Alexandria, Egypt, 4:00 am.

Nadine was lying on her bed, moving every two minutes. She was in a deep sleep yet looked extremely uncomfortable. She was panting, and her pajamas soaked in he heavy sweat. In the room’s darkness, she suddenly opened her eyes like two flashlight beams and jumped out of bed, running to the bathroom.

She turned on the lights and looked at herself in the mirror in horror. She put her hands on her neck; there were hand marks as if someone were choking her. The whole place was dead silence. Only the sound of her loud breathing filled her white plain bathroom.

She splashed her face with icy water and looked again at her reflection. She looked tired and out of breath. “What the hell is happening to me?” she said to herself, eyeing her red neck. She grabbed the face towel next to her and wiped her face slowly; it felt sore. She left the towel on its handle and turned off the lights before heading back to her room.

A powerful light hit her bare feet. She looked down and saw some strange light coming from the balcony. She frowned and raised her eyes; a mighty light penetrated through the thick black fabric of the drapes. She took a few steps closer and felt the light get even stronger. It felt warmer the more it touched her covered body.

With every step she took, the light moved higher. It lay on her face the moment she stood right in front of the drapes. She held the left side of it with her right hand and opened it swiftly. Her breath got stuck in her lungs and her eyes popped open like an anime character. “What… how…” she couldn’t form a sentence. Her mind froze at that moment, not grasping what was in front of her.

Nadine looked at the view before her eyes with ultra-shock. She was standing barefoot on the Azmi corporation rooftop. She saw herself standing on the left with both of her hands clinging to the rooftop railing. Nadine felt her body shaking; her mind was racing to understand what was happening. She was in her room seconds ago and now she was on the rooftop, seeing herself crying like she did earlier today.

It’s me! Me! her voice echoed loudly inside her head. She hugged herself, feeling all the chilly breezes hitting her, the thick pajamas barely warming her shivering body. She looked back and saw her room pitch black and foreign to what was before her.

The other Nadine’s phone vibrated, startling her. She took the phone out of her pocket to see Lena’s name on its screen. She canceled the call and wiped her remaining running tears. Nadine a female voice called her from far. The other Nadine looked away from her phone, which vibrated again.

“That voice!” she said, hugging herself tighter.

Nadine the voice called again.

Nadine saw herself turning and looking at the voice’s direction. She looked in the same direction and saw a woman wearing a long golden dress with long sleeves. She had bright, long brown hair that covered her back and a pearl crown over her head. The woman was standing across from Nadine. She saw herself about to talk but stopped when the phone vibrated again.

Both girls looked at the woman to find she disappeared into thin air. “What the hell was that?” the other Nadine said. As she was about to walk, another voice stopped her. A deep female voice that sounded like it didn’t belong to this world, a voice she heard before. She turned her head to the back to see the face belonging to that mighty voice.

Nadine’s body stopped shivering and a sudden warmth ran through her shaking body. She looked at what the other Nadine looked at; both looked terrified. A mighty white light form stood between them; the light was unbearable to any man’s eyes, yet neither feared the light. They feared what it would turn into.

Crystal sharp eyes gazed at the other Nadine; slowly the light form changed to a human body. A tall female with a white robe covering every inch of her body and a hood over her head. The rest of her face was glowing with the same white light; only her eyes were clear and intense.

Her eyes stared at the other Nadine froze her in her place then swiftly gazed at Nadine who froze as well. Their eyes slowly changed to crystal-clear eyes identical to the eyes of the mystery woman, with both gasping harshly.

…

7:06 pm.

Nadine sank into her chair after a long meeting with the Sweden project managers, exhausted and hungry. She texted Lena to grab her something to eat while she took a thirty-minute break. Last night was a blur, but the lingering sensation of suffocation clung to her memory. That dream came to her often, but lately, it had become a regular visitor—its clarity growing more vivid with each passing day.

As Lena knocked on her door with her lunch, Nadine’s phone ranged. “Nadine,” Camellia said through the phone; her voice was hesitant and low. “Something is wrong… I don’t know what it is exactly… but something is happening to me.”

Nadine said nothing, yet he heard her loud breathing through the phone. “What happened? Are you okay?” Nadine said.

“I—” Camellia paused. “I don’t know. I’ve been feeling a bit down lately. Want to meet later today?”

“I have a lot of meetings. I don’t think I’ll be free before 11:00 PM,” Nadine replied.

“Okay, then let’s meet after you finish.”

Nadine didn’t respond right away. Her breathing was slightly heavier than usual.

“Are you okay?” Camellia asked.

Nadine shifted the phone away from her ear as the pain flared again around the spot where her necklace rested. It felt more real than her own breathing. That’s not true… I’m just exhausted… she whispered to herself.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing Camellia… I said nothing,” Nadine said and sighed.

“Let’s meet at my house tonight. I have a patient now. Bye!” Camellia blurted and hung up.