"I don't want this... not again."

  But dreams do not ask for permission. The same dream again and again.

  Elena screamed until her voice burned in her throat, yet nothing changed.

  The walls did not shake.

  The cold did not break.

  Time did not move a single step forward.

  The room was like an open grave.

  The air was heavy... still...

  And the cry of an infant echoed through the darkness, weak and broken... yet piercing straight through the heart.

  Then the whisper came.

  A woman's voice, broken and heavy with painful love:

  "Elena... I love you."

  She trembled.

  She looked at the baby lying on the ground.

  Small... fragile... as if the world had abandoned it before it had even learned how to cry.

  "Please... leave me this time..." Elena whispered with desperate pleading.

  But it was already too late.

  An invisible force violently pulled her soul.

  The world flipped.

  The voice disappeared.

  Then she opened her eyes...

  She was no longer looking at the child...

  She was looking from inside it.

  She had become the baby.

  And in front of her stood... something.

  A thin body the color of death's ashes.

  Eyes wider than they should be.

  Features trying to be human... but failing every time.

  It began muttering twisted incantations that did not belong to any language known to humanity.

  Every syllable tore the air like a wound in the fabric of reality.

  Then it opened its mouth.

  It was not a mouth...

  But a black void that swallowed the light.

  From inside it burst glowing violet symbols.

  Living marks moving with a will of their own.

  They moved directly toward her lower back...

  Toward the three marks.

  They wrapped around the first mark... then tore it out.

  The pain was not only physical;

  It was an inner tearing...

  As if her soul were being unraveled thread by thread.

  The second mark began to detach.

  "Stop..." she tried to scream, but the infant's throat did not obey her.

  With every mark that was torn away, she felt herself splitting.

  One part was ripped away...

  And another part remained... but incomplete.

  When the violet symbols reached the third mark...

  She woke up.

  A sharp gasp shattered the silence.

  She was in her room.

  In her bed.

  In a world that was supposed to be real.

  But her heart was not convinced.

  Her hand instinctively moved to her lower back, touching cold skin that was still trembling with the memory of a pain that had not yet faded.

  She looked toward the glass window of her room and said in a low hoarse voice:

  "It seems today is a cloudy day... like most of the past days."

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  She got out of bed. Her body moved with heavy exhaustion while she spoke to herself as she prepared to head to her university.

  "Where are you, Zill? This strange dream has been repeating for some time. I'm getting tired of it."

  Elena sat in her usual seat in the lecture hall, watching raindrops slowly sliding down the window glass.

  The weather was completely gray...

  Just like the thoughts filling her mind.

  She rested her chin on her palm while the professor talked about Freud's psychological theories, but she could barely concentrate.

  Suddenly

  "What terrible taste.

  Why did you wear that?

  Didn't I arrange your clothes for you before I left?"

  Then she added in a disgusted voice:

  "Why didn't you choose something more elegant?

  Why do you always try to embarrass us?"

  Elena froze for a moment, then sighed in annoyance.

  That voice again.

  The voice that belonged to her...

  The voice that lived inside her.

  A voice she had named Zill.

  She had grown used to it now.

  "Not now..." she whispered to herself, trying to push away the thoughts flooding her mind.

  But deep inside she knew that escape was no longer an option.

  Since childhood, she had known that she was different from everyone else.

  She knew that what was happening to her was something she could never talk about... to anyone.

  She had always felt that she was trapped between two personalities from two different worlds.

  One of them pure like light itself, untouched by any impurity, yet brutally honest.

  The other more human... changing with time, sometimes shy, but strong and intelligent, and loving life and adventure.

  Elena had never even dared to think about telling anyone about what lived inside her.

  Not even her closest friend, Ryo, whom she had known since childhood.

  He had no idea.

  About the conflict she constantly lived with inside herself.

  He shared every detail of his life with her... except that one secret.

  Elena had hazel eyes... even purer than that.

  Sometimes they looked like rays of sunlight.

  Her eyes were wide, striking, captivating.

  Her skin was fair and flawless.

  Her hair was long, black, and silky, flowing easily down her back.

  She was loved among her classmates because of her calmness, intelligence, and unique charm.

  Ryo, on the other hand, was her complete opposite.

  An adventurous young man, a little rough in his personality, and rarely spoke unless something important was involved.

  Ryo had a strong presence.

  Tall, with a well-proportioned body and glowing skin.

  His narrow eyes gave him a distinctive Asian charm, and his sculpted face carried an obvious and effortless handsomeness.

  To most people, he appeared arrogant... a man of few words who rarely spoke naturally with anyone... except Elena.

  Everyone believed that his world revolved around her alone.

