→ Kibla(Bolruok)

The scent of industrial bleach clings to your skin, a permanent shroud no amount of scrubbing can remove. You sit on the edge of a narrow cot, its springs groaning beneath your weight. Beyond the barred window of the Eldoret clinic, the Rift Valley sky bruises into deep purple.

Dr. Tunya stands by the door, his clipboard held like a shield. He smells of peppermint and old paper.

"The lithium is stabilizing your mood, Fred. Do you feel the fog lifting?"

"The fog is the only thing keeping the noise out."

Tunya jots something down. The scratch of his pen sounds like bone dragged across concrete.

"Noise? We've discussed this. The voices are auditory hallucinations—a symptom of the manic phase. They aren't real."

"Is that why they know the names of the people buried beneath the clinic's foundation?"

The doctor hesitates. Fine creases gather around his narrowed eyes.

"Your obsession with this town's 'mysteries' is a manifestation of your illness. You came here for a degree, not a ghost story."

"I came here for a future."

"Instead, you found a diagnosis."

"Is that what we're calling it?"

Tunya steps closer. The fluorescent light flickers overhead, throwing jagged shadows across his face.

"You're a long way from Kojwach, boy. The air in Eldoret is heavier. It plays tricks on the mind."

"The air doesn't whisper in my mother's voice, Doctor."

"Your mother is in Kojwach. She's safe."

"Then who's standing behind you?"

Tunya goes still.

He doesn't turn.

He can't.

Behind him, a silhouette of oily smoke rises from the floor. Fingers like charred twigs reach for his collar. It has no face—only a void that swallows the room's light.

"Stop this," Tunya whispers, his voice suddenly thin. "This is a regression."

A slow smile spreads across your face.

"It's not a regression."

"It's a homecoming."

The entity leans close. Its breath carries the smell of wet earth and ancient rot. Tunya shudders, a violent tremor rattling the clipboard in his hands.

"Do you feel it now?" you ask. "The weight of the valley?"

Tunya spins around.

Nothing.

The space behind him is empty.

The entity has already slipped into your shadow, dissolving into the darkness pooled at your feet.

The doctor exhales, the tension draining from him in one exhausted breath. He checks a final box on the form.

"Still delusional. Increase the dosage."

He leaves, the heavy steel door clicking shut with a finality that settles in your chest.

You look down.

Your shadow doesn't obey the light.

It raises one long, charred finger.

And waves.