She opens her eyes to a dark, melancholic sky. The place itself is familiar -- she knows she has walked these streets countless times -- but her mind and heart scream an ungodly warning. Her head buzzes and that urges her to move forward. She is starting to hear murmurs from all directions.

The world starts to spin slowly and she urges herself to walk faster. However, she cannot. Her legs are two saplings establishing roots on the ground. It is a struggle to move around despite her instincts urging her to run.

Winter...

She hears her name like an echo. She tries to move towards the source of the sound.

Winter...

She looks around. The sky is starting to be reminiscent of Junji Ito’s seminal work. She remembers herself sighing and continuing to move. In a blink of an eye, she is transported in the middle of the road where trees hover above her, judging her every move, warning her of the impending danger. Nothing makes sense but she is not confused.

Winter...

There it goes again. The fear growing in her chest is starting to smother her. She stops walking and looks around to confront whoever is calling her. The leaves start rustling but there is no wind. Everything is getting darker. She experiences another buzz in her head and it is stronger this time.

The buzz turns into a rhythmic hum. The hum becomes louder as the rustling of leaves becomes more apparent. As the hum becomes clearer, she turns in the direction of the source of the sound.

She sees a horrible event unfolding right beyond her very eyes. The shadows provided by the trees moved as if given a life of their own.

Winter...

The voice appears again but, she realizes, that it does not come from the shadow. The shadow continues to move until two yellow orbs appeared in the middle. The hum is now coupled with vibration. The girl thinks of bass and harmony. Slowly, the shadow moved yet again, stretching to give way for arms and legs. She cannot begin to comprehend the shape and identity of the entity that emerges from the shadow but every alarm in her body is going off, urging her to run away.

Winter...

Winter...

Winter...

Her name is now everywhere. The entity is making a move towards her. She begins to feel faint. Winter... Winter... She hears her name clearly. She feels a tug on her arm, pulling her to face the opposite direction.

A woman. Young, beautiful. Her eyes pleading, her grasp on the arm, tight. ‘Winter,” she calls. “Please help me.” A hum has turned to growl and as the woman who held her arm continues to plead, she can feel the entity moving closer -- at a fast pace.

She looks back and sees a gargantuan creature of no apparent shape with two yellow orbs for eyes. She cannot understand the language it spoke, but the message was clear: “the end of the line”.

 The creature of no definite shape raised what she thought was its arms in a stance that makes it look like it is preparing to strike. The grip of the woman loosened and she immediately tries to back away. A strong gust of wind made her close her eyes.

It took her a fraction of a second to come back to her senses but she notices that everything is no longer the same. It feels calm. She opens her eyes to find not the desolate woman but a different one. One with the most beautiful, sharp eyes she has ever seen. Her attention turned to the mole on her lower lip and the scent she emits.

She suddenly feels a light tug on her hand. She notices that she is holding the beautiful woman’s hand, fingers delicately intertwined. She looks up to see the woman staring intensely at her, with turning slowly for a small smile as their eyes meet.

“It’s me,” The woman says. And everything turns white.