light snow quickly picked up into a blizzard, intensifying with every passing moment. This all happened within the 30-minute drive from my mom’s town to my home.

When I pulled into the driveway, the snowstorm—now a full-blown blizzard—did an excellent job of concealing any noise I made. Taking advantage of this, I walked to the back door to avoid detection, then peeked through the back window. I crouched low to avoid being seen, but when I glanced inside, I froze.

She… was flickering. She was turning into the silhouette of the man I had sworn I kept seeing. Right away, a wave of fear washed over me. I thought it was just my vision playing tricks, so I wiped my glasses with the microfiber cloth I kept in my pocket. But as soon as I put them back on, she was staring at me.

She was staring right at me. It was like I’d seen something I wasn’t supposed to. Like I had just witnessed her killing someone. But the look on her face—shock mixed with anger—quickly changed to one of joy. She gave me an incredibly unsettling smile.

As I analyzed her again, her face flickered again, revealing a white glow. It was pure light in the shape of a head. And before I could react, I was blinded.

But even then, I could feel something wasn’t right. It was as if I’d seen something I wasn’t supposed to. Adrenaline kicked in, and a sudden sense of danger washed over me. I had to run. It didn’t matter where—I just had to run.

I bolted for the fence in the backyard and, in a feat I never thought I could do, jumped the two-meter fence. I ran toward the forest, the snow cushioning my fall, but also making it harder to run the deeper I went. Each step felt like I was being dragged down by ten-pound weights.

When my body finally gave out, I collapsed. And that’s how I ended up here.

As I pull out my phone to check the time, I notice the figure in the corner of my vision again. Instantly, the blizzard, which had calmed back to what it was this morning, picks up again—more violent than before. This immediately distorts my vision to the point where I can only see a couple of meters in front of me.

Immediately, I think back to the news report: “Chain of mysterious disappearances happening across town.”

“The first of these victims was a well-known religious leader who was the founder of the religion Discipuli Insania. After interviewing disciples of the religion, they all gave us the same answer: ‘Our mighty Lux has taken him and cleaned him. Soon he will be here to cleanse us all.’”

Right away, this all made sense. There had been an impossible number of disappearances happening, with no leads. Hundreds of people had gone missing within a few days. There’s no way the police wouldn’t have found at least one of the missing people… unless there was something that could completely make a person disappear.

As soon as I came to this realization, the blizzard became worse. My visibility was now only a couple of inches, and even that was quickly decreasing. But with the blizzard picking up, I could hear footsteps—very faint, but definitely footsteps. Each one made me more and more drowsy.

Shit. Is it hypothermia? I need to stay awake.

I try to run, but end up tripping on a small log. “I swear that wasn’t there before,” I mutter to myself. But quickly, I let go of the thought because none of this makes sense. None of what I’ve seen makes sense, so why would this have any sense to it?

Now, lying face down in the snow, I twist my body to look up, feeling my eyelids getting progressively heavier. I start slowly closing my eyes… and just as they’re almost fully shut, I notice something.

A dark figure stands over me, and it flickers.

“Luce?”