The world around was suffocatingly dark.
A thick fog covered everything in a deep, unsettling gloom, making it impossible for him to see even a few feet ahead. The ground felt unstable beneath his feet as if it was about to crack open and swallow him whole. Panic surged within him, and he ran—legs pumping, heart racing—desperate to escape the consuming darkness.
He didn't know where he was headed. All that mattered was distancing himself from the abyss that threatened to envelop him. The shadows pressed in, relentless and oppressive, but just when it seemed the darkness would swallow him, he heard something unexpected: a gentle chuckle.
It was a sound so sweet that it stirred something deep within him. This voice—he knew it.
