Chapter 5: Voice from the Abyss 

Rain tapped against the dorm window, steady and soft like static. The kind of rain that made everything outside blur, and everything inside feel too loud.

Kaiser lay on his bed in silence. Hoodie still on, hair a wreck, phone glowing in his hand. He’d been watching dumb videos for the past hour—anything to keep the thoughts away.

A cat crashing into a bookshelf. A guy getting smacked mid-trick shot. He laughed a little, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

He wasn’t watching for joy. He was watching to feel nothing.

Then—ding.
A new notification. His breath caught before he even read it.

Subject: Semester Results – College Academic Portal

"...Here we go."

He tapped the link.

Dear Kaiser Victor,
We regret to inform you that you have not met the minimum passing criteria in the following subjects...

Fail.
Retake Required.

“…No. No, no, no, no—no.”

He read it again.

And again.

The words didn’t change.

His body went cold.

“I worked so hard... I gave up everything this time. What did I do wrong?”

His voice was barely a whisper.

His chest felt tight, like the air was collapsing around him.
He couldn’t breathe.
He couldn’t think.

"One subject… and I’m screwed. One subject, and I can’t even move forward."

College paused. Future delayed. No Family.
He already felt like a joke.

Now he felt like a ghost of one.

The phone slid from his hand. It hit the blanket and dimmed, like even it gave up.

Then—

The a unkown voice.

It didn’t echo in the room. It echoed in him.“Come to us… We are waiting.”

His hands flew to his head. A scream tore out of him, raw and helpless.

“N—NOOOOO, NOT THIS AGAIN!”

It wasn’t the voice he sometimes heard—the one he almost understood.
This was something else. Alien. Cold. Like something ancient crawling into his skull.

His vision blurred. Pain ripped through his head like hot metal.

"AAAAAAAARRRRRGGHHHH!!"

“WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?!”

He dropped to the floor, sobbing, his breath hitching. He clutched his knees, rocking slightly.

“I’m going insane… I’m actually going insane…”

His voice cracked on the last word.

And then—stillness.

He sat there for minutes. Maybe hours. He didn’t know.

He thought of his parents.
Of failing again.
Of waking up tomorrow and doing this all over again.

No one would understand. Not the voice. Not the failure. Not the fear that he was breaking.

And suddenly, he knew what he had to do.

Not out of rage.
Not out of drama.
Just… because he couldn’t carry it anymore.

He stood up, slow and numb.

“If I’m already lost… might as well... disappear.”

He walked out of the dorm, no umbrella. He didn’t notice.

His steps didn’t feel like his own.

He didn’t know where he was going. He just knew it needed to end.

But something followed him in the rain.
A whisper. A chill. A presence.“We are waiting.”

He didn’t know what it meant. Didn’t care.

Because tonight, Kaiser wasn’t looking for answers.

He was looking for an ending an ending to his misery.