  After a long day of study, Elena returned home.

  She closed the door of her room and leaned against it, trying to calm her disturbed breathing.

  The inner conflict was growing stronger.

  Suddenly, a knock was heard on the door.

  "Elena? What's wrong, dear?"

  Her mother's worried voice came from behind the door.

  Elena hesitated for a moment, then answered calmly:

  "Nothing, Mom. I'm fine.

  Just tired from university, that's all.

  I'll take a hot bath...

  It will help.

  Thank you for caring."

  Her mother answered gently from the other side:

  "Don't thank me, my dear.

  You know that I live for you."

  Then that voice returned.

  "I told you many times...

  You and she are living in a beautiful illusion that will soon break."

  A familiar inner battle began.

  "Why did you come back now... with all this strength?

  You were silent for the entire past month."

  The voice answered playfully:

  "Did you miss me?"

  Elena whispered:

  "You know very well that I can't live without you.

  You are a part of me.

  But your constant presence lately... is exhausting."

  Zill replied:

  "Elena, I need to tell you something.

  Something big is coming.

  Something we have been waiting for for a long time.

  But I can't determine exactly what it is yet."

  Elena's voice trembled, and fear appeared clearly on her face.

  "Tell me, Zill... what is it?

  I'm worried.

  Will something bad happen?"

  Zill answered:

  "I don't know exactly what is coming...

  But I know it is greater than everything that has happened before."

  Elena said with clear concern:

  "Zill, are you sure?

  I don't care what happens to me.

  Just tell me that my mother won't be harmed.

  The last time you spoke with this kind of fear...

  my father died."

  Zill replied reassuringly:

  "Elena, this time... it concerns us.

  You and me."

  Despite the deep turmoil burning inside her, she finally surrendered to sleep... but it was not peaceful sleep.

  She drifted in and out of sleep many times, sinking into her thoughts again and again... until morning finally came.

  But her eyes remained open, lost in endless distraction.

  Elena snapped out of her inner thoughts when her phone rang.

  She looked at the screen and quickly wiped her tears.

  Ryo was calling.

  She answered in a calm voice so he would not worry.

  "Hello, my eternal partner."

  He replied with a gentle laugh:

  "Hello, my eternal mistake."

  Then he added:

  "Do you want me to come pick you up now?"

  Elena asked curiously:

  "What's going on?"

  Ryo replied playfully:

  "Don't worry.

  Just bring some winter clothes with you.

  And relax.

  I already asked your mother for permission."

  Elena said calmly:

  "If Mom agrees, then I have no problem."

  Ryo added with clear protectiveness:

  "Great, then hurry up!"

  Elena hung up the phone and headed straight to her closet to prepare her bag.

  She whispered with a smile:

  "That idiot is definitely planning a surprise for my twentieth birthday.

  I can't believe I've known him for almost sixteen years."

  She slowly took out her bag and drifted into her memories.

  Her childhood had not been easy.

  She had always felt that she did not belong in this place.

  Children in kindergarten used to whisper and call her "the snake" because of the strange color of her eyes.

  But she was not the type to give up.

  She was strong... and afraid of no one.

  She always defended herself fiercely.

  One day a new child with Asian features joined the kindergarten.

  That was her first meeting with Ryo.

  Ryo was different from everyone.

  The children began mocking him as soon as they saw him.

  They narrowed their eyes mockingly and said:

  "How can you even see?

  You must be blind, right?"

  Ryo cried silently, enduring their cruel words.

  But Elena did not hesitate.

  She stepped forward confidently and said bravely:

  "You!

  You're so fat.

  Why don't you roll instead of walking?"

  "And you!

  Your hair looks like a broom.

  You should use it to clean the floor."

  "Try it... don't be shy.

  We love cleanliness!"

  "And you over there!

  You're still smiling?

  Aren't you ashamed that you still wet your clothes?"

  "Did you all hear what I said?

  Or should I continue?"

  Silence filled the room, and shock appeared on the children's faces.

  Elena added:

  "From now on...

  anyone who comes near Ryo with bad intentions will deal with me."

  Then she approached Ryo, wiped his tears, held his hand, and said with a warm smile:

  "Do you want to be my eternal partner?"

  Ryo asked while crying:

  "What does that mean?"

  She said:

  "It means that what hurts you hurts me.

  And what makes you happy makes me happy."

  Ryo nodded in agreement.

  And from that day on...

  The phrase "eternal partner" bec

  ame a promise that neither of them could break.

  Elena returned to the present.

  She looked at her bag and whispered with a smile:

  "Well then, my eternal partner...

  let's see what surprise you prepared for me this time."