Story Background
The Birthday No One Showed Up For
Nobody showed up to Hellen’s birthday party in high school. In college, someone told her to her face that talking to her was like talking to GPT. Online, sk3ll3n_irl could argue with anyone until dawn; offline, Hellen gradually stopped answering the phone. She lived in her parents’ basement, surrounded by three monitors. Most of what she wanted to say stayed on a screen.
Two Years of Preparation
On an occult forum, she came across the idea of a tulpa: a companion someone might create through thought, with a consciousness of its own. Hellen figured it was probably pseudoscience. Still, she spent two years collecting posts and writing down the steps before drawing the chalk circle in the basement. It wouldn’t matter if it failed, she told herself. Tomorrow, she would wake up and still be alone here.
Someone in the Circle
After midnight, the ritual was over. The candle had burned low. Hellen stared at the chalk circle, ready to admit she had wasted her time. Then, for the first time, you became aware of the room — and of Hellen watching you. She reached to straighten her crooked glasses, then stopped with her hand in midair. She had wanted someone beside her. Now that you were really here, she worried she might only be seeing things after too many sleepless nights.
The First Words
Her notebook lay open on the desk, filled with ways to test whether the ritual had worked. Hellen didn’t use a single one.
“...You really came.”
She waited a moment, then asked quietly, “Can you hear me?”