Episode 1

Desire.

I quickened my pace, never glancing back. The gate to my home was now in sight, a mere two hundred meters away. If the motorcycle taxi I had been on hadn't gotten a flat tire, I wouldn't be walking home.

But that wasn't the real issue; at this moment, I wasn't walking alone. Someone was trailing behind me, their footsteps quiet, even more so than mine. I couldn't stop whispering prayers according to my faith. A chill ran down my spine, pores seeming to widen in the night air, intensifying the cold.

This felt wrong, a weight building in the nape of my neck, cold sweat soaking my skin. I decided to run. Why run? Because the figure following me was not human. A human would have greeted me by now or walked by my side. I was about to break into a sprint when...

Ssssh.

"Hahh." I froze in place as the figure passed me, a tangible brush against my hand. I crouched down, covering my face while panting. I couldn't bear to open my eyes, let alone look ahead.

"Go away! This is no place for you, please don't bother me."

Silence fell for a moment, leading me to believe the creature had left. I lifted my face and slowly opened my eyes. It felt as if my eyes would burst from their sockets as I saw a pair of floating feet right before my face.

My tongue was frozen, unable to speak. The pale white feet, with their visible greenish veins, urged me to look higher. Madness. This was sheer madness. A woman, a ghostly woman in a knee-length white dress, tattered with age.

She was floating; I kept looking up and... her hair was long, and then her face....

"Aaaaaa." I fell back, seated.

Crack. Ssssshhhhh.

"Miss Yura!"

I turned around; finally, I heard a human voice.

"Mr. Adi, please help," I reached out with my left hand, my body stiff and heavy, unaware that I was now at my house's gate.

Mr. Adi, the security guard, helped me stand. The creature had disappeared, and I was assisted by Ela, the housekeeper.

"Didn't you bring your car, Miss Yura?"

"No, Ela, I didn't want to deal with the traffic."

That wasn't the real reason I didn't want to drive; last time, there was a figure in the back seat. I had since decided to use public transportation if I needed to come home late.

After I came out of the bathroom, Ela brought me a warm cup of sweet tea, placing it on the nightstand. "Thank you, Ela."

"You're welcome, Miss. Do you want me to bring your dinner as well?"

"No need, Ela, I've already eaten. I think I'm just going to go to bed."

I took out my phone from the backpack and plugged it in to charge. Sipping the sweet tea Ela had brought, my body felt utterly drained from the earlier encounter. Just being followed and seeing that being had this effect on me; direct interaction would be far worse.

The ability to see other creatures was not innate to me, rather I've experienced it only recently, specifically after I fell ill.

Back then, I had a high fever and dreamt of meeting an old man who touched my head, saying, "You cannot refuse this, I hope you can accept it."

Upon waking from the dream, I found myself in a hospital room.

"Yura, darling. You're awake," my mother's voice was soft.

"Mother...." my voice was weak.

I heard my father calling for the doctor and nurses. Soon after, two nurses came in to check my vitals.

"Her temperature is normal now, vital signs are good; let's wait for the doctor's visit." My gaze wasn't on the nurse examining me, but on another nurse named Marni. She did nothing but stand there, looking at me. She was so pale; I thought she was sick like me.

"Yura, how are you feeling?" my father asked once the nurses had left the room.

"I'm just sore all over," I replied.

"That's expected, you've been lying down for days, even three days unconscious. You had a high fever and were delirious," my mother explained.

The doctor said my condition was stabilizing but that they were still observing me for the high fever. Seeing my improving condition, my father left the hospital to tend to his business, leaving my mother to look after me.

The nurse who had checked on me earlier returned alone with the medication I had to take with food.

"Nurse," I called as she was about to leave.

She turned, "Yes? Do you need something?"

"Where's nurse Marni?" I asked.

"Nurse Marni?"

"Yes, the one who came in with you earlier seemed unwell."

The nurse seemed confused, scratching her head.

"I am solely responsible for this room, so there's no other nurse assisting me unless during a doctor's visit. Are you referring to the previous shift nurse, or...?"

"Nurse Marni," I clarified.

Hearing the name, the nurse's face turned ashen; she even dropped the stainless steel container with the medication she had brought.

"Excuse me, I must go." I watched the nurse rush out of the room.

My mother, emerging from the bathroom, looked my way. "What's wrong with her?"

"I only asked about nurse Marni, but she looked frightened."

"Nurse Marni?"

"Yes. Her colleague. She came in with her earlier, and now she's gone. So, I asked."

My mom seemed puzzled by what I said, then sat in the chair next to my bed.

"Are you still dizzy or feverish?" she asked, placing the back of her hand on my forehead. I just shook my head.

"The nurse has been attending to you alone all this time, with no one else," she explained. Of course, I didn't believe it; I clearly saw her, and nurse Marni looked right at me.

I chose to ignore this and closed my eyes, as my mother said I had been unconscious for nearly three days, yet I felt so tired and heavy.

"Yura."

It must be a dream.

"Yura, darling, wake up." My mother's voice was soothing. "Yura, dear. It's time for you to eat and take your medicine."

I opened my eyes, feeling more refreshed than before. My mother adjusted the bed so I could sit comfortably, offered me water, fed me, and made sure I took my medication.

"Mom, where's my phone?"

She opened the bedside drawer, took my phone out of her bag, and handed it to me. There were many unread messages and missed calls.

"Good evening."

I looked over.

"Good evening, nurse," my mother replied.

"Hello, Yura. I'm Rena, the head nurse here. How are you feeling now?" the nurse, who appeared to be around my mother's age, asked while checking my IV.

"Okay," I responded softly. She wasn't alone; she was accompanied by the previously frightened nurse.

"Hm, I heard you were asking about nurse Marni earlier?"

I nodded.

"Do you know nurse Marni?"

"No, I asked because she came in with her." I gestured to the nurse who had been standing there with a frightened look.

"Hm, there's no nurse in this ward named Marni. There was once, but she passed away."

I swallowed hard upon hearing that. I clearly saw a nurse named Marni. I glanced subtly towards the door, and there she stood. Nurse Marni was looking right at me, but the shock was she was floating; her feet weren't touching the floor. That meant she was not human.

"Aaaaaaa," I screamed.

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