Shattered Time-Chapter 37 - The Skinwalker

Aya returned that afternoon.

Or so they thought.

The nurses smiled. The doctors greeted her like nothing was wrong. Like her charts hadn't been sealed. Like her existence hadn't been scrubbed just days ago.

She walked into Kael's room, humming.

But Kael wasn't there.

Only the imposter was.

The thing in Kael's skin turned its head. Its eyes flickered—not human, not alive. Just... mimicking.

Aya froze mid-step.

Something in her pulsed. A wrongness. A silence so loud her bones felt it.

"...Kael?" she asked, voice soft.

The thing smiled too wide.

"Aya. You came back," it said in his voice. Every syllable was perfect. But the pauses were wrong. Too mechanical.

Aya didn't smile back.

Her fingers twitched toward her coat pocket.

The thing noticed.

"You're scared," it said. Still smiling. Still watching.

"I... had a dream," Aya whispered. "You were trapped. Screaming from the inside. The mirror was bleeding."

The smile cracked—just a hair.

Then it stood.

Slow. Fluid. Too fluid.

"You should rest, Aya," it said. "You've been through a lot."

Aya took a step back. She could feel something watching her from the walls. From the ceiling. The room itself trembled.

Her eyes flicked to the notebook.

It was gone.

No. Not gone.

Burned.

Ash scattered on the bed. Only one word remained, etched in soot:

RUN.

The lights flickered.

Aya turned and bolted.

But the door was already shut.

And Kael's voice—Kael's real voice—echoed faintly from the window:

"Aya... don't let it touch you. Please... I'm still here. I'm still here—"

Silence.

The reflection in the window blinked.

But the Kael in the room didn't.

And that's when Aya knew:

This wasn't over.

This content is taken from fгeewebnovёl.com.

It was only beginning.