The group decided to conclude their visit to the shrine after strolling around the grounds for a while longer. They headed towards the steps leading to a white torii, where, half a block away, they would find the taxi stand. At the top of the stairs were some vending machines, where they took the opportunity to buy soft drinks and take a few minutes of rest before continuing down.

“I think I'm going crazy,” Sabrina confessed.

Her revelation was so sudden that it caught the others off guard, leaving them bewildered in their place.

“If you ask me, you've never been very sane,” Joel joked, assuming that his friend was making fun of them. 

But Sabrina didn't react with the mischievous grin or the scathing wit that used to characterize her. Her face remained expressionless, and her brown eyes seemed lost in an indefinite spot on the ground. What was said earlier seemed more like a thought leaked aloud than something she would have wanted to share.

It was then that they understood that the situation was serious.

“What do you mean?” Sophia asked, cautiously leaning towards her. Her solemn tone was filled with concern. “Why do you say that?”

Sabrina did not answer right away. Instead, she covered her face with her hands and dragged her fingers over her skin in a gesture of deep anguish, as if trying to erase with that movement the tangle of thoughts that invaded her.

“It's just that…” she finally murmured, but the words seemed stuck in her throat.

Frankly, the only conclusion she could come to was that she was delirious.

For as long as she could remember, her dreams had been as vivid as they were unsettling. She remembered them so clearly that sometimes the line between reality and fantasy was blurred. There were nights when her dreams didn't seem like figments of her imagination, but memories buried in her mind, so real and palpable that they made her question if they had happened every time she woke up.

However, Sabrina couldn't pinpoint the exact moment when everything began to fall apart. Was it when she first dreamed about that story, or when she wrote it down? The deeper she delved into the details of her dreams, the darker and more disturbing they became. When did her insomnia go from being a torture to a comfort? She reached a point where she was afraid to close her eyes unless she had someone nearby who could tear her from the clutches of her nightmares before they swallowed her entire consciousness.

“When we went through that hoop before... How do I explain it…” Sabrina began, trying to find the words. “I saw something very strange. Although I don't know if seeing is the right word to define it.” She frowned and rubbed her face in frustration, letting out a long sigh. “It was like… I don't know, memories, or a lucid dream. Damn, I don't know what it was.”

Sabrina was silent for a moment, gathering the courage to continue.

“But what scares me the most are the voices. I have been hearing them since we got here. It's like someone is talking to me, but at the same time, I don't understand what the hell they are saying. I just know that… it's calling me.” She stopped suddenly as if something new had crossed her mind. “Now that I think about it, was it my name? It didn't sound like mine, but…”

Before she could continue her monologue, Ciel interrupted her:

“Let me tell you, if that's the reason you think you're crazy, then that makes two of us.”

“I'm not the only crazy one!” Joel exclaimed, letting out a relieved laugh.

Sophia raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms as she tried to hold back a smile.

“Well, look on the bright side,” she said, grimacing. “At least we'll all go to the same asylum. Who knows, maybe we'll get a group discount.”

Sabrina looked up and stared at her friends, one by one. Her face was a mixture of surprise and confusion. Were they serious or were they just playing along to keep her from completely breaking down? But when they all started talking, sharing similar experiences, something clicked in her mind.

They weren't joking. What was happening to her wasn't an isolated event... and somehow that was both terrifying and relieving.

“I felt like I was thrown into the void, and then I felt so cold,” Ciel confessed as she adjusted the coat around her shoulders with an involuntary shiver. “I thought it was just my usual anemia, so I didn't think much of it.”

“Something weird happened to me too!” Joel interrupted, raising his voice excitedly. His eyes sparkled as he gestured with his hands. “But in my case, I felt hot, and I could even smell a peculiar aroma… It was dry and dusty, like hot sand under the sun. And a terrible hunger, as if I hadn't eaten in days,” he added, bringing his hand to his chin, and then chuckled. “I assumed it was a symptom of the purification,” he emphasized the word with an exaggerated wave of his hands. “Or well, maybe I was just hungry.” He shrugged and took a long sip of his drink.

“I also experienced the sensation of falling,” Sophia added, lowering her voice as if still trying to figure out what had transpired. “But I also felt like my skin was burning, as if it were on fire. It was so intense that I started sweating and had to take off my coat.” She paused, nervously rubbing her hands. “And I also heard voices. At first, I thought it was the people around me, but then… Then I realized it wasn't my name they were saying. Although, for some reason, I was reacting as if they were calling me.” Her gaze was lost for a moment, trapped in the memory.

“I don't know whether to feel scared, or fascinated… Or if we are possessed, or cursed,” Sabrina joked, letting out a short, empty laugh that did not relieve the tension that had taken over her body. She massaged her temples, trying to calm the chaos in her mind, while her foot tapped the ground rhythmically, reflecting her anxiety. 

“Whether it's the shrine or us, we'll find out when we get out of here.” Joel stood up slowly, dusting off his pants and putting the bottle in his backpack.

“He's right,” Ciel said after standing up. Then she held out her hand to Sabrina, a common gesture between the two. “We still have places to visit. Let's talk about it later at the hotel, okay?”

Sabrina smiled with relief, a flash of calmness crossing her face as she took her friend's hand. Their fingers firmly intertwined, as if that contact was an anchor in the middle of a turbulent ocean. The anguish that lodged in her chest began to dissipate, swept away by the understanding and constant support of her friends. They listened to her, not with pity or judgment, but with such pure empathy that it transformed her insecurities and fears into much lighter burdens to bear.

