Then everything fell silent again.
I stood frozen where I was, still trying to make sense of the voice I'd just heard.
“Don't say my name.”
The sentence kept circling through my mind.
Is.
The name should have felt unfamiliar.
But strangely, it didn't.
Something inside my memory stirred whenever I tried to say it. Fragments of hazy images. A white room. Lights that were far too bright. Someone crying. And a girl standing with her back to me.
I closed my eyes.
“Is…”
“Don't.”
The voice came again.
This time, it was closer.
I opened my eyes.
The woman who had been standing in front of me was looking at me with a completely different expression. She no longer looked as frightened as before.
She looked panicked.
“Don't call her name,” she said softly.
“Why?”
“Because she'll come.”
“Who?”
She didn't answer.
I stepped closer to her.
“Who is Is?”
The woman took a step back.
“She isn't someone you should remember.”
“But I know her.”
“You don't know her.”
“I remember her voice.”
“That isn't your memory.”
I fell silent.
“What do you mean?”
The woman rubbed her face.
“Everything you remember about her was deliberately implanted.”
I shook my head.
“That doesn't make any sense.”
“It doesn't.”
She pointed at my head.
“Because all this time, you haven't even known which memories were real and which ones were fabricated.”
I wanted to argue.
But suddenly, my head began to hurt.
Badly.
I clutched my temple and staggered.
Then a voice rang out.
Not from the woman.
Not from the hallway.
From inside my head.
You're almost remembering everything.
I froze.
“Did you hear that?”
The woman stared at me.
“Hear what?”
The voice came again.
Don't trust her.
I looked at the woman in front of me.
“Who are you, really?”
She was silent for a long moment.
Then she said,
“My name is Raina.”
The name felt familiar.
I'd heard it before.
But where?
I closed my eyes.
Instantly, an image surfaced.
I was sitting in a room.
Raina was in front of me.
She was holding a book.
She smiled.
“I'll teach you how to remember.”
I opened my eyes, gasping for breath.
“We've met before.”
Raina didn't deny it.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“In a place that no longer exists.”
“What do you mean?”
“That place was destroyed after you escaped.”
I fixed her with a sharp look.
“Who was I escaping from?”
Raina looked away.
“From the people who wanted you to stay forgotten.”
“Why?”
“Because you saw something you weren't supposed to see.”
“What?”
Raina fell silent.
I began to lose my patience.
“Answer me!”
“A student.”
I frowned.
“Who?”
“Is.”
That name made my head throb again.
Raina continued,
“She was the only person who knew what really happened that night.”
“Then where is she?”
Raina looked at me.
“That’s the problem.”
“What?”
“She’s gone.”
I fell silent.
For some reason, those words made my chest feel tight.
“Gone how?”
Raina didn't answer.
She only took something from her pocket.
A small photograph.
She handed it to me.
I looked at the photo.
Two people stood side by side in front of an old building.
I recognized myself.
And beside me…
A girl.
Her face was completely indistinct, obscured by the light.
But the words written on the back of the photo made my hand tremble.
If I disappear, don't let them make you forget again.
I turned the photo over.
“Is this Is's handwriting?”
Raina nodded.
“She gave it to you before that night.”
“The night I got into the accident?”
“It wasn't an accident.”
I stared at her.
“Then what was it?”
Raina drew a long breath.
“Erasure.”
I fell silent.
“They tried to erase all your memories of that night.”
“Did they succeed?”
“Not completely.”
“Then why can I remember it now?”
“Because someone called her name.”
I stared at the photo.
“Who?”
Raina didn't answer.
Suddenly, footsteps sounded from the end of the hallway.
Raina immediately went pale.
“They're coming.”
“Who?”
“Don't ask now.”
She grabbed my hand and led me toward another door on the side of the room.
We ran.
I didn't even have time to take anything except the photo still clutched in my hand.
Behind us, an iron door opened.
Then someone said,
“Find them.”
I quickened my pace.
Raina opened a small door.
We went inside a dark room.
The door closed again.
I leaned against the wall, trying to catch my breath.
“Raina.”
“Hm?”
“If Is is gone…”
I looked at the photo in my hand.
“…why can I still hear her voice?”
Raina said nothing.
Her expression changed.
For the first time since we'd met, I saw real fear in her eyes.
“I was hoping you'd never ask that.”
“Why?”
She looked straight at me.
“Because the voice you're hearing isn't a recording.”
I froze.
“Then what is it?”
Raina moved closer and whispered,
“She’s still alive.”
The world seemed to stop.
“That’s impossible.”
“That’s exactly what scares them.”
“Where is she?”
Raina shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“Then how can she talk to me?”
“Because she doesn't need to be near you.”
I stared at her in confusion.
Raina pointed at my head.
“She’s inside your memories.”
I hadn't had time to answer when the voice came again.
This time, it was perfectly clear.
Very close.
Don't trust Raina.
I turned toward her.
Raina heard it too.
Her face instantly went pale.
Then the voice spoke again,
She's the one who erased your memories.
I took a step back.
Raina looked at me, her eyes glistening with tears.
“Listen to me.”
But before she could continue—
the lights in the room came on.
And standing before us was a girl.
She wore the same uniform we did.
Her hair hung loose, covering part of her face.
She stared at me without blinking.
Then she slowly brushed the hair away from her face.
I knew her.
Not from the photograph.
Not from my memories.
But from the dream that had always haunted me.
Her lips moved.
“Do you remember me now?”