The song played again.
Not like a thought.
Not like memory.
Like something gently knocking at the edge of my mind, waiting for me to notice it.
---
Hop, hop, little bunny…
---
I froze.
My chest tightened instantly.
That voice—
It sounded like her.
Not perfectly.
Not exactly.
But close enough that my brain didn't argue anymore.
It just… listened.
---
Where do your footsteps lead?
---
I should've been scared.
I was scared.
I knew I was scared.
But—
My body didn't react the way it was supposed to.
It felt…
soft.
Like being wrapped in something warm I didn't deserve anymore.
---
I swallowed.
"No…"
I whispered it automatically.
Not to stop it.
Just to confirm I was still here.
Still me.
---
Why won't you slow your pace?
---
My hands loosened slightly.
I didn't realize I was holding my breath until it came back out.
Slow.
Unsteady.
---
I looked down.
Ink was still there.
Still staining my fingers.
Still real.
But the voice didn't sound like it belonged to that world.
It sounded like it belonged somewhere before all of this.
Somewhere I wasn't running yet.
---
Mud upon your snowy feet.
---
A strange feeling hit me.
Not relief.
Not safety.
Something worse.
Recognition.
Like the rhyme wasn't describing a stranger.
Like it was describing me.
Like it had always been describing me.
---
Every trail you leave behind
Makes your flight complete.
---
My throat tightened.
Flight.
That word shouldn't feel familiar.
But it did.
It felt like—
me.
Running.
Again.
And again.
And again.
---
A small laugh slipped out.
I didn't mean it to.
It came out weak.
Broken.
Almost… comforted.
"…I'm still running," I muttered.
Why did that feel like an answer?
---
Hop, hop, little bunny…
---
I should've hated it.
I should've wanted it gone.
But instead…
I felt calmer.
Not safe.
Never safe.
Just…
less alone.
Like something had finally noticed I was still here.
Still moving.
Still trying.
---
Will you make it through?
---
My fingers twitched.
That question lingered longer than the others.
Not because it scared me.
Because I didn't know the answer anymore.
And for some reason…
not knowing felt familiar.
---
The forest keeps its secrets well…
We hope it keeps you, too.
---
I went still.
That line—
That part—
It didn't feel like warning anymore.
It felt like…
promise.
Like something was saying:
I see you running.
I will keep watching.
---
My lips parted slightly.
I didn't think.
I just whispered—
"…Don't stop."
---
Silence.
Then—
the rhyme continued.
But only inside me.
Like it had stopped being spoken…
and started being remembered.
---
And that was when I understood something I didn't want to understand.
---
It wasn't chasing me.
It was keeping pace with me.
---
That thought should've scared me more.
It didn't.
It settled.
Like something had finally stopped pretending.
Like the world had stopped lying about what it was doing.
---
One step.
Two.
Three.
---
My breath hitched.
Not because I saw him move.
Because I felt him move.
Each step echoed through the supermarket like it had weight beyond sound.
Like the floor remembered him more than it remembered me.
---
Hop, hop, little bunny…
---
I didn't mean to respond.
But my mouth moved slightly anyway.
"…I'm still here."
Barely a whisper.
Not for him.
Not for me.
Just to make sure I still could.
---
Lucan kept walking.
Slow.
Unchanged.
Like nothing inside me mattered enough to interrupt him.
That should've made me panic.
Instead—
the rhyme softened.
Like it approved.
---
Why won't you slow your pace?
---
My shoulders dropped without permission.
Just slightly.
Like something in me was tired of resisting.
I hated that feeling more than fear.
Because fear meant I was still fighting.
This felt like…
listening.
---
Mud upon your snowy feet.
---
I looked down again.
Ink clung to my hands.
Still there.
Still wrong.
Still—
mine.
My stomach twisted.
But the rhyme didn't reject it.
It didn't correct me.
It just continued.
Like it already knew.
---
Lucan stopped.
Close now.
Too close.
I could see him clearly through the aisle gaps.
Gray eyes.
Flat.
Unmoving.
Watching me like I was something that had already decided its own ending.
---
Every trail you leave behind
Makes your flight complete.
---
My chest tightened again.
But not like before.
Not sharp.
Not violent.
Something slower.
Something settling.
Like a weight that had always been there finally admitting it wouldn't leave.
---
Hop, hop, little bunny…
---
I shouldn't have thought it.
But I did.
If I stop moving…
The thought paused.
Like it was afraid of itself.
Then continued anyway.
…I disappear.
---
Will you make it through?
---
I didn't answer.
Not out loud.
Not even inside.
I just stood there.
Listening.
Waiting.
For something I didn't understand anymore.
---
Lucan took another step.
Then another.
The ink under his boots didn't splash like before.
It just… spread slightly.
Like it recognized him.
Like it was making room.
---
The forest keeps its secrets well…
We hope it keeps you, too.
---
That line lingered longer than the others.
Not as sound.
As meaning.
Something quiet.
Something patient.
Something that didn't need me to agree to stay.
Because it already assumed I would.
---
My fingers twitched.
I didn't try to stop it this time.
"…Don't stop," I whispered again.
Not to the voice.
Not to Lucan.
To the movement.
To the running.
To whatever part of me still knew how to survive.
---
Lucan finally reached the end of the aisle.
He stopped.
Just long enough for the air between us to tighten.
Then—
he spoke.
Quiet.
Flat.
"…Listen carefully."
---
My body went still instantly.
Not because I wanted to.
Because it already knew what his voice meant.
Danger that didn't need to raise itself.
---
His gaze stayed on me.
Not on the rhyme.
Not on the supermarket.
Just me.
Like I was the only thing in the world that could still move wrong.
---
"If something happens to you"
---
The silence stretched.
Heavy.
Complete.
Like even the rhyme held its breath.
---
"…run."