Daring to perform a ritual meant stepping into a world that should have been inaccessible to humans. This was not merely a choice—it was an open challenge to gods and goddesses, to laws that were never meant to be touched.
Everyone who did it knew the risks. They understood what would happen to them. Yet that knowledge was never enough to stop them.
It sounded selfish. They went on regardless.
Such was the fate of those known as "Receivers." A group of people, or individuals, who possessed supernatural abilities from fifteen different powers, and who dared to open forbidden doors, accepting something that should never have been given.
A name shared with Hollow, yet bearing a different meaning.
And… the Receivers were granted another blessing: they could see spirits and ghosts with the naked eye, without the aid of objects tied to the supernatural.
–––
Wednesday afternoon…
As a thick red aura mixed with dark purple rose into the sky, it created a wave of energy strong enough to shake the ground within a radius of roughly two hundred meters from where Zavi had performed the ritual.
People in the Chapena district panicked. The atmosphere descended into chaos, whispers spreading from every direction.
"An earthquake, right?"
"It's happening again. Is the world about to end like the predictions said?"
"Are the gods angry and about to destroy us all?"
"Damn it, I'm not even married yet," said a man wearing a red headband. He couldn't suppress the thought that the 'end of the world' was imminent.
He stood still, surrendering himself to his ignorance.
–––
Elsewhere, in a room with its window wide open, Ren leaned against the wall beside it. His messy black hair formed loose waves. A gentle breeze flowed into the room as he stared at the sun slowly sinking beyond the horizon.
But… the calm did not last long.
Two seconds later, a violent tremor surged up from underground, lifting his body slightly off the floor. He thought it was just another minor quake, like those that had recently plagued the Chapena district—a coastal area built atop fractured soil and constantly shifting undersea plates. Unlike other districts on stable ground, Chapena often bore the direct impact of movements beneath the sea.
He was certain the tremor would soon stop.
That thought was wrong. A few seconds later, from the front—from a remote area—Ren clearly saw a red aura shoot into the sky from a single point, generating a wave of spiritual pressure that made his skin crawl instantly.
–––
In the same district, Zeta Audervin happened to be stepping out of a café. The bell rang clearly as the café door closed, loud enough for anyone inside to hear.
She felt danger.
She turned her head to the left, gazing at the clock tower—then, beside it, a thick red aura mixed with dark purple shot rapidly into the sky, and Zeta watched as the sky darkened for several seconds.
Her eyes widened.
"What is that?" she whispered in a trembling voice, goosebumps instantly rising across her body.
People passing by on the street stopped in place. They stared at the darkness with their mouths hanging open.
Still in the same district, yet with a difference: those within the aura's range still saw an orange sky, signaling that night was approaching.
Unlike Zeta's location, which lay outside the reach of the red and dark purple aura, they felt no pressure. However, anyone who saw it would tremble and shiver violently.
–––
Friday night, 7:30 p.m.
In a remote area that was supposed to be part of the Chapena district, inside an abandoned house, in the living room. Zavi lay unconscious on the dusty, cold floor.
Not dead. Asleep.
Before awakening from his long slumber—or rather, after performing the ritual—his body felt wrapped in endless darkness, cold, and tranquility. This was the first time Zavi had ever felt such a sensation. He thought he had died, but in truth, he had survived the failed ritual.
He stood up, leaning against the wall, and only then realized his coat was gone. He looked at his arms, which were intensely red, and assumed it was an aftereffect of the ritual.
Zavi's head was now filled with questions he could not answer.
Why am I still alive if the ritual failed? And who is the beautiful woman standing by the doorway with such a captivating face? …What is this strange sensation swirling inside my body right now?
Zavi tapped his forehead twice. Then he stood upright and stared at the woman wearing a white dress with black patterns, her black hair braided into a bun reaching her waist, dark brown eyes fixed on him with an intense yet warm smile.
"Who are you?" Zavi asked warily. "Did she see me performing the ritual earlier?" His heart and expression revealed his panic, as he assumed that tonight was still the same day.
