I woke up screaming.
My eyes flew open.
For several seconds, I couldn’t remember where I was.
My chest rose and fell violently beneath the sheets.
My hands clawed at the blanket as I searched the darkness of my bedroom.
The voice was still in my head.
Don’t wake up.
I swallowed.
I was awake.
I had to be.
I turned toward my bedroom door.
“Mum?”
Nothing.
I sat up.
“Grandpa?”
Silence.
I reached for my phone.
9:17 a.m.
There were no messages.
No missed calls.
Nothing.
That was strange.
Mum always texted me if she left the house before I woke up.
I climbed out of bed.
“Mum?”
I checked her room.
Empty.
Cam’s room.
Empty.
Nurys’s.
Empty.
Grandpa’s room.
Empty.
My heartbeat quickened.
I ran downstairs.
The house was silent.
Not sleeping-quiet.
Empty.
The kind of silence that made the walls feel unfamiliar.
I rushed into the kitchen.
There were no dirty dishes.
No half-finished breakfast.
No coffee sitting on the counter.
Nothing.
I grabbed my phone.
Mum.
No answer.
Dad.
No answer.
Cam.
Nothing.
Nurys.
Nothing.
Grandpa.
Nothing.
I stared at the screen.
“This isn’t funny.”
I stepped outside.
The street was empty.
No cars.
No neighbors.
No children.
No dogs.
Not even the distant sound of traffic.
Bailey Falls had gone completely still.
I walked into the middle of the road.
“Hello?”
My voice echoed.
Nothing answered.
Then—
A scream.
I froze.
It came from the direction of the woods.
A second scream followed.
Male.
Terrified.
My blood ran cold.
I knew that voice.
I ran.
The trees swallowed me almost immediately.
Branches scraped against my arms.
Leaves crunched beneath my shoes.
I could hear someone running ahead.
Fast.
Desperate.
“Help!”
I stopped.
Caleb.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“No…”
I pushed through the branches.
And there he was.
Caleb.
Running for his life.
He looked exactly as I remembered him from years ago.
The boy who used to pull my hair in elementary school.
The boy who’d stolen my lunch and eaten it while I watched.
The boy who’d once pushed my books into a puddle and laughed while I tried not to cry.
Middle school hadn’t been much better.
He’d teased me.
Embarrassed me.
Called me names.
And every time I’d tried to stand up for myself, he’d laughed harder.
I had hated him.
But watching him run now…
I didn’t care.
I wanted him to live.
“Caleb!”
He didn’t hear me.
Something moved behind him.
I stopped.
It stepped between the trees.
Tall.
Wrong.
Its limbs seemed too long for its body, and the way it moved made my stomach turn.
Caleb looked back.
His face drained of color.
“No…”
He stumbled.
“Please.”
The creature kept coming.
Caleb ran faster.
Then—
He stopped.
Not because he wanted to.
Because the creature was suddenly standing in front of him.
Caleb screamed.
He turned.
It was behind him again.
He spun around.
“No!
No, no, no!”
The creature tilted its head.
And then the forest changed.
Caleb was no longer there.
He was sitting in a classroom.
Young.
Small.
Elementary-school Caleb.
I watched him laugh as he flicked the back of my head.
The scene changed.
Another memory.
My lunch.
His hand taking it.
His laughter.
Another.
My books being thrown into a puddle.
Another.
His friends laughing.
Another.
Me crying.
Another.
Caleb pointing at me.
“Look at her!”
His younger voice echoed through the forest.
“She’s crying again!”
Caleb screamed.
“Stop!”
The memories kept coming.
One after another.
Every cruel word.
Every laugh.
Every humiliation.
Every time he’d made me feel small.
And the worst part?
He remembered.
He remembered every single one.
“I didn’t know!”
The adult Caleb dropped to his knees.
“I was a kid!”
The creature stood behind him.
“You knew.”
Caleb shook his head violently.
“I didn’t mean it!”
The creature leaned closer.
“She cried.”
Caleb covered his ears.
“Stop!”
“She cried.”
“STOP!”
“She went home and cried.”
Caleb began sobbing.
“I said I was sorry!”
The creature whispered:
“Did she hear you?”
Caleb went silent.
The forest fell completely still.
Then the creature reached for him.
I closed my eyes.
Caleb screamed.
I heard the sound of something tearing through the silence.
Then another.
Then another.
I opened my eyes just enough to see his shadow disappear beneath the creature.
I looked away.
His screams eventually stopped.
Silence returned.
I was shaking.
I couldn’t understand what I had just witnessed.
The creature slowly turned toward me.
I backed away.
“You…”
It stared.
“You did this.”
It said nothing.
“Why show me?”
Its head tilted.
Then—
The world disappeared.
I was sitting in a bedroom.
Pink curtains.
A wooden reading table.
Stacks of books.
A phone resting beside a lamp.
I recognized the room.
