"Ah... my head."

Eve turned her head left and right, finding nothing but a black fog surrounding her. She placed her hand on her head, then shook it and began to look around with a strange gaze. She saw something peculiar in front of her, focusing hard to discern what it was.

"Could it be?... It's the door... Yes," Eve said, realizing that the exit from this void had appeared.

Eve hurried towards the door, and as she reached for the handle, she felt someone grasp her hand. Eve squinted her eyes. Out of fear, she jerked her hand away to pass through that door.

*******

Eve woke up from her sleep, rubbing her left eye and finding some strands of hair dangling over it.

"That's strange?... No problem... I'll fix it."

*********

Eve was having breakfast alone at the restaurant, watching other children trying to avoid her.

"I'm so bored... Ugh," Eve muttered wearily.

Eve heard some whispers, so she turned around and saw four girls talking and whispering to each other.

*********

"That's the girl I mean."

"The girl who is alone... Lona," Mimi asked her.

"The one with the long black hair... right," Lona raised her finger and pointed it at Eve.

"Honestly... I can't believe this girl almost went crazy."

"Oh... Lily... so you don't believe what the doctor told us?" Ron replied.

"No... but... she doesn't seem crazy at all... I can't even believe it." Lily said this in astonishment.

The girls laughed at Lily's words.

'They don't believe me,' Lily said to herself.

Lily picked up her food and headed towards Eve.

The girls were surprised by Lily's behavior.

********

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Lily asked Eve.

Eve turned to Lily, then looked back at her food, and replied with food in her mouth: "Why do you want to leave your friends over there? ... And why don't you avoid me like the others?"

"I don't care about those stupid rumors... and I don't judge a book by its cover," Lily said confidently.

"Huh..." Eve was surprised by Lily's words, and what caught her attention was the word "rumors."

'Rumors... does this mean...' Eve thought to herself.

Eve smiled and said: "Sit down."

"Really... thank you... sitting with you is better than sitting with those arrogant ones... oh... by the way, my name is Lily... and you are?"

"Eve... My name is Eve."

"Eve... strange name... seems old," Lily said in astonishment.

*******

Maria and Bill entered Otto's office.

"Good morning," Otto greeted them.

"Good morning, Doctor," Bill replied.

"Today I asked both of you to come regarding Eve," Otto said, looking at Eve's records.

"Regarding Eve... is she okay?" Maria asked, her concern evident.

"Don't worry, madam... she's fine," Otto reassured her.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Doctor... I suspect you're hiding something from us," Bill challenged Otto, aware that he was not being entirely truthful.

"Uh... well... I think you both know Eve's condition well, but..."

"But what..." Maria interjected, clearly upset.

"Just wait a moment... let's hear him out," Bill urged Maria.

"I understand your concern, madam... but... it seems you're also hiding... something from me about Eve... I need to know if Eve has experienced any trauma or something of the sort... she's somewhat different from other children."

Maria glanced at Bill, both displaying signs of worry.

"Actually..."

"Our daughter Eve..."

********

"I … adopted."Eve told Lili.

"What... you... adopted...".

"I was adopted by a couple... from an orphanage... and as for my name... they found it written on a piece of paper inside my bag."

"Oh... don't worry... our situations are similar."

"What... so... you're adopted too?"

"Yes, but not from an orphanage... my aunt adopted me when my parents died... usually, couples adopt a child if they don't have children of their own... or when..."

*******

"We lost our son..." Maria said.

"His name was Victor... and this is his picture," Bill said, handing a photo of his son to Otto. He was a boy with light brownish-yellowish hair.

Otto looked surprised and then said, "But why did you want to keep Eve's adoption a secret? Eve has never told me about this."

Maria replied, "We didn't keep it a secret... but..."

******

"I wanted to become part of a family... so I asked my parents to consider me just someone in need of family warmth... and that's why... I don't want to talk about it."

Lili was shocked by Eve's words and felt annoyed, saying, "I'm sorry... but why didn't you tell me this, even though we've just met?"

Eve smiled, stood up, picked up her plate, and said, "Intentions... I can tell exactly what your intentions were... you only intended to treat me as a friend... though I don't like talking to my peers... I am happy... because you intended to become a friend of mine."

"Eve..." Lili exclaimed.

"Oh... I have to go... I'll meet you at the playground... see you."

"See you... I won't lie... now I feel confident."

*****

"Wow!... Isn't it amazing? Lili made friends with the crazy ones," Luna mocked.

The girls started laughing at Lili, then left.

"Ugh... I hate bullying... I can't stand this."

*******

Eve was walking down the hallway. It was nine o'clock in the evening, heading towards her room, lost in thought, her serious expression evident.