For a brief moment, Sabrina allowed her imagination to wander. If she were a monster in a fairy tale, she had the strange, yet comforting certainty that, even if the entire world rejected her, she would be proud to be the feared witch or the imposing dragon. Because, at the end of the day, it didn't matter what role she played in other people's stories: she would always have those who accepted her without reservation.

The four of them began to descend the first flight of stairs, their steps echoing softly against the stone as their gazes fell on the immense white torii below, guarding the busy avenue.

“How many steps are there?” Joel asked, letting out a sigh.

“About a hundred,” Sabrina replied, patting him on the shoulder.

“We should take a picture from here,” Sophia suggested, pointing to the horizon. “The view is beautiful.”

“Let's get the torii in the background!” Ciel added with eagerness.

As there were only a few people around, they rushed to pose. The camera clicked at just the perfect moment, capturing their smiles and the scenery behind them. However, before they could even check the picture, a bone-piercing screech of tires burning the pavement pierced the air. The sound was followed by a thunderous impact and the screams of people from the avenue.

Their hearts shrank in unison. Everyone turned around, their gazes now fixed on the chaotic scene unfolding in the distance.

“How horrible…”

“It looks like a car hit a bicycle.”

“I hope they're all right, that it's nothing serious.”

“Let's go down.”

The four of them resumed their walk, this time with more haste. As they descended the steps, the brutal scene became more visible. The siren of a patrol car resounded like a distant wail, and the policemen tried to contain the curious onlookers. One spoke quickly on the radio, desperately asking for an ambulance, while another knelt beside the young cyclist.

The driver of the car got out of the vehicle with clumsy, hurried movements. He was an elderly man with an elegant appearance. His face, weathered by time, showed a mixture of disbelief and fear when faced with the scene before him. He took a step back, almost losing his balance, and covered his mouth with the palm of his hand, trying to contain his nausea. 

The bicycle was now a jumble of metal and plastic, and its owner lay several meters away, in the center of the avenue. Her body was twisted at impossible angles. Arms and legs bent like rags, but it was the dark, growing puddle beneath her head that gave the impression that life was draining out of her with every passing second.

Sabrina froze. Her eyes were riveted on the details that others missed: the faded colors of the mangled bike, the contents of the basket scattered on the asphalt, and the girl's clothes, torn and soaked in blood.

‘Déjà vu,’ she thought. The scene before her had an eerie familiarity as if it were part of an incomplete puzzle left in some dark corner of her memory.

Suddenly, her view began to warp. Everything became blurry as if reality itself was breaking down. A cold, slimy sensation crept up her spine, accompanied by the same sinister feeling of being watched. Her breathing became erratic, and her body refused to respond.

“What's wrong?” Sophia asked, moving closer as she noticed something was odd.

Sabrina didn't answer. The words seemed to choke in her throat.

“What's going on?” Joel, who was a few steps ahead, turned around as he heard the concern in Sophia's voice.

“I… I don't feel well. Let's get out of here.” Sabrina's voice trembled with panic.

“Then let's go, now” urged Ciel, whose expression reflected the same fear.

“I can't move,” Sabrina admitted, on the verge of tears.

Joel carried her on his back in a single motion. The four of them rushed down, but they had barely descended a few steps when a piercing scream came from the boy's lips. His legs gave way and they both fell down the stairs. Sabrina felt her world spin out of control. As her body hit the stairs, the impact knocked the air out of her lungs. 

A moment later, everything went white.

When she regained consciousness, a searing pain enveloped her. Every fiber of her being screamed, but something more urgent took hold of her: the need to check on her friends. Sabrina managed to turn her head with a seemingly insurmountable effort.

And then she saw it.

The blood, dark and fresh, had stained the stairs. The bodies of her friends were scattered like broken dolls. Sophia lay on her side, her neck in an unnatural position.  Ciel and Joel were laying face down, their limp bodies sinking into a pool of blood that slowly grew beneath them.

“No… no…” Sabrina stammered, crawling towards them, shouting their names over and over again in the hope that one of them would respond.

Every movement drew a cry of pain from her. Some of her limbs were twisted in weird directions, but the fear that drove her was greater than the physical suffering. Her dull mind could barely process what was happening: why had they fallen? Why was everyone covered in blood, motionless? Questions bounced around in her head with no answers.

Panicked screams echoed around. Policemen ran, some trying to evacuate the crowd, others climbing the steps while shouting something with their weapons in hand. But Sabrina neither saw nor heard them. She noticed nothing but the inert bodies in front of her.

Amid the chaos, that familiar voice ripped through the air as it screamed her name with such brutal desperation that it seemed like their vocal cords were on the verge of breaking. The musky scent intertwined with the metallic stench of blood, creating a heavy mixture in the air that made it even harder to breathe.

Then, a shadow loomed over the stairs.

A man with a black facemask and a pair of scissors in his hand slowly descended. His light-colored clothes were splattered with fresh blood, and his amber eyes shone with a blend of madness and satisfaction.

“At last…” he whispered, as if speaking to himself. Then he raised his voice, tinged with an almost religious fervor. “You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment.”

Sabrina looked up—and locked eyes with the photographer from before, and time seemed to stall. Before she could process his words, he leaned over her, kneeling down to hold her tightly in place. Sabrina's cloudy eyes searched for answers in that relentless gaze. He tilted his head, his curved eyes betraying satisfaction. A deep elation filled him as he realized his presence had finally been acknowledged.

Sabrina felt the edge of the metal plunge into her chest. The pain was brief, sharp, followed by the burning sensation of her own blood overflowing. In her last moments, a mixture of disbelief and resignation washed over her: it wasn't supposed to end like this.

“I'm… free… mortal body…” Fragments of his voice came back like broken echoes, laden with a haunting conviction. 

It was the last thing Sabrina heard before her heart finally stopped.