Chapter 5
587words
According to her map and Atami's instructions, this was the final landmark—cross this river, then another half day's walk would bring her to the rendezvous point.
But the river didn't look safe.
Some areas of ice appeared thinner, and she could even see dark flowing water beneath. She needed to carefully choose where to cross.
Anna walked along the riverbank, searching for the safest crossing point. That's when she saw something on the opposite shore—a small wooden cabin with smoke rising from the chimney and warm light shining through the windows.
It must be an illusion, surely. But this illusion seemed so real, so tempting. A warm shelter, without having to spend another night in the bitter cold.
Anna closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and sniffed the leather pouch again. When she opened her eyes, the wooden cabin was still there, wisps of smoke curling from its chimney.
Could this be real? Perhaps a ranger's station? Or another hiker's camp?
She stood hesitantly at the riverbank. Reason told her this was likely another temptation from Novak, but her fatigue and cold felt so real, and the urge for warm shelter was overwhelming.
Suddenly, the wooden door across the river opened. A figure emerged and waved to her. The distance was too great to make out their face, but the gesture was welcoming.
Anna felt an almost irresistible pull. She stepped forward onto the ice. It seemed solid enough.
Another step. The figure across the river continued waving.
At the third step, the ice beneath Anna's feet made an ominous cracking sound. She stopped abruptly, realizing she was being lured into danger.
She desperately sniffed the leather pouch, and the pungent odor cleared her mind for a moment. The wooden cabin and the figure on the opposite shore blurred, like a mirage in heat waves.
But the sound of cracking ice was real. She looked down and saw spider web-like cracks forming under her feet.
Anna retreated backward slowly and extremely carefully, each step as light as a feather. By the time she made it back to shore, she was drenched in cold sweat.
The wooden cabin and the figure on the opposite shore had disappeared, as if they had never existed. Only the empty riverbank and howling wind remained.
"Enough," Anna said through gritted teeth. These hallucinations—whatever they were—were becoming dangerous. She had to leave this area as soon as possible.
Unable to find a safe crossing point, Anna decided to walk along the riverbank, hoping to find an area completely frozen over.
As night fell, she had to make camp again, this time under a massive spruce tree, its branches providing some shelter.
That night was the worst.
The voices became more persistent, more personalized.
She heard her late grandfather's voice, calling her to come eat his famous kimchi pancakes; her best friend's voice, laughing about a surprise party waiting for her; even her own voice, telling herself this was all foolish paranoia, that the cabin across the river was real, safe and warm.
Each time, Anna kept herself lucid by smelling her pouch and repeatedly reciting her name, origin, and purpose: "I am Anna Kim, from Seoul, I am on my way to the pickup point, a plane will come for me tomorrow..."
In the early hours of morning, the voices suddenly stopped.
This silence was almost more unsettling than the previous disturbance.
Anna lay in her sleeping bag, waiting vigilantly.
Then, it came.
