Chapter 19 Guilt
Lina's POV
The silence in the room suddenly felt thicker—so thick it could choke us all. Papers lay unattended to across the table, the light bulbs above flickering weakly weakly as if struggling to stay alive.
None of us spoke for a while—not even me, I was not willing to.
Father Eron was staring at the crucifix on the wall just opposite him, lost in his own thoughts.
Dr. Allen had her hands folded tightly on her lap liks grieving mother,her eyes fixed on nothing.
And as fot me, I couldn't stop overthinking things…how could a simple missing children case torn into this nightmare? How? Just how?
After a while, Father Eron finally broke the escalating silence. “What about Kate?” He asked, his voice was gentle but urgent. “What happened to her?” He added softly.
I sighed and rubbed my forehead smoothly. “She got into an accident last night,” I said quietly, my tone was purely tired a d I couldn't even hide it—not anymore. “She's in the hospital right now…but something doesn't make sense, Father. Something isn't adding up.” I sounded totally emotionally drained.
“What do you mean? What isn't adding up?” Father Eron asked with raised brows.
I took in a soft inhale as I recounted the full story about the accident and that Kate kept insisting that I was with her last night.
“I heard about the accident this morning so I rushed to see her, but Kate kept saying I was with her,” I muttered, barely believing my own words—I was sounding unreal.
Father Eron adjusted slightly on his seat, his eyes still fixated on me like I was telling a moonlight tale abd he didn't want to miss any part.
“Kate kept saying we were blty in the car when the accident happened. She said something about about a little girl standing in the middle of the road. She swore the child wouldn't move away from the road, and I….I turned the wheel to avoid her. That's when she said the car crashed into the ditch.” I paused, swallowing hard at my own narration.
It felt unbelievable, but I told the story anyway.
“But Lina, where were you last night?” Father Eron asked.
“Here. Of course, I was here all night. I didn't even leave the office throughout yesterday. I was busy searching abd gathering information about the case.” I bawled defensively.
“So who do you think Kate was with?” He asked again, now leaning forward.
“I don't know…” I stammered. “I was never with Kate last night. I never saw any little girl. And yet…the details she hwce—” I paused abd shook my head slowly. “They're exactly the same as the nightmare I had last night. Could it be a coincidence?” I shrieked.
“Are you saying…. you'd a dream last night and it turned out to be exactly what Kate is describing to have happened to her last night?” Father Eron pressed forward.
The thought of this was terrifying enough. I didn't want to believe this is real. It's unbelievable that what's happening in my dream is happening to someone else in reality.
I looked at Dr. Allen, then I asjwd, “Could it be…that the missing children are the ones haunting us?
Dr. Allen let a creepy smile, it didn't feel real—it felt forced abd bitter.
“No,” Dr. Allen snapped sharply, her tone cutting through the air like glass breaking. Her eyes glowed with something I’d never seen before—something like pain.
“They are not haunting us, Lina,” she whispered, her voice trembling as tears welled in her eyes. “They’re calling us.”
She slowly leaned back in her chair, then she added, “Because one of them… one of those missing children is mine. And she wouldn't stop calling for me. I think it's time we visit the world she's calling us all into.” She said, clutching tightly onto the silver pendant around her neck.
The room suddenly fell deadly silent. The ticking clock froze mid-click. Even the air stopped moving.
I can't believe she just said this.
Just when I thought of dropping this case, then suddenly Dr. Allen is asking for us to cross over to a world we know nothing about.
I couldn’t breathe. My mind suddenly went blank, and my pulse wouldn't stop thundering in my ears.
Father Eron’s lips moved, but no words came out. I bet he's reciting verses from the bible again, it seems like I was the only person who's clinging onto nothing—no God, no gods.
“And what if—” Father Eron paused and immediately flung me a sharp stare, then he said, “Just what if the children are not calling us. What if Kate is not crazy. What if Detective Lina here was really woty Kate last night, but while it happened as a dream to you, it turned out as reality for Kate.”
I shrieked, “What are you talking about?”
“What if detective Lina here is an embodiment of something far darker than anybody could imagine? What if she's the answer to all our questions?
I adjusted slightly on my seat, now feeling angry and uncomfortable at the same time.
“And lastly, what if detective Lina here is being protected for a reason and maybe it's the reason why reality turns to a dream for you. Just anything for her to be protected.” Father Eron said.
I couldn't believe my ears.
I chuckled sarcastically, “What the hell was that?” I hissed.
“Then prove it!”
“What?!” I choked, my voice trembling
“Prove you're not one of them,” he fired back, eyes wide with something between terror and disbelief. “Prove you’re not the thing wearing Lina’s face.”
I felt my heart stop for a second. The air around us thickened, heavy and cold, as if the walls themselves were holding their breath.
Father Eron’s words echoed in my skull, replaying over and over until they didn’t even sound human anymore.
I wasn't supposed to be scared.
Of course it's me. I'm Lina. So why am I suddenly feeling this way?
Why am I scared?
Why do I feel offended?
Why the hell do I feel like vanishing into the thin air?
Am I guilty?
Am I really guilty?
My pulse stuttered endlessly and when I finally looked at Father Eron in the eyes—I couldn’t tell which of us looked more terrified.
My mouth opened, but no sound came out. The silence between us felt alive, whispering things I couldn’t quite hear, things that made the back of my neck prickle.
Then I saw it—the creepy figure like an unimaginable size of shadow, stepping away from me. I couldn't tell what its real form looked like, but it was just like a shadow and I couldn't speak, I couldn't scream.
And for the first time, I wasn’t sure if Father Eron was the one mistaking… or if there was truly something inside of me that I couldn’t see.