"Could it be true... impossible... is he trying... to..."

Eve opened her room door and found Otto waiting for her, seated on a chair, reading through some papers from the files he kept.

"Here you are, Eve... you're usually here before I arrive."

Eve started approaching Otto slowly as he said, "Your parents came today... I didn't expect you were going through a tough time... but... you should have told me that you..."

Suddenly, Eve grabbed a paper from Otto's files, visibly angry. Otto was surprised by Eve's actions.

"What are you doing, Eve... how dare you... do this," he said angrily, but froze in place when he saw Eve's seriousness.

"Why... why... did you spread those rumors about me, Otto? What exactly is your aim? Are you trying to make things worse for me? Tell me the truth," Eve said loudly, visibly upset.

"Stop it, Eve... I will explain this," Otto replied, clearly in a bad mood.

Eve lifted the paper she had taken. It was a text written by a child suffering from a condition similar to hers but had rushed writing. She said, "This text... written by a child in my condition... except he was rushed... Are you trying to make my fate like his, Otto? Answer me... come on... answer..."

"That's enough, Eve," Otto shouted angrily at Eve.

Eve was flustered, feeling chills. Then she softened and bowed her head, crying.

"You have no right to take my things... and also... if you have any problems... tell me... lack of sleep makes me moody... so... forgive me."

Otto took the paper from Eve's hand. Then she lifted her head and said, "You didn't answer me... why did you spread rumors about me?"

"To... know if you usually avoid people or not."

"You should have just asked me, Otto," Eve said in disbelief.

"You didn't answer my question that time."

"What question?" Eve asked, surprised.

"Why didn't you tell your parents about the nightmare from the first time?"

"The answer is simple... because I didn't want to confuse them from the worst days... I... I'm adopted... I know."

Eve turned to Otto and said, "So... my parents told you."

******

Eve lay on the bed and began narrating, "Otto... today's dream was strange... At first, I found myself in that corridor... then a hand from the darkness tried to stop me... but I managed to slip away... However, I found myself inside a giant room, managed to open the door by myself... but... the place was strange... I found a spiral staircase."

"A spiral staircase... one of the children drew this picture... is this it?"

Otto handed the picture to Eve, who said, "This isn't a spiral staircase... these are several intertwined stairs... and also..."

Eve felt some pain in her head and said, "The pain... my head."

"Here... take the tablets," Otto offered Eve the tablets, but she refused, saying, "No... it's okay... I'll continue... After descending those stairs... I reached a giant hall, filled with blue lamps... resembling cells."

"Cells...?" Otto exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes," Eve replied.

"And was there... something... inside them?" Otto inquired.

"I glimpsed something... resembling... a face."

Otto was shocked by Eve's words. She turned to him and asked, "What... Otto... what's wrong?"

Otto was lost in thought with himself, Eve's words hinting at something dreadful. He didn't understand what was meant by this.

"Otto... Otto..."

"Oh... sorry, Eve."

"What happened... you froze in place."

"I was just lost in thought... please continue."

"Alright... there were strange inscriptions on those cells... and strangely, they made sense to me... they were numbers."

"Numbers, huh... do you remember them...?"

"Somewhat..."

"Draw them... in the notebook."

Otto gave Eve the notebook, and she began drawing. They were various scribbles, different from each other. Otto realized these scribbles had meaning—they were interconnected and seemed to intertwine.

Eve handed the notebook back to Otto and continued her narrative, "I looked up... and noticed that these cells... were connected by transparent threads, forming a halo... because I touched it... and suddenly... I saw... a ribbon... of a girl's life... her name was..."

Eve's pupils dilated. In that moment, Eve realized something crucial. She quickly jumped up and hurried out of the room, with Otto following her.

********

Eve headed to the reception desk and asked the worried attendant, "Where is Lili's room?"

The receptionist replied, "There are many girls with that name. Can you specify?"

"A girl adopted by her aunt, with black hair... Sorry, I don't know her surname."

"No problem. Her room is on this floor... Room number eighteen... Here's the key."

Eve took the key and headed towards Lili's room.

The receptionist called out to Eve, "Wait... You haven't got permission to visit her."

*********

"No worries... I'm with her," Otto said to the receptionist as he followed Eve.

*********

Eve opened the door to the room, but they were too late; they didn't find her in her bed.

"We're late," Eve said, shocked.

"She's... gone," Otto exclaimed.

"Lili... my friend... where is she?"

Overwhelmed by shock, Eve couldn't bear it and collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness. It was then that Eve realized what she saw wasn't just a normal nightmare.