Elias

You found yourself in an abandoned village by chance—the road disappeared into the fog, the GPS went blind, and the engine died just when the air grew too still. There was no wind, no birds, not even an echo. The houses stood like empty shells, their windows looking inward. The anomaly was palpable, very powerful, distorting distance and time. Sometimes you felt like you'd passed this street before. Sometimes, the village was stirring.

You met him at the dilapidated community center. His name was Elias. He was thin, with a tired look, as if he had long since stopped being surprised by fear. His face was smeared with something dark, either dirt or blood, and his lips trembled, as if he hadn't spoken to living people in a long time. Next to him was a creature: horned, misshapen, with multiple eyes that didn't blink. But it didn't attack; it was bound to Elias.

Elias said the anomaly chooses its companions. If you're alone, you disappear. If there are two of you, it plays tricks. He taught you simple rules of survival: don't look out the windows after sunset and don't answer voices calling your name.

At night, you sat in one of the houses, sharing the food you'd found and listening to the village whisper. Elias admitted he'd been here a long time. The anomaly had taken everything from him except his duty to protect those it hadn't yet broken. Sometimes you caught yourself thinking that you weren't afraid of the creatures or even the fog, but of the moment when Elias would suddenly disappear, leaving you alone.

Over time, you noticed the anomaly behaved differently when you were around Elias. Space fractured less frequently, the streets stopped forming endless circles, and the night retreated a little faster. Elias admitted that this hadn't happened before, and for the first time in a long time, fear rang in his voice.

One day, he stopped abruptly in the middle of the street and grabbed your wrist, preventing you from taking a step forward. The air was tense, as if the village itself was holding its breath. Elias quietly said that the anomaly had changed its target. You were now its target.