Lost day

That night ended fast. It happened so quickly, in fact, that neither Yelit nor I had a single memory of what transpired after the lights cut out.When my eyes finally snapped open, the first thing I felt was a bitter, biting cold. I shivered violently, my teeth chattering as I stared up at the unfamiliar shadows on my ceiling."As far as I know, at a time like this, I shouldn't feel cold at all," I muttered to myself. I tried to pull the blanket over my chest, but my hand brushed against bare skin.My heart skipped a beat."Wait... what?!"I threw the sheets aside. I didn't have a single stitch of clothing on. I was completely naked, lying in my own bed, shivering in the freezing air of my room. I scrambled to sit up, rubbing my temples as a sharp headache began to pulse behind my eyes. I couldn't remember a thing. The entire previous night was a pitch-black void in my mind.As I sat there, desperately trying to piece together the broken fragments of my memory, my phone on the nightstand buzzed, its screen lighting up the dim room.Buzz."A message?" I breathed, my hand trembling slightly as I reached for the device. "Let's see what this is."The screen displayed a text from Yelit. My chest tightened as I read his words:

"A coincidence?" I whispered into the empty room. Both of us naked. Both of us suffering from total memory loss. "I have no idea what is going on anymore."I needed to clear my head. I decided to take a hot shower first, hoping the warm water would wash away the lingering dread and somehow jumpstart my brain. But after stepping out of the bathroom and wiping the fogged-up mirror, I noticed something even weirder on my phone screen.The date widget was staring right back at me."Wait... yesterday we were supposed to hang out with those girls. That was Tuesday. Today should be Wednesday..." I stared at the screen in disbelief. The digital clock read Friday. "Friday? It shows Friday today. This piece of junk has to be broken."Frantic, I began swiping through my notifications, my thumb flying across the glass. That's when I saw them—two missed notifications buried beneath the system logs. One was an audio file. A voice message from Yelit.With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I pressed play.The audio started with heavy static, followed by the sound of ragged, terrified breathing. Then, Yelit’s voice broke through, distorted and crying.

The message cut off into a harsh electronic screech before going dead.I stood frozen in the middle of my room, the phone heavy in my palm. "Wait, wait, wait... is this some terrible joke?" I shouted at the walls, my voice cracking. "What the hell? We literally just exchanged texts! What do you mean you're dying...?"My mind refused to accept it. It had to be a prank. Yelit was just messing with me because I had teased him about the girls. "Not cool at all," I muttered, shaking my head. "This is not something to joke about."Unable to bear the suffocating silence of my apartment anymore, I threw on some clothes and practically ran out the door. I needed fresh air. I needed to see that the world was still normal.But as I walked down the crowded sidewalk, the feeling of safety never came. Instead, a heavy paranoia settled over me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I felt as if someone was watching me—following my every step.Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I spun around on my heel, throwing a deep, aggressive glare at the figure cloaked in a jacket behind me."Hey! What do you want from me?" I demanded, my voice booming.The figure flinched, pulling down the hood of her jacket. It was a young woman, her eyes wide with anxiety. "I-I'm sorry," she stammered, raising her hands defensively. "I was not trying to do anything to you, I swear.""Then what do you want from me?" I pressed, stepping closer, refusing to let her slide. "Why are you following me?"The girl stared at me, her expression shifting into one of profound confusion. "Kuss... it's me. You don't remember me? I'm the girl from two nights ago. We were at your friend's house."My mind went completely blank. Wait a minute... what is this girl even saying? We've met already? At Yelit's apartment? No... that can't be right.The panic inside me flared into anger. "I'm sorry, but I don't remember you," I snapped, backing away from her. "So please, just leave me alone."Without waiting for a response, I turned and started walking faster, almost breaking into a jog. I wanted absolutely nothing to do with her. If I had been confused this morning, now I felt entirely lost. The world was spinning out of control. My only goal now was to find Yelit, grab him by the collar, and figure out what reality we had stumbled into.I glanced over my shoulder a moment later. The sidewalk was crowded, but the girl was gone. She had vanished into thin air.I hurried toward the local bar down the street, a spot where Yelit and I often met up after a rough week. But as I approached the entrance, I noticed a chaotic crowd gathered outside. Whispers and anxious murmurs filled the air."...did you hear about what happened just ten minutes ago?" one man was telling his friend. "Some random guy was walking right to the bar, and he got kidnapped in a brief moment! A black vehicle just pulled up and snatched him!"Cold sweat broke out across my forehead. A terrible, gnawing intuition gripped my chest. I rushed toward the crowd, shoving my way through the onlookers."Excuse me!" I called out to a group of witnesses. "How did the abducted guy look? What was he wearing? He might be someone I know!""Well, we couldn't really see his face," an older man replied, shaking his head. "They had it covered with a black sack before he could even scream.""Where did they go? Which way?" I demanded, my chest heaving."Don't know about that, it happened too fast," a younger woman chimed in, crossing her arms. "But I did notice something weird while they were shoving him into the back of the vehicle.""What?" I asked, desperate for even the smallest clue. "What did you see?""One of the kidnappers... she looked like a girl. About your age, I think. She had a tactical mask covering her face, but from her build, it was definitely a woman."My breath hitched in my throat. It can't be. No, no... this can't be happening.A horrifying realization clicked in my brain. Was the girl who was just following me the one behind this? Is she the one who knows everything? Just what is happening here? Did she try to do the same thing to me earlier, but failed because I confronted her, so now she went after him instead?"But why?" I whispered, staring blankly at the pavement as the crowd continued to gossip around me. "I don't understand... what have we done? Just what in the world is going on...?"Feeling entirely abandoned and consumed by dread, I realized I couldn't stay out in the open. 

I needed clues. I needed to see if Yelit had left anything at his place, or if my own house held any answers. I turned around and sprinted back toward my neighborhood.As I neared my house, I instinctively slowed down, keeping close to the shadows of the alleyways. My heart leaped into my throat. Two unfamiliar black sedans were parked directly across from my driveway.I looked up at my bedroom window. A warm light was glowing from inside.Did I leave that light on this morning? No. I remembered the darkness. I remembered the rush to leave. It's them. It's the same group. They're inside my house, waiting to get me now."Good thing I took the shortcut," I breathed, a wave of adrenaline washing over me. They probably didn't know about the narrow alleyways behind the residential blocks. "I better get out of here, as fast as I can."I spun around, preparing to run in the opposite direction, but as I stepped out of the alley, a figure stepped directly into my path.It was the girl from earlier.

But she wasn't hiding under a hood anymore. In her right hand, she held a sleek, strange weapon, and in her left, a heavy metallic syringe filled with a glowing, translucent fluid."Everything will be fine now, my dear Kuss," she said. Her voice was terrifyingly calm, smooth, and gentle, like a mother comforting a child. "Don't worry about anything anymore. I am here to help you. Just get some sleep now, and I will show you everything later."She stepped forward, raising the needle."Show me what?!" I screamed, backing up against the brick wall, my eyes wide with horror. "Why are you doing this?! Just what in the world is going on?! Who are you?!"A serene, unsettling smile spread across her lips."Oh, my dear," she whispered, her eyes locking onto mine as she lunged forward. "You will see it for yourself."The needle gleamed in the dim light."You will see your true... Salvation."