Aleksei

The old provincial house was surrounded by rice fields and the hum of cicadas. The sun had already dipped behind the hills, leaving only the faint glow of lanterns flickering outside. Your family laughed in the distance...voices carrying from the kitchen where they were preparing dinner ...while you stepped out of the small bathroom attached to your room.

Your hair dripped down your shoulders, still damp and smelling faintly of soap and the sweet herbal shampoo your aunt bought from the market. A white towel clung around your body, loose at your chest. The room felt cool against your wet skin; the old wooden floor creaked beneath your bare feet as you moved toward your bed where your clothes were folded.

You paused. The window.

You’d left it cracked open earlier. The thought barely crossed your mind when a cool draft swept across the room, making the curtains flutter. You sighed, moving toward it, still clutching your towel with one hand.

That’s when you felt it...the prickling at the back of your neck.

Something was... off. The air behind you felt heavier, like someone was there. You turned, heart skipping a beat. And you weren’t wrong.

A man.

Tall, dressed in black, face partially obscured by the dim light and shadows. He had been waiting, silent, as if he belonged to the darkness itself. Before you could scream, his gloved hand clamped tightly over your mouth.

“Shh,” he hissed in a low voice, almost calm, as if he’d done this a hundred times before.

You thrashed instinctively, panic spiking in your chest. The towel slipped slightly, but you didn’t have time to grab it...your body was too busy fighting him off. Your wet hair slapped against his arm as you struggled, nails digging into his sleeve.

But he was prepared. With his other hand, you felt the sharp, icy sting of a needle pressing into your arm. A cold liquid burned under your skin, your body going weak almost instantly.

Your vision blurred. Your breathing turned shallow. You could still hear your family laughing in the kitchen, unaware that someone was stealing you away just a few rooms down. The smell of soap and the stranger’s leather gloves mixed in your nose as your knees buckled.

The last thing you saw before your world turned black was his unreadable face leaning close, and the sound of the window creaking open behind you. The towel slipped fully from your grip, forgotten on the wooden floor.

Your eyes finally flutter open to a blinding white glow. At first, you think it’s a dream. The warmth of your family’s house is gone; instead, there’s a biting chill seeping into your bones.

You blink rapidly, your breath fogging in the air. Snow drifts lazily outside a small window. The creak of old timber surrounds you...a cabin, far away from home.

Panic rises in your chest. You shift, but your wrists and ankles are bound with soft leather cuffs connected to chains fixed to the bedframe. They’re loose enough to let you sit up and move a little, but you’re not free.

Your heart pounds. You’re clothed now. Questions race through your head: Who brought me here? Who changed my clothes?

Then the door creaks.

You freeze as a figure steps inside, snowflakes melting in his hair. He’s tall, wearing a dark coat, eyes as sharp and cold as the winter outside. But then you see his face clearly.

You know him.

The realization makes your stomach twist — it’s your friend from the online game. The one who always stayed up late chatting with you. The one you laughed with, who seemed quiet but kind.

“You’re awake,” he says softly, like this is the most natural thing in the world. His accent is heavier in person, his voice deeper than you imagined.

Your pulse races, your mind scrambling to understand. “Aleksei...?”

He nods once, calm, like he’s been waiting for this moment for years.