Chapter 1
The streets were nearly empty, drowned beneath the dim glow of flickering streetlights and the endless sound of rain tapping against the pavement. A girl walked alone through the darkness, holding a black umbrella tightly above her head as the cold wind pushed against her. Her footsteps were uneven, hesitant, almost as if she wanted to turn back but no longer knew where “back” was. Strands of damp hair clung to her face while water dripped from the edge of the umbrella in slow, steady drops. She kept glancing over her shoulder, her breathing shallow, nervous eyes searching the silent street behind her.
Her fingers trembled near her lips as she bit down on her nails, a habit she could never stop whenever fear crept into her chest. The taste of rain and anxiety lingered on her tongue. Cars passed occasionally, their headlights briefly illuminating her pale face before disappearing into the fog again. To anyone watching, she might have looked like an ordinary girl trying to get home on a stormy night. But the tightness in her expression, the way her shoulders stiffened at every distant sound, revealed something else entirely — she was afraid. Not of the rain. Not of the darkness. But of the feeling that someone, somewhere in the shadows, was watching her walk alone.
A sudden force crashed against her shoulder.
She gasped as the umbrella slipped from her fingers and rolled across the wet road, rain immediately pouring over her trembling figure. Startled, she stumbled back, her heart hammering violently against her chest. A man stood in front of her, tall and unfamiliar, his dark coat soaked by the storm. For a moment, neither of them spoke. The rain filled the silence between them.
“Hey—watch where you’re going,”
he muttered at first, bending slightly to pick up the fallen umbrella. But the moment he looked at her properly, his expression shifted. She looked terrified. Pale face, shaking hands, eyes wide like a frightened animal cornered in the dark.
“Are you okay?”
he asked, his voice softer now.
“Why are you out here alone at this hour?”
She lowered her gaze immediately, unable to answer. Her fingers curled tightly against her sleeves as she stepped back.
“I’m talking to you,”
he continued cautiously.
“Did something happen? Are you hurt?”
“N-No…”
she whispered weakly, though her voice barely came out.
The man frowned slightly.
“Then why are you shaking like that?”
Her breathing became uneven. Every question felt heavier than the last, pressing against the fear already suffocating her. She couldn’t explain it. Couldn’t explain why strangers frightened her, why footsteps behind her made her panic, why she always felt unsafe even when no danger was visible.
“I need to go,”
she suddenly blurted out.
Before the man could say another word, she snatched the umbrella from his hand and turned away. Then she ran.
Her shoes splashed through puddles as the rain poured harder around her, cold wind hitting her face while her heartbeat echoed loudly in her ears. Behind her, the man called out something she couldn’t hear clearly, but she never looked back. She just kept running through the empty street, as though the darkness itself was chasing her.
