confusion

Pride woke to the sound of someone knocking at her apartment door. Her hands were trembling, her white tank top was stained with blood, and she had no memory of how she got home. The clock read 3:17 a.m. “Pride, open the door,” a woman whispered from the hallway. “I know what you did.” She stepped backward and felt something beneath her foot—a broken phone. Its screen suddenly lit up with a video recorded only an hour earlier. In the video, Pride stood in a dark room beside a motionless body. She stared directly into the camera and said, “If you’re watching this, don’t trust your memories.” The knocking stopped. Then a voice spoke from behind her. --- PRIDE POV SCENE 1 — PRIDE'S APARTMENT, 6:00 P.M. “AAAAAAAAAH!” I jolted awake, my heart pounding violently against my chest. My breathing was fast and uneven, and cold sweat covered my skin. God… these dreams again. It was just a dream, right? “Argh… my head.” I reached for my phone and checked the time. 6:00 p.m. I should get ready for work. Still feeling dizzy, I dragged myself out of bed and went into the bathroom. I grabbed my toothbrush, but when I looked into the mirror, I froze. There was a dark red stain on the collar of my tank top. Is that… blood? I quickly touched my neck, searching for a wound, but there was nothing. No cut. No pain. Not even a scratch. Then I noticed something written across the foggy mirror: YOU WERE NOT DREAMING. My toothbrush slipped from my hand. Behind me, the bathroom door slowly creaked shut. “who’s there?” I slowly turned toward the door as it creaked open, only to find my cat walking into the bathroom. “Meeko!” I hissed at him, rolling my eyes before continuing to brush my teeth. After doing my makeup, I put on my usual accessories and made sure my keys were inside my mini belt bag. For work, I wore a black long-sleeved polo, black joggers, and boots with five-inch heels. Unfortunately, I’m only five feet tall, so I might as well do something about it. As I was about to leave, Meeko began growling at me. “What’s wrong with you?” His frightened eyes were fixed on my belt bag. Curious, I opened it. My keys were inside, along with my lipstick and wallet—but there was also something I didn’t recognize. A silver necklace covered in dried blood. I carefully picked it up. The moment I touched it, a sharp image flashed through my mind. A woman was lying on the floor. My hands were around her throat. And she was wearing this necklace. I dropped it immediately. “No… It was only a dream.” --- SCENE 2 — LATER THAT NIGHT By 9:00 p.m., I was sitting at my desk inside the call center, staring at the endless queue of customers waiting on my screen. The office was freezing, as usual. The bright fluorescent lights made it impossible to tell that it was already dark outside. Around me, agents spoke in cheerful voices while keyboards clicked nonstop. “Thank you for calling customer support. My name is Pride. How may I assist you tonight?” No one answered. “Hello? Are you still there?” For a few seconds, I heard only static. Then a woman began breathing heavily on the other end. “Pride…” she whispered. I sat up straight. “I’m sorry, ma’am. Have we spoken before?” “You don’t remember me?” My fingers froze above the keyboard. Something about her voice made my head ache. “May I have your name, please?” The woman laughed softly. “You already know my name. You were the last person to see me alive.” The call suddenly ended. I stared at the customer information on my screen. There was no name, phone number, or account history—only an address. It was my address. Then a new message appeared on my monitor: CHECK YOUR BELT BAG. My hand slowly moved toward my waist. The bloodstained necklace was inside again. fuck.. I slammed the belt bag shut and looked around the office. Everyone was busy taking calls. No one seemed to notice me—or the necklace that had somehow returned. “Pride?” I flinched. My supervisor, Anna, was standing beside my desk. “Are you okay? You look pale.” “Yeah. I’m fine,” I lied. “Just a difficult customer.” Anna glanced at my screen, and her expression changed. “What customer?” I looked back at the monitor. The call history was empty. The address had disappeared, along with the message. “I—I just received a call.” “That’s impossible,” she said. “Your system has been offline for the past ten minutes.” A sharp pain pierced my head. Suddenly, I saw another flash. Anna was crying inside a dark room. The silver necklace was around her neck. I stood in front of her, holding something behind my back. When the vision ended, Anna was touching my shoulder. “Pride?” I stared at her bare neck. “Where’s your necklace?” Her face went pale. “How do you know about that?” Before I could answer, every computer in the office went black. The calls stopped, and the entire floor fell silent. Then my monitor flickered back on. Security footage appeared on the screen. It showed Anna entering the office the previous night. A few seconds later, I followed her. The timestamp read 3:17 a.m. Anna slowly stepped away from me. “You said you weren’t here last night.” I couldn’t answer. On the screen, the other version of me suddenly stopped walking and turned toward the security camera. She smiled. Then she raised one blood-covered finger to her lips. Shhh. --- END OF EPISODE 1