Victoria was just another college student in everyone's eyes. Quiet. Polite. Always sitting in the last row, avoiding attention. No one knew that every smile she forced hid years of unbearable pain.

Her childhood had been filled with fear instead of love.

The people who were supposed to protect her never did.

Victoria became the victim of terrible abuse when she was young. Trembling and desperate, she told her parents everything, hoping they would save her. Instead, they ignored her, blamed her, and chose silence over their daughter.

That silence broke something inside her.

Every night she cried herself to sleep. She stopped looking at herself in the mirror because she felt dirty, guilty, and disgusted with herself—even though none of what happened was her fault. She locked herself in her room, skipped meals, avoided friends, and slowly disappeared from the world.

Her mind could no longer carry the pain alone.

To survive, it began to divide itself.

Without realizing it, Victoria wasn't alone anymore.

Oni was born first—the protector. Cold, fearless, and ruthless. Whenever danger appeared, Oni took control, refusing to let anyone hurt Victoria again.

Then came Jennifer—kind, gentle, and motherly. She comforted Victoria during sleepless nights and reminded her to keep living when everything felt hopeless.

Cherry arrived next. Loud, playful, and reckless, she laughed through pain and acted as if nothing had ever happened, hiding the darkness behind jokes and endless energy.

After Cherry came Catherine—calm, intelligent, and calculating. She remembered details everyone else forgot and handled difficult situations with logic instead of emotion.

Finally, there was Wellcy.

No one knew exactly why Wellcy existed.

She was quiet... almost invisible.

She watched everything from the shadows of Victoria's mind, carrying memories that the others refused to remember. She knew the truth behind every nightmare and every scar.

Together they shared one body, but each carried a different piece of Victoria's shattered soul.

At college, classmates simply thought Victoria had strange mood swings. One day she was cheerful, the next she seemed emotionless, and sometimes she couldn't remember conversations from only hours earlier.

No one realized they weren't talking to the same person.

As buried memories slowly resurfaced, the walls between the personalities began to crack. Secrets long hidden threatened to destroy the fragile balance inside Victoria's mind.

...For the first time, each personality had to decide whether they would keep protecting Victoria by hiding the past... or finally face the truth together...

......................

(Fractured – Chapter 1: The Girl Who Smiled)

The rain poured over the city as students rushed through the gates of St. Eleanor College. Among them walked a girl in an oversized hoodie, headphones covering her ears, and a blank expression on her face.

Her name was Victoria Hart.

To everyone else, she was the quiet girl who never talked unless necessary. She always sat in the last row, ate lunch alone, and disappeared as soon as classes ended.

No one knew she wasn't truly alone.

...----------------...

"Victoria."

The professor called her name.

She slowly stood up.

"Can you solve this equation?"

"...Yes."

She walked to the board, solved it perfectly, and returned to her seat without looking at anyone.

"She's so smart."

"But she's weird."

"I heard she talks to herself."

The whispers followed her every day.

Victoria pretended not to hear them.

She had learned long ago that silence hurt less.

That evening, she reached the tiny apartment she rented.

The moment the door closed, she collapsed onto the floor.

Her hands trembled.

Her breathing became uneven.

Another nightmare.

Another flashback.

A pair of rough hands.

A locked room.

Her own screams echoing in the darkness.

She covered her ears.

"Stop..."

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Please stop..."

Then...

Everything went silent.

Victoria's trembling disappeared.

She slowly stood up.

When she looked into the mirror—

Her eyes no longer looked frightened.

A cold smile appeared.

"Still crying?"

The voice was different.

Lower.

Sharper.

"I hate seeing you like this."

She cracked her neck.

"If anyone touches us again..."

"...I'll kill them."

The reflection smiled wider.

"I'm Oni."

Several minutes later—

Victoria blinked.

She was standing in front of the mirror.

"...Why am I here?"

She couldn't remember anything.

Not again.

Her phone buzzed.

A reminder.

Dinner.

She stared at it.

"I don't deserve food."

She threw the phone onto the bed and curled herself into a corner.

Hours passed.

She didn't eat.

She didn't drink.

She simply stared into the darkness.

Then another voice whispered.

Soft.

