I ran.
As fast as my legs could carry me, lungs burning, heart jackhammering in my chest. Branches clawed at my arms and tore at my clothes, but I didn't slow down.
I could feel it. Someone, something, was chasing me. Breathing just behind my neck. Not footsteps, not a sound… just the weight of presence. Cold and heavy and wrong.
I didn't dare look back.
The forest seemed to shift with me, trees bending out of the way like they knew where I was headed. Like the whole world wanted me to get there. Or wanted me to see something I couldn't unsee.
And then, through the trees, the shimmer of moonlight on water.
The river.
I didn't hesitate. I skidded down the muddy slope, nearly slipping, my breath a broken wheeze in my throat. The cold air stabbed at my lungs as I reached the river's edge.
Without thinking, I threw the doll pieces in.
Every fragment. Every porcelain limb. The cracked little head. The frayed dress. All of it. Gone.
And then, my knife slipped from my hand. I didn't even realize I'd let go until I saw it vanish beneath the rippling surface, swallowed like the rest.
The moment it hit the water, the air changed. Still. Thicker. Like time was holding its breath. Behind me, the forest stopped moving. No footsteps. No whispers. No wind. Just the sound of the river. And my heartbeat, still thudding loud in my ears like war drums.
Had it worked? Was she gone? I didn't know. All I knew was the silence that followed felt heavier than any scream.
I looked down at my reflection in the river.
The surface rippled softly, moonlight painting silver streaks across my face—pale, wide-eyed, haunted. I barely recognized the person staring back. Just a mess of cuts, dried blood, and exhaustion wrapped around panic.
A few seconds passed.
Then the water moved.
Faster than thought, pale arms burst from the river and grabbed me. Cold fingers like ice and bone locked around my wrists and ankles.
Before I could scream, she was there—the woman. The ghost bride. Her soaked veil clung to her rotten face, eyes hollow, mouth open in a silent scream that echoed inside my head.
"No—!" I gasped, thrashing, but it was too late.
She dragged me.
Down into the river.
The water closed over my head, black and freezing. I kicked, clawed, but her grip was iron. My lungs screamed. Her hair floated around me like seaweed, her face inches from mine. And those eyes—empty, endless, and angry.
We sank deeper.
Further.
The surface vanished above me, swallowed by dark. And still, she pulled me down. I sank deeper and deeper into the water, limbs heavy, lungs burning. I struggled. God, I struggled.
Kicked with everything I had left. Clawed at her arms, at the water, at nothing. My lungs burned. My vision blurred. The river pressed in from all sides like it wanted to crush me, drown me, erase me.
But she didn't stop.
She dragged me deeper—past roots that looked like grasping hands, past rocks slick with moss and something darker. The current twisted around me, and her grip only tightened.
I screamed, but no sound came. Just bubbles, rising uselessly to a surface I couldn't see anymore.
My arms ached. My chest heaved. My body begged me to give up.
But I wouldn't.
I fought. Kicked harder. Bit down on my fear. I could feel her cold breath, or maybe just the chill of death, brushing against my face. Her mouth moved, but I couldn't hear the words.
No. No, not like this... Not like this.
With one last surge of strength, I twisted my body, broke one arm free, and punched, wild and useless and desperate, into the dark.
Something cracked.
And suddenly—
The pull stopped.
I tried to swim up, arms heavy, legs barely kicking, lungs screaming for air. I could see the shimmer of the surface above, dancing like a broken mirror, so close. But every motion felt like dragging a mountain behind me.
My chest tightened. My vision tunneled.
Come on… come on…
But my strength gave out.
My arms went limp, legs stilled, and the last of my breath slipped from my lips in a trail of silver bubbles.
Everything slowed.
The cold wrapped around me like a blanket. The light above dimmed, just a soft glow through murky glass. And then, even that started to fade.
Is this how I die? After everything... after monsters, ghosts, blood, pain... Is this it?
The cold wrapped around me like a coffin made of ice. My thoughts grew slow, muffled. Every heartbeat sounded distant. Like a drum underwater. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe.
Then—
Warmth.
A sudden, impossible warmth bloomed in my chest, like a tiny fire in a frozen world.
And with it came the voice. That cursed voice that had whispered to me since the nightmare began, always just a murmur at the edge of thought.
"You did good," it cooed, soft and honey-sweet. "Now rest."
For the first time… I was grateful.
There was no fear now. No weight. Just peace.
I didn't fight it. Couldn't. Didn't want to.
It felt right.
Like I was meant to be with that voice all along.
I felt arms wrap around me—not cold or clawed, but warm and gentle. Like being held by someone who loved me. Like my mother used to, before everything went dark.
I could feel her love. She pulled me close, and for the first time in a long, long while…I didn't feel alone.
I let my eyes slip shut, sinking into the warmth of her embrace—a warmth that shouldn't have existed beneath the freezing water.