*CHAPTER 9-SNORING*

*CHAPTER 9 - SNORING - 

_THEY HAD AGREED AMONG THEMSELVES: BOYS ON THE 1ST FLOOR. GIRLS ON THE 2ND. Old hotel rule, teacher said, no mixing after 11. But at 3 AM, rules dissolve._

_02:56 AM - HOTEL CORRIDOR - 2nd Floor - Aydın, old teachers' hotel, no guests except them._

_The corridor was empty. Too empty. Too long for hotel this small. The red carpet, faded, with flower patterns from 90s, swallowed all footsteps, but still, you could hear the building breathing, old pipes groaning, wood creaking, AC humming. One bulb flickering at end, near stairs, buzzing._

_There were 8 doors total. 4 on the right, 4 on the left. All old, wooden, with golden numbers that were half peeled off, 201, 202, 203... Paint chipped._

_Buğra was standing in front of the 3rd door on the left. It said 206, numbers crooked. Beyza's room. Light under door off, but sound on._

_He was in shorts, slippers, hoodie, hair messy, face sleepy but worried. He looked like he had been pacing for a while, carpet has his slipper marks back and forth._

_Tap tap. Tap tap._

_Soft. Respectful. Boyfriend knock, the knock he does only for Beyza, two fast two slow._

_No answer._

_From inside came a sound that didn't belong to a 17-year-old girl, that didn't belong to human girl who is 50 kilos._

_HRRRNNGGGHHH... HRRRNNNGGGHHH..._

_Deep. Long. Constant. Like a saw cutting wood inside a chest. Like a truck engine left running in cold. Like old man snoring after 40 years smoking. Vibrating door, vibrating frame._

_Buğra frowned. His romantic face, the face he prepared, "Beyza are you okay, I brought water", dropped. Replaced with disgust, then confusion, then worry._

_BUĞRA / whisper to door:_

"What kind of girl is this? Is it Selen the gamer? The whole hotel's gonna collapse. My mom was right, I should have... should have dated... No, Beyza doesn't snore... she never..."

_He knocked again, louder this time. Annoyed, but also boyfriend worried that something wrong._

_Tap tap TAP._

_The same sound, louder, as if volume increased because someone knocked: HRRRNNGGGHHH..._

_Deep. Unstoppable. And perfectly same as before, millisecond same._

_At the end of the corridor, near the stairs, a shadow appeared, tall, thin, moving slow._

_HASAN appeared. Eyes half-closed, hair a mess, wearing only a tank top and boxers, barefoot, holding his ears with both hands like child._

_HASAN: voice hoarse from sleep, angry:_

"What are you doing here Buğra? It's 3 AM man. Why aren't you in your room? Are you sleepwalking? Did you get lost? Girls floor, bro, teacher will kill."

_BUĞRA: startled, jumped a little, quickly pulled his hand from the door like he was caught stealing, face red:_

"I had something to tell Beyza... about tomorrow... about Aydın university trip... I'll tell her later. It's not important. Just... she..."

_HASAN: smirked, that classic Hasan smirk, hit his shoulder hard, playful but hard:_

"Or is it some sneaky business, huh? Romeo at 3 AM? You dog. You dog Buğra, at 3 AM to girlfriend's room? With shorts?"

_BUĞRA: shyly, but his eyes kept going back to the door, worried now, not horny, worried, because horlama too weird:_

"...no man, what are you talking about. Shut up. She... listen..."

_It was something. Something was wrong. That snore was too perfect. Too looped. Human snore changes, has pause, has different pitch. This had no pause. This was 4.2 seconds snore, 0.8 second silence, 4.2 snore, loop._

_HRRRNNGGGHHH... HRRRNNGGGHHH..._

_Exact same length. Exact same pitch. Like a recording from YouTube "10 hours snoring sound" on loop._

_Hasan froze. His smirk disappeared. He listened, head tilted, like dog. He is gamer, he knows looped audio._

_HASAN:_

"...bro what the hell was that? Was that... was that Beyza? Bro I swear to god the walls shook. An earthquake? No, bro, this is not Beyza. Beyza is like... small, this is like... bear."