Gentle.

"It's okay, sweetheart."

"You've cried enough today."

Victoria slowly looked toward the mirror.

A warm smile greeted her.

"You should eat something."

"You'll get sick."

"I'm Jennifer."

Jennifer wasn't strong like Oni.

She wasn't fearless.

She simply wanted Victoria to live.

Victoria found herself standing in the kitchen without remembering how she got there.

A bowl of instant noodles was already prepared.

She blinked in confusion.

"I..."

"I don't remember making this."

She quietly finished eating.

Meanwhile...

Miles away...

Victoria's parents sat comfortably in their luxurious house.

"Did Victoria call?"

"No."

"Good."

"I don't want unnecessary drama."

Neither of them asked whether she had eaten.

Whether she was safe.

Or whether their daughter was still alive.

To them...

Victoria had always been a burden.

That night...

Victoria finally fell asleep.

Inside her mind...

A long hallway stretched into endless darkness.

Five doors stood side by side.

One slowly opened.

A girl with crimson eyes stepped out.

"Oni."

Another opened.

Jennifer smiled softly.

Then came a girl chewing bubblegum with bright pink hair.

"Cherry!"

She laughed loudly.

"This place is boring."

The fourth door creaked open.

A woman dressed in black adjusted her glasses.

"I'm Catherine."

"Someone is remembering."

Finally...

At the very end of the hallway...

A fifth door remained locked.

A faint whisper escaped from behind it.

"...Not yet..."

The other four froze.

Jennifer lowered her head.

"Oni..."

"She's waking up."

Oni's smile disappeared.

"...Then our nightmare is about to begin."

The lock on the final door cracked.

...----------------...

The next morning, Victoria woke to the soundof her alarm.

7:00 A.M.

She stared at the ceiling.

Another sleepless night.

Dark circles framed her eyes as she forced herself out of bed. She looked in the mirror and barely recognized the girl staring back.

"I look... horrible."

No answer.

For once, the voices were silent.

She sighed in relief.

At college, the campus buzzed with excitement.

"Did you hear? We have a new psychology professor."

"They say he's famous."

"I heard he specializes in trauma."

Victoria lowered her head and walked past them.

Trauma.

She hated that word.

It reminded her of things she wanted to forget.

During class...

Professor Adrian entered with a stack of books.

"I'm not here to judge anyone," he said. "Sometimes the strongest people are those carrying the deepest wounds."

Victoria froze.

A sharp pain shot through her head.

The classroom blurred.

A child's cry echoed in her ears.

"Mom... please help me..."

"Don't lie. Stop making up stories," a cold voice replied.

Victoria grabbed her head.

"No..."

The professor noticed.

"Victoria?"

She suddenly stood.

"I... I need some air."

She rushed out before anyone could stop her.

She locked herself inside an empty restroom.

Her breathing became fast.

Her hands shook.

"I can't..."

The mirror rippled.

A grin appeared.

"Oh, look."

"They're hurting us again."

Oni.

Victoria's expression hardened instantly.

Her tears vanished.

The restroom door opened.

Two girls entered.

"Ew... she's crying."

"She's such a freak."

One of them shoved her shoulder.

"You should just quit college."

Silence.

Then—

Oni smiled.

Slowly.

Dangerously.

She grabbed the girl's wrist.

"So..."

"You enjoy bullying people?"

The girl's face turned pale.

"O-ow! Let go!"

Oni tightened her grip.

"I could break every bone in your hand before anyone gets here."

The girl's knees trembled.

"You'd better pray Victoria never disappears completely."

Before anything worse happened—

A calm voice echoed inside.

"Enough."

Catherine.

Oni clicked her tongue and released the girl.

The two students ran away without looking back.

Victoria blinked.

She was standing alone.

"What..."

"Why are my hands shaking?"

She looked around in confusion.

"I don't remember..."

Her memories stopped the moment she entered the restroom.

Again.

That evening...

Victoria returned home.

She opened an old wooden box hidden beneath her bed.

Inside were dozens of notebooks.

Every page was filled with different handwriting.

Some words were neat.

Some messy.

Some written in red ink.

One page read:

If you're reading this, you switched again.

