The voice
In this world, when you turn eighteen, something changes.
You begin to hear a voice that isn't yours.
It belongs to your soulmate.
No matter how far away they are, their thoughts reach you. Not every thought—only the ones filled with strong emotions: fear, love, anger, longing, or desperation. Everyday thoughts stay silent.
Some people fall in love with a voice before they ever meet.
Some become best friends across oceans.
Some spend their whole lives searching for the person they've been hearing since they were eighteen.
It's supposed to be one of the most beautiful moments in life.
It had been months since I turned eighteen… and there was still only silence.
I watched my friends laugh at jokes no one else could hear. I watched couples finish each other's thoughts without speaking a word. And every time someone asked about mine, I just smiled... even though there was nothing to say.
I kept telling myself my turn would come.
Maybe I was just late.
Until today.
⸻
I was walking through campus with my friend when she looked at me with concern.
"Hey... you still haven't heard anything from yours, right? It's been months since you turned eighteen. Are you okay?"
I gave her a small smile.
"Maybe mine is dead. Or just not interested."
She rolled her eyes.
"Don't say that."
Then she laughed softly, waved goodbye, and hurried off to class.
I watched her disappear into the crowd before looking down at my phone.
I thought it would be just another ordinary day.
Then I heard it.
A calm, low voice inside my head.
Not around me.
Inside.
"Target identified."
I froze.
The voice continued, steady and cold.
"Female. Eighteen years old. Black hair. Red hoodie."
My stomach dropped.
Slowly...
I looked down at myself.
I was wearing a red hoodie.
"Should be an easy kill."
I couldn't move.
Students walked past me, laughing, talking, living their lives as if nothing had happened.
Meanwhile...
My entire world had just stopped.
Who was this?
Why could I hear him now?
And why...
...was my soulmate planning to kill me?
