Echoes of you

A Crack in Reality

Sophie spent the rest of the day lost in a haze of confusion.

She had tried to go about her routine—heading home, cleaning her apartment, answering emails—but none of it felt real. The world outside moved like clockwork, yet Sophie was adrift, pulled between the mundane and the strange, desperate undercurrent of whatever had taken hold of her mind.

She couldn't stop thinking about Riven. About the voice. About the way it felt when his emotions bled into hers, as though their souls were intertwined in a way that defied everything she knew about reality.

Soul echoes.

The words from the blog kept circling back, looping through her thoughts, promising an explanation, even if it seemed impossible. Could it be real? Could someone really reach her from another dimension? She didn't know what was scarier: the possibility that she was losing her mind or the idea that this was all happening for a reason, one she had yet to uncover.

By the time night fell, Sophie was no closer to an answer. She stood by the window of her apartment, staring out at the darkened city skyline. Rain drizzled down the glass in soft streaks, blurring the lights into a kaleidoscope of muted colors. Everything looked so ordinary.

But she knew better now. Somewhere, out there—no, not out there. Somewhere in a place she couldn't even begin to comprehend, he was waiting.

She could feel him.

Every time she let her mind go quiet, he was there—like a flicker of warmth, always at the edge of her consciousness. Even now, standing by the window, she could feel the faint pull in her chest, the whisper of his presence tugging at the corners of her mind.

It was terrifying.

And yet, it was also strangely comforting.

Before she could stop herself, Sophie grabbed her phone and began searching again. She didn't know what she was looking for exactly—maybe more blogs, maybe stories about people who had experienced something similar. She needed answers. But every search left her more frustrated, more tangled in the endless web of half-baked theories and ghost stories.

Her hand hovered over her phone's keyboard, hesitation gnawing at her.

What if there's someone who knows more?

The thought had barely crossed her mind before her fingers started typing again. This time, she wasn't looking for generic answers. She was looking for someone specific—someone who might actually have insight into this bizarre phenomenon.

A paranormal expert. Or an occult specialist.

Sophie clicked through several results before she found one that didn't look like a complete scam. The website was minimalist, nothing flashy—just a simple header that read "Lia Stone: Paranormal Researcher & Consultant" in bold white letters against a black background.

Lia Stone.

Sophie scrolled through the page, skimming the information. Lia specialized in cases of unusual psychic connections, unexplained phenomena, and otherworldly interactions. It sounded absurd, like something out of a cheap thriller movie. But Sophie was beyond caring about appearances now.

She needed help.

With a deep breath, she hit the "Contact" button at the bottom of the page, filling out the form with her name, email, and a short, vague description of what was happening to her. She hesitated when she got to the part that asked for more details, fingers hovering over the keyboard.

Where do I even begin?

After a few moments, she typed:

"I've been experiencing something unusual. A connection to someone I've never met. I think... I think they're trying to reach me from somewhere else. Is that possible?"