Another said:

You skipped lunch. Jennifer made you eat yesterday. Please don't starve yourself.

Victoria's hands trembled.

"I didn't write this..."

She turned another page.

Large letters covered the paper.

DON'T TRUST YOUR PARENTS.

Another.

WE PROTECT YOU.

Another.

SHE IS WAKING UP.

Victoria whispered,

"Who... is she?"

The room suddenly turned freezing cold.

A faint laugh echoed inside her mind.

Not Oni.

Not Jennifer.

Not Cherry.

Not Catherine.

Someone else.

Someone whose voice carried unbearable sadness.

"...Do you still remember the basement?"

Victoria's eyes widened.

"What... basement?"

A violent headache struck.

A memory flashed—

A locked wooden door.

Chains.

A little girl crying in the dark.

Then everything went black.

When Victoria opened her eyes again, she was lying on the floor.

The notebook beside her had a new sentence written in elegant handwriting.

"My name is Wellcy... and I remember everything."

...----------------...

Victoria's eyes remained fixed on the notebook.

"My name is Wellcy... and I remember everything."

"I didn't write this..."

She quickly checked her hands.

No pen.

No ink.

No memory of writing it.

Her breathing grew heavier.

"Who's... Wellcy?"

Silence.

Then a soft whisper filled her mind.

"The one carrying your nightmares."

Victoria stumbled backward, dropping the notebook.

That night, sleep refused to come.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the same hallway.

Five doors.

Four were open.

The fifth stood at the end, covered in black vines.

A girl dressed in white stood before it.

Long black hair hid her face.

She slowly lifted her head.

Her eyes were filled with endless sorrow.

"Victoria..."

"You finally heard me."

Victoria's legs trembled.

"Who are you?"

"I..."

"...am Wellcy."

"You forgot me."

"But I never forgot you."

The dream changed.

Victoria was no longer in the hallway.

She was six years old again.

Rain hit the windows of her childhood home.

She ran toward her mother, tears streaming down her face.

"Mom..."

"I'm scared..."

Her mother didn't even look up.

"Stop crying."

"You're embarrassing."

Victoria turned to her father.

"Dad..."

He sighed in annoyance.

"Go to your room."

"No one wants to hear your lies."

Little Victoria stood there, frozen.

She wasn't lying.

She had begged them to believe her.

They never did.

The dream shattered.

Victoria woke up screaming.

Sweat soaked her clothes.

Tears rolled down her face.

"I hate them..."

"I hate them..."

Jennifer's gentle voice echoed.

"It's okay."

"You survived."

Before Victoria could answer, another voice laughed.

Cherry.

"Why cry over people who never loved us?"

"Let's smile."

"Let's pretend."

"That's what we're good at."

Victoria covered her ears.

"Please..."

"Stop talking..."

The apartment fell silent.

The next day, Victoria arrived at college exhausted.

During lunch, she sat alone under a large tree.

A boy from her class approached.

"Mind if I sit here?"

Victoria looked up.

His name was Ethan.

He had noticed her many times but had never spoken to her.

She nodded quietly.

For several minutes, neither of them spoke.

Finally, Ethan smiled.

"You always sit alone."

"I like quiet."

"I don't think it's because you like it."

Victoria looked away.

"It's because you're hurting."

Those words struck something deep inside her.

For a second...

She wanted to tell someone.

Everything.

But fear swallowed the words before they reached her lips.

"I'm fine."

She stood and walked away.

Ethan watched her leave, certain she had lied.

That evening, Victoria returned home.

She found muddy footprints leading from the front door to her bedroom.

Her heart pounded.

She lived alone.

Slowly, she entered.

Everything looked normal.

Until she saw the mirror.

Written across it in red lipstick were the words—

HE FOUND US.

Victoria's face turned pale.

"I didn't..."

"I didn't write this..."

Then the apartment lights went out.

Darkness swallowed the room.

A slow knock echoed from inside her bedroom closet.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

Victoria couldn't move.

Wellcy whispered, her voice shaking for the first time.

"Don't open it..."

"He's not supposed to be here."

The knocking stopped.

A deep male voice came from inside the closet.

"Victoria..."

"I've finally found you."