_HASAN: raised an eyebrow, looking at the door with disgust now, but also fear creeping:_

"Bro I swear, you should dump this girl. She snores louder than Mustafa uncle's truck on the Izmir road. I could hear it from the 1st floor! I thought it was earthquake and my bed was shaking! My room is under this room!"

_BUĞRA: laughed but it was fake, nervous, his eyes were still on the door, his hand clenched, knuckles white:_

"Whatever man. Good night. By the way, what are you doing here at 3 AM? You said you sleep like dead."

_HASAN: scratching his head, scratching belly:_

"I was gonna check the upper floors. Maybe there's some food left in the rooms from the previous guests. I'm starving. This hotel's dinner was trash. And now this concert woke me up. I thought someone died."

_Then slow footsteps came from the stairs. Heavy, thud thud, slippers._

_It was a guy. Tall shadow, stretching long from flickering bulb._

_ERKAN in a mocking voice, holding his stomach from laughing, but eyes tired._

_ERKAN:_

"Ooo what are you guys doing here at this hour? Lovers' meeting at 3 AM? Secret council? And who's snoring like that? I swear I thought it was an earthquake for a second and jumped out of bed! I thought hotel collapsed! I ran!"

_HASAN: pointing at door 206, dead serious now, finger shaking a bit:_

"Beyza. Our princess Beyza. Our sweet, small, beautiful Beyza. Who says 'ay' when she sees bug."

_ERKAN turned to Buğra, put his hands on his shoulders like a father giving condolences at funeral, dramatic:_

"Buğracım, may God help you, brother. Seriously. When you guys get married, I'll buy the coffin for your ears myself. Custom-made, with soundproofing. And divorce papers. I'll be your best man and your ear doctor."

_BUĞRA defensively, but his voice was small, insecure, because he loves Beyza but this sound is... inhuman:_

"Don't exaggerate guys, it's not that bad... she's just... tired. She walked a lot today. 20k steps. She is tired. And she has cold. Cold makes snore."

_HASAN with his usual sarcastic, cruel-but-funny tone, delivering the final blow, the joke that makes everyone laugh but also hurts:_

"They say love is blind, bro... but for you bro... love is deaf. Completely deaf. Love is nose-dead too, because this smells like..."

_They laughed. Loud in empty corridor, echo. Buğra laughed too, but he didn't move. He kept staring at the door, because for a split second, between two snores, between HRRRNNN and HRRRNNN, there was 0.8 second gap, and in that gap he thought he heard something else._

_Silence. Absolute silence. Like no one was in the room at all. Like room empty, no breathing, no bed creak, no nothing. Then snore again, same. As if someone pressed play, pause, play._

_Buğra's face went pale. He stepped back._

_BUĞRA / whisper, only to himself:_

"Beyza... are you... inside?"

_No answer. Only HRRRNNGGGHHH..._

---

_03:00 AM - ROOM 201 - 2nd Floor - Next to 206, wall thin._

_Darkness. Only the hum of the old AC and that distant HRRRNNGGGHHH vibrating through the walls, through pillow, through skull. Glass of water on table rippling each snore._

_GİZEM was staring at the ceiling. No sleep. Eyes wide open, red. She had a thin white wool blanket with flower patterns on it pulled up to her chin, like child. Her roommate Simge sleeping facing wall, snoring small, human._

_Inner voice, fast, paranoid, overthinking, Gizem's brain at 3 AM, 100 km/h:_

_"Beyza wasn't like this before. If she saw someone's flaw, she'd stay quiet. She wouldn't tell anyone. She was kind, she was the kindest, she would say 'don't talk behind'._

