Prologue
The first time it happened, I thought it was just a dream.
A strange one… but still a dream.
It was late. The kind of late where the world feels quieter than usual, like everything has paused for a moment. I was sitting alone, staring at nothing in particular, when I heard it.
A voice.
Soft. Unclear. Almost like a whisper brushing past my ear.
I turned around instinctively.
There was no one.
I frowned, thinking I had imagined it. Maybe I was just tired. Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me.
Then it came again.
Why is he just sitting there like that…?
This time, it was clearer.
Closer.
My heartbeat quickened. I stood up, scanning the empty room. The windows were shut. The door was locked. There was nowhere the sound could have come from.
And yet… it felt real.
Too real.
I stepped outside.
The street was quiet, a few people passing by without a second glance. Nothing unusual. Nothing strange.
Until—
I hope I didn’t forget my assignment again…
I froze.
A girl walked past me, her expression completely normal, her lips unmoving.
But the voice…
It had come from her.
My throat went dry.
Another voice followed.
Why is it so hot today…
A man across the street. Talking to no one.
Or maybe…
Not talking at all.
The noise began to build. One voice turned into two. Two into many.
Fragments. Thoughts. Feelings.
None of them mine.
I covered my ears tightly.
“Stop…”
But it didn’t stop.
Because the voices weren’t outside.
They were inside my head.
And that was the moment I realized—
I wasn’t hearing sounds.
I was hearing people.
Their thoughts.
---
And once you hear something like that…
You can never go back to silence.
