I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at the musical box that was placed at the edge of my dressing table. It even seems to be playing on it's own as I can clearly hear and feel tinglingly sensations from here. I'm still trying to remember when I dropped it on the table. I don't even remember clicking the red button! Gah!

Since when do musical boxes even shimmer?

Curiously and yet cautiously, I slowly got down from my bed and heeled my head towards the dressing table as I approached it carefully. It's funny how this seems like a horror movie, but this was real. What is this?

I gasped in horror when something ruby-red and bold—yet wet and smutty appeared bit by bit on the walls before me in a sort of language, which I assumed to be Chinese since it came out funny like some creepy stick drawings. The shocking part is that you can almost imagine a hand drawing all these on the walls while the writings kept producing a mirror image of itself on the other walls around me. The white walls were gradually turning black—almost like it was decaying or something.

I-is...

Is that blood or w-what?

Wait-

-it can't be...

It's not smelling like blood from here...

Phew...

Then what is this?

Madness?

Quickly, I grabbed my phone from my side pocket and took a picture of it for Google to eventually scan and translate the hidden messages. I guess I could also preserve it for latter evidence to prove to everyone that I'm not hallucinating.

When it was finally translated, a wave of uneasiness and fear gripped my body at once. I didn't even realise when I let go of my phone at this moment. Something or rather someone was trying to play tricks on me again.

H-how is this...p-possible?

"伊莎贝尔...伊莎贝尔......为什么放开我这么多恐惧？ 您现在什么也没做，只是使您的小朋友处于危险之中。 您无法停止独自发生的事情...因为您只有一种生命."

Translation: "Isabelle...Isabelle...why let go of me with so much fear? You've done nothing now but put your little friend in danger. You can't stop what's happening alone...cause you've got only one life."

I-is this...some kind of...prank?

So many thoughts ran through my head right now that I had forgotten all about the cat besides me once again. I tried to call 911 but my phone resisted my fingers somehow. It was as if some kind of magnetic wave was repulsing my fingers with that of my phone. The more I tried to press the damn screen, the more the phone heeled over to the opposite side.

How creepy.

"How in the world did this whatever know my name, and also what have got this to do with my life!?" I racked my hands through my hair in frustration. I finally realized that now was the time to lean onto someone else and not keep all these to myself anymore. I can't deal with all these jumpscares for another entire month. It's so frustrating and bone-chilling.

I scrolled through the names listed in the contacts on my phone and felt a sting of guiltiness when my eyes landed on Julius'.

There's no doubt that she'd hate me now...

I inhaled and exhaled deeply to calm the train of chaos in my mind but suddenly began to feel some kind of weird sparks within me. Instinctively, I flinched and held my abdomen from the sudden spasm. It wasn't something normal or something that happened everyday.

"What. The. Heck!" I tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear and gaped at the different colour of the pupil in my eyes.

Normally, my eyes were blue, but now they were nothing but turquoise. Although, the left eye had a dull purple color but the right eye held a bright green colour, or what seems like turquoise. The blue radiance of my pupils seems like they were losing its hold.

I rubbed my eyes hoping that it'd leave but it didn't at all. I did this gesture thrice but it only made it worse and intense, I tried to scream but nothing came out of my mouth. Not even a sound.

"Will you stop fighting already?"

I turned at wherever seems like the direction of the disembodied voice was coming from and was more than horrified to see a pair of green eyes staring back at me.

I somehow felt my voice come back and when it did, I immediately let out a wheezy exasperated breath and asked the only question that was on my mind, though it seemed ridiculous. "D-did...did you...did you just talk?!"

The room was filled with silence when I asked that question.

Complete silence.

"I know I'm not crazy. Of course you aren't, right Isabelle? Of course not!" I repeated to myself in a shaky voice.

The cat just tilted its head at me and stretched out its paws in a tired manner. I could feel my face going pale and my cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

Of course I'm the crazy one.

I bet I look more stupid now...

I stomped my feet at how fucked up my life was and stole the last glance at the fur ball before putting the box back into its hinges. Ever since this cat showed up and stayed by my side, my hallucinations only grew worse.

Just a coincidence...?

Maybe.

I walked to the stretching cat and laid besides it with an annoyed groan. "Can it get anymore worse now?"

Minuet didn't meow or hiss like before, instead, it raised a paw in the air at me, making some kind of shape that I couldn't comprehend.

"Okay, take a deep, deep breath...stop overthinking everything." I said in my thoughts, exhaling and inhaling huskily to take in all these mess calmly. "I mean, it's just a cat...a non-talking normal weird bombay cat that is...no big deal there."

I almost shrieked when something came hovering towards my direction. I held my chest with some kind of relief and raised an eyebrow at the rumpled paper that laid at my feet.

Oh?

A note?

"Do you believe Magic Exists?" -Note

Just when I thought that the train of coincidences and drama were over, I turned to my side, only to discover that the cat wasn't here anymore.

"Where did it freaking go now?" I frowned and tried looking around, but there was not even a sign that the cat was here at all.

I focused back on the bold green letters, the same that matched the new colour in my right eye.

Could someone be playing tricks on me...?

The real question here also is that-

-did I believe in magic...?

"Pfft...of course someone's been watching too much movies in Crunchyroll and Netflix." I scoffed and tossed the note into the trash quite pissed off at the time I had wasted all along.

"One of things I'm certain that doesn't exist is magic like...what the hell? It's just as ridiculous as believing in the existence of werewolves, vampires, nymphs, witches and whatever non-human. Like who exactly believes those nonsense?!" I held onto a pillow as a tool of defense and turned around, carefully searching around for any hidden cameras or persons. "I knew I shouldn't have watched too much movies...whoever that's stalking me, you better come out right now cause this ain't funny at all! I've had enough of this madness and you should as well!"

Hey, don't blame me. That was the closest object nearby, so I had to grab onto it. I'm sure you'd do the same, if you were stuck in the same situation too.

I walked slowly back to the wall with the pillow still in my hands just in case the creep was lying around. You may never know.

I won't let all these tricks get into my head, even if I've got nobody to believe me.

"It's happening again...nnngh..." I let out a small whine as I held my head in pain from the jumbled thoughts that were forcing it's way into my head. The murmuring disembodied voices gradually increased to that of an earsplitting high-pitched bloodcurdling holler. "Not again...n-not those voices again... please... please leave me alone!"

"Magic is real!"

"Don't fight it's existence."

"Stop being so self focused!"

"Isabelle, get up."

"Come to me."

"I'm right here!"

Before I knew it, everything around and within me went completely blank and dark.