_But today she was the first one to say Cenk and Haydarcan were cursed. She was the first one to point the finger in bus, 'they are sealed, they will kill us'. She shouted first._

_And then she was the first one to speak up against killing them. She cried. She shouted 'don't kill them'. Contradiction. Why point then protect? Why?_

_Why? She should've stayed quiet if she thought we’d hurt them. That doesn't make sense. Unless... unless she wanted us to look at them, not at her. Classic misdirection. Like in Among Us."_

_Well, I was scared. And Kerem said "she was with me in the archive"... Or... no. Impossible. Beyza can't be... Beyza is sweet, she can't be monster, she can't... But that snore... that snore is not Beyza. Beyza sleeps like cat. I slept with her at camp, no sound. This is..._

_Maybe I'm just overthinking. I'm tired. I'm paranoid. It's 3 AM, brain makes stories. Sleep, Gizem, sleep."_

_HRRRNNGGGHHH_ The snore hit the wall again, making the glass of water on her table ripple, making her blanket vibrate._

_Gizem pulled the blanket over her head, but ears still hear. She counted: 4.2 seconds, 0.8 pause, 4.2. Exactly. Loop._

_GIZEM / whisper to ceiling:_

"Beyza... where are you?"

---

_03:02 AM - ROOM 104 - 1st Floor - Boys floor._

_MEHMET sat up in bed, suddenly, sweat on his forehead, shirt wet. The light under the door flickered from corridor. He wasn't sleeping either, eyes wide._

_MEHMET:_

"What kind of snoring is that... you can hear it all the way from downstairs. That's not human. That's speaker. That's..."

_He looked at the empty bed next to him. Kerem's bed was empty. Sheets cold, as if no one slept there for hours, pillow untouched, bag missing._

_Mehmet frowned, stood up, touched sheets, cold._

_MEHMET:_

"Where is that idiot Kerem at 3 AM? Again? Where does he go every night at 3 AM? He said archive... Aydın archive at 3 AM? Liar..."

_He looked at window, outside dark, university lights far. He heard distant HRRRNNGGGHHH even here, through floor._

---

_03:15 AM - ADNAN MENDERES UNIVERSITY, ARCHIVE ROOM - AYDIN - 5 km away from hotel, but connected._

_Dust. Old shelves that reach the ceiling, 5 meters high, ladders. The smell of mold and old paper, 30 years of student files. 2025. A single emergency light flickering, green exit sign. Cold, 15 degrees._

_KEREM was flipping through pages with a shaking flashlight, light shaking, breath fast, scared, alone. His fingers were covered in thick dust, black, nails black. He was breathing fast, like after running._

_He found it. The yearbook, leather, big. 03/10/2025. 11/C. Kazım Kaynak Anatolian High School. Class photo day, everyone smiling, forced smile._

_He looked at the class photo. 16 people. Smiling. Young, 16 years old. Buğra with gelled hair, Beyza with braces, Simge, Erkan, everyone._

_There was one more person in the middle. Between Buğra and Beyza. A kid who wasn't in Mehmet's photo, who wasn't in any other photo. His face was blurry, like someone had tried to erase it with an eraser but couldn't fully, like smudged with finger, like glitch. White sweater. White pants. Black shoes. Small. Looking down, not at camera, unlike others. Hands behind back._

_Kerem whispered, his voice echoing in the dusty room, echo returning:_

_KEREM:_

"So you can't change the original photos... Or destroy them. But why? You can change our memories but not paper? Why paper stronger than brain?"

"And... why don't we remember him? Did he mess with our memories? Did he make us forget? Ahmet... was that you? Is that your name? Ahmet Nurdogmus? Why did they write 'transferred' next to you?"

_A breath from right behind him. Cold. On his neck. Smelled like burnt paper, like old library burning, like iron._

_THE MONSTER: voice right in his ear, calm, close, amused, not shouting:_

"So you're here Kerem. Like you said, I can't tamper with the original pictures. The paper remembers what the mind forgets. Mind is weak, paper is loyal. That's why I hate paper."

