The Pink House

47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7JmZYOUiqx

Chapter 7 – The Dream Infection

I was feeling sleepy.

Not normal sleepy.

Heavy.

Painful.

Like something was pulling my mind downward.

Navya noticed immediately.

“Hey! Stay awake!” she shouted, shaking my shoulder.

Around us, the villagers slowly kept walking closer.

Step.

All smiling.

All black-eyed.

The pale boy grabbed my arm tightly.

“Don’t fall asleep!” he warned.

“If she enters your dream, she can mark you forever.”

My vision blurred.

The pink house looked like it was breathing.

Its walls expanded slowly… then shrank again.

The sound of zips opening echoed from inside.

ZIP.

Navya looked terrified.

“How do we stop this?!”

The pale boy looked toward the dark forest behind the village.

“There is one place she cannot fully control,” he whispered.

“The old temple near the river.”

“Then why are we standing here?!” Navya yelled.

Suddenly all the villagers stopped moving.

Complete silence filled the road.

Then every single villager pointed at me.

At the same time.

My stomach twisted in fear.

“She chose you,” the pale boy whispered.

Before I could ask what he meant—

The girl’s voice entered my head.

Soft.

Cold.

“You opened the gate…”

Pain exploded inside my skull.

I fell onto my knees screaming.

Visions flashed through my mind rapidly—

The palace.

The mirrors.

The pigeons.

People turning into black-eyed creatures.

And finally—

The girl herself.

I saw her sitting on a giant throne deep inside the palace while thousands of pigeons surrounded her silently.

But this time…

I saw her face clearly.

She looked young.

Almost human.

But dark shadow-like cracks moved beneath her skin.

And her eyes—

Completely empty.

“I was trapped for centuries,” she whispered inside my mind.

“Now your world will become mine.”

Suddenly I woke from the vision, gasping heavily.

Navya was crying beside me.

“You stopped breathing for a second!”

The villagers began walking toward us again.

Faster this time.

The pale boy pointed toward the forest.

“RUN!”

We sprinted into the darkness.

Branches scratched our arms as we ran through the trees.

Behind us, we heard footsteps.

Not human footsteps.

Hundreds of wings.

The pigeons were following us.

Navya was breathing hard beside me.

“What if the temple doesn’t work?!”

The pale boy’s expression darkened.

“Then before sunrise…”

He looked directly at me.

“She will turn you into her doorway.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSLporD2kv6

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