Alejandro Vargas. • 👻 •

Silence. Deafening silence. The apartment was dark, except for the light in the bathroom. Confinement, trembling, goosebumps. His hair seemed to stand on end, his pupils dilated. The only sound was his breathing. His body refused to obey, his legs seemed rooted to the spot and unmoving, only his body swayed and trembled. His breath caught in his throat, just like before. He tried to inhale, but his chest was squeezed like a steel hoop. His heart pounded loudly in his ears, hammering against his ribs harder, as if it would soon burst. Time seemed frozen in place, the hours didn't pass, the seconds dragged on and seemed like an eternity. Was there a ghost standing in the bathroom light, or just a hallucination? The hallucination had been haunting him for a long time, right from the moment he started using in secret. Her eyes were condemning, her pupils constricted. She stood motionless, only moving when he blinked. Silently. Ale already knew what would happen when she approached. He couldn't move, afraid she would overtake him and carry him away. This hallucination was condemnation. She looked at him with lifeless eyes, empty, dark, without even a glimmer. Her mouth was always closed, and she said nothing, just stared. Her gaze was like a hot knife through butter. Alejandro simply stared, stared, and blinked, watching her approach, getting closer and closer. He could never see her clearly, only from a few meters away, but he saw her every week, about two hours before she was a meter away, she would evaporate, and he would tremble, he would become hysterical, and all he could do was sob and pray for the pain to end. It won't end until he stops using what he started.