_KEREM: didn't turn around. He froze. The flashlight fell from his hand and rolled on the floor, making crazy shadows, spinning, light spinning on shelves, making monster shadow huge._

_KEREM: voice shaking, trying to be brave, but piss in pants scared:_

"Like I said, I came alone. I told them Beyza didn't come to school. Just like you wanted. I lied to Mehmet, said she's sick. Now get me out of here like you promised. You said you'd erase my seal if I came alone! You promised! You said you would save me!"

_THE MONSTER: tilts his head, amused, cloak rustling:_

"Promise? What promise Kerem, what are you making up? When did I ever promise anything to a rat? Rats don't get promises. Rats get traps."

_KEREM: spun around now, angry, tears of betrayal, fists up, useless:_

"You lying piece of shit. You said you'd get me out of here if I brought you the photo! You swore! You swore on... on your mother's grave!"

_THE MONSTER: steps into the flickering green light. His face is still shadow, but his forehead seal glows red, same as Ahmet's burn, devil face angry._

"Does a piece of shit like you deserve that? You lied to all your friends just for yourself. You left them at the hotel sleeping while you came here to save your own ass. You sold Beyza's location for your seal. You're just like them. You're worse. At least they bully together, you betray alone."

_He came closer. His breath was on Kerem's neck, cold, making hair stand._

_THE MONSTER: whispering, enjoying it, tasting betrayal like wine:_

"Tomorrow I'll enjoy watching your execution too Kerem. First I'll stamp the seal on your forehead. Then you'll get exactly what happened to Cenk and Haydarcan. Your friends will kill you with their own hands. Because they're scared. Because you taught them to be scared. It will be beautiful."

_KEREM: gritted his teeth, fists clenched, but his legs gave out, fell to knees, among dust:_

"You bastard. You monster. You... you are not Ahmet... Ahmet wouldn't..."

_THE MONSTER:_

"Hahahaha I can't believe how stupid you are. You really thought I would help you? You really thought monster helps? Did Ahmet ever get help when he was on knees in mud? No. So why should you?"

_THE MONSTER: leans in, voice dropping to a disgusted whisper, right into ear, as if kissing ear:_

"You humans... you'll do any kind of filth, scumminess, betrayal to survive. You'll sell your mother for one more day. You'll sell your friend for one less seal. You'll do anything. You're the most disgusting creatures among all living beings. You prove me right every single time. Every time I test you, you fail."

_A hand shot out of the cloak. Pale, with long black nails, veins black, not human. Grabbed Kerem's throat and lifted him off the ground, feet dangling, choking, eyes bulging._

_The yearbook photo fell to the floor, landing open on that blurry face in the middle, white sweater kid, watching._

_He slammed his burning palm on Kerem's forehead: SSSSSSSSSST! Like meat on grill, like iron brand on cow. A devil figure with clenched fists and angry eyes seared into his skin, smoking, smelling of burnt hair. It glowed red, then faded to black, seal._

_Kerem's eyes went black for a second, all white gone, black like space, then back. His body went limp. Collapsed like a puppet with cut strings, thud, dust cloud._

_The Monster looked at the photo on the floor for a long time. At the blurry kid in the white sweater. He crouched, touched photo, finger on blurry face, almost tender._

_MONSTER / whisper, for first time, not angry, sad:*

"...they erased you from photo, but they couldn't erase you from me, huh? You still here..."

_Then he dragged Kerem by the leg like trash, like bag, head bumping on concrete stairs, and dropped him at the university's entrance gate, right where the others would find him in the morning, under rain, under sign "Adnan Menderes University - Knowledge is Light"._

_Left him there. Cursed. Alone. In the cold. With new seal burning on forehead, and snore sound still playing from his phone in pocket, on loop, HRRRNNGGGHHH, which he had put in Beyza's room speaker to fake she is sleeping while she is not._

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