Vera’s.
She was sitting on her bed.
Asleep.
No.
Not asleep.
Dreaming.
Her eyes moved beneath her eyelids.
Her breathing was shallow.
Then she opened her eyes.
She looked around.
“What?”
She sat up.
“This isn’t…”
She stared at the room.
Confusion spread across her face.
She picked up her phone.
Her eyes widened.
“No.”
She scrolled.
“No, this isn’t right.”
She looked at the date.
Her expression changed.
“This was second year.”
She shook her head.
“This isn’t right.”
I stepped toward her.
“Vera?”
She couldn’t hear me.
She stared at the anonymous account on her phone.
The same account.
The one that had tormented me.
The one that had sent those messages during our second year.
Her fingers began trembling.
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I didn’t…”
She looked toward the mirror.
“This isn’t right.”
Then—
My voice came from somewhere behind her.
Except it wasn’t my voice.
It was almost mine.
But wrong.
Empty.
“You shouldn’t have, Vee.”
Vera froze.
I froze.
The voice came again.
“You shouldn’t have.”
The bedroom window shattered.
Vera screamed.
Glass exploded across the floor.
“Who’s there?”
The reading table suddenly lifted from the ground.
Vera screamed as it slammed into the opposite wall.
Her books flew from their shelves.
Pages ripped apart in midair.
“STOP!”
The bedroom door slammed shut.
Then opened.
Slammed shut.
Opened.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Vera backed into the corner.
Her entire body shook.
“You shouldn’t have, Vee.”
The voice was everywhere.
“You shouldn’t have.”
The room went silent.
Completely silent.
Vera covered her mouth.
Her eyes darted around the room.
Then she whispered:
“Destiny?”
I felt my stomach drop.
She was crying now.
“I’m sorry.”
The room remained still.
“I’m sorry.”
A shadow appeared behind her.
Vera didn’t see it.
I did.
I tried to scream.
“VERA!”
Nothing came out.
The shadow moved.
Vera slowly turned.
Her eyes widened.
And then—
I closed mine.
I couldn’t watch.
I heard her scream.
Once.
Twice.
Then again.
Her voice cracked as she begged for help.
I covered my ears.
“Please…”
Her screams continued.
Then suddenly—
Nothing.
I opened my eyes.
The bedroom was empty.
No Vera.
No creature.
No broken glass.
No torn books.
Nothing.
The scene collapsed around me.
And I understood.
Vera hadn’t died here.
This wasn’t where she’d died.
This was what the creature had shown her.
A fake reality built from her own guilt.
Her own memories.
Her own secrets.
Her own fear.
The actual place she’d died—
The library.
I knew it.
Somehow, I knew.
The creature had never needed to take her there.
It had taken her mind somewhere else first.
I stumbled backward.
“No.”
The forest returned.
The town appeared beyond the trees.
Empty.
Silent.
Waiting.
I heard the creature behind me.
“You see now.”
I turned.
“You did this to them.”
It didn’t answer.
“You made them relive everything.”
Still nothing.
“Why?”
It stepped closer.
“You think I can take you.”
Its voice was barely a whisper.
“I cannot.”
I swallowed.
“Then why are you doing this?”
It leaned closer.
“Because there are rules.”
“What rules?”
Its eyes seemed to glow in the darkness.
“A pact.”
My heart stopped.
“What pact?”
The creature smiled.
“You’ll learn.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
It stepped closer.
“I cannot kill you.”
Another step.
“But I can kill those who hurt you.”
My breath caught.
“What?”
Its head tilted.
“Those who have caused you pain.”
I stared at it.
“Caleb…”
It said nothing.
“Vera…”
Still nothing.
My stomach twisted.
“They’re dead because of me?”
The creature’s expression didn’t change.
“No.”
It stepped closer.
“They are dead because of what they did to you.”
I shook my head.
“That’s not your decision to make.”
The creature stared at me.
“They hurt you.”
“That doesn’t mean you get to kill them!”
Silence.
Then, quietly:
“They would do it again.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Caleb would have hurt you again.”
A pause.
“Vera would have hurt you again.”
My chest tightened.
“You don’t know that.”
“I know what they have done.”
The creature’s voice became almost gentle.
“And I know what they intended to do.”
I stared at it.
“So what?”
It looked at me.
“I protect what belongs to me.”
My blood ran cold.
“I don’t belong to you.”
The creature smiled.
“Not yet.”
I backed away.
“Then why can’t you kill me?”
For the first time, something almost ancient crossed its face.
“Because that is not what we agreed.”
My heart pounded.
“What agreement?”
The creature didn’t answer.
Instead, it stepped backward into the darkness.
“You will remember.”
“Remember what?”
It disappeared between the trees.
Its voice followed me.
“Why the pact was made.”
I stood frozen.
Then, from somewhere deep within the woods, I heard its final whisper.
“The pact remains.”