There was no answer. The empty living room was silent, filled only with the sounds of animals—crickets, geckos, rats, and crows perched on tree branches not far from the house where he had performed the ritual.
A few seconds later, the woman smiled, suppressing her laughter by covering her mouth with her right hand, which wore a black glove adorned with rose patterns.
'Who is that woman, really? I should leave this deserted and increasingly unsettling place as soon as possible.'
Zavi thought to himself.
Moreover, his stomach growled loudly, echoing through the silent room, and he could no longer suppress the hunger slowly gnawing at his body.
The moment he stepped out of the abandoned house, something grabbed his right hand—the woman pulled him back, signaling him to stop with a single wink while smiling.
"Did you forget me, Sir?" the woman asked, her hand gripping Zavi's firmly as she lifted it slightly.
Zavi's lips twitched. He didn't understand what she meant, nor did he remember whether the original Zavi had a female acquaintance as beautiful as her.
Although, from Zavi's perspective as a man, there were several beautiful women among his acquaintances, none stood out more than Zeta Audervin and Aurora Chevalya.
Even though he might never have met Aurora Chevalya in person, that captivating face had etched itself deep into his heart, trapping him in a sense of affection from the very first sight.
'How unfortunate you are, Zavi.'
"I… don't remember who you are," Zavi said haltingly, scratching his cheek. "So could you tell me your name, Miss?" he asked, his expression hovering between seriousness and caution.
Who exactly is this woman, and what is this strange sensation surrounding my back? And… what is this odd voice that suddenly appeared inside my head?
Zavi's heart pounded violently. He turned his head left and right, ready to flee this place as fast as possible, his stomach still growling and his unease growing stronger with the woman's presence.
But the woman prevented him from leaving the abandoned area, without him knowing her true purpose for being here.
Zavi shrugged slightly. "Why are you silent? Maybe—"
Before he could finish speaking, the woman pressed her index finger against Zavi's lips, silencing him, her left index finger resting firmly there.
"Ssst…" The mysterious woman smiled slyly.
'There's no doubt about it, this woman…'
Tap. Tap.
Nodding once, Zavi immediately ran past the woman.
But… his legs could not support his body properly. They trembled, and he dropped to his knees on the damp stone path, moving only five steps from his previous position.
"Damn…" he muttered softly, uncertain of what would happen next, as he watched the crazy woman walk toward him, her smile twisted.
"Are you all right, S-Sir?"
They exchanged gazes, and then… Zavi's body convulsed violently. After the woman spoke to him, he screamed loudly.
"Ahh…" his breath came in ragged gasps. "What was that?"
Zavi was startled. He immediately stood up and examined his surroundings. What shocked him was the sense of familiarity with his current condition.
His coat was gone, he was still inside the house where he had performed the ritual, nothing had changed, parts of his body were red, making him think it had all been a dream.
"What actually happened? Ahh, where is that woman now?" Zavi turned toward the doorway, stunned. "Gone? Don't tell me that was just a dream. But that's impossible—it felt too real to me. Damn it…" he muttered softly, holding his chin in thought.
'Why does this always happen to me? What did my earlier ritual even achieve? Could it have failed? But there's no way I'd still be alive right now…' he thought intensely, trying to make sense of the situation.
He searched for the woman around the house, but his efforts were in vain. Soon, Zavi decided to leave the empty house, but before leaving, he did not forget to take the watch lying beneath him.
The hands of the clock moved, showing that it was 8:15 p.m.
Zavi did not realise that he had been asleep for two full days, on Friday the 26th.
He put the watch in his shirt pocket and immediately left. Every second he spent in that place felt increasingly suffocating. The silence of the night was not a soothing calm, but a consuming one.
From the darkness surrounding him, he heard the sound of something falling, softly, with an irregular rhythm. Then another object followed, clanging regularly, as if something were deliberately marking its presence.
Zavi's hair stood on end. He quickened his pace, refusing to look back, even though he felt he was being watched by something, and held his breath.
From the heart. He didn't want to go there. But why?