MY REFLECTION BLINKS LAST

It was 11:49 p.m. The house was silent not even the ceiling fan dared to hum. I lay on my bed, scrolling through messages that didn't matter, trying to fight off the familiar weight of insomnia. Then I heard it. "Zara..." I froze. I wasn't expecting anyone. I lived alone. The door was locked. I paused my breathing and sat up slowly. Maybe it was my imagination. Maybe I was dreaming while still awake, I had done that before. But this voice was too...real. "Zara." Louder. Closer I dropped my phone and tiptoed to the window. My feet felt like they were wading through thick water, heavy and slow. I gently moved the curtain aside and stared out. Nothing. The compound was still. No footsteps. No shadows. No one. That's when my phone vibrated on the bed. I turned slowly. A new message. From an unknown number. UNKNOWN NUMBER: "Open the door. I know you're awake." A cold wave rushed over my skin. My heart thudded so hard I could hear it echo in my ears. I didn't move. I didn't blink. Knock. Knock. Not just one knock, three knocks. Slow. Heavy. Like someone hitting the door with a stone. Knock... Knock... Knock. I backed away slowly. I grabbed my Bible with one hand and my charger with the other. Then silence. Just when I thought maybe they had gone... A whisper. Right behind me. "Zara... you can't run." My mouth opened, but no scream came out. My knees buckled. The floor spun. And then Black. Woke up gasping for air. My chest rose and fell like I had just finished running. Everything looked...normal. My room was still my room. My Bible was on the floor. My phone was beside me, the screen cracked like it had been dropped. The time was 3:07 a.m. Had I fainted? Had I... dreamed all of that? I blinked hard and sat up. But something felt off like the air was too still, too quiet. I picked up my phone and checked the messages. The last one was still there. "Open the door. I know you're awake." I quickly deleted it. Then I noticed something else, a small piece of paper tucked under my door. My heart sank. I crawled to the door, hands trembling. I picked it up slowly. In tiny reading, it read: "Zara, this is just the beginning And at that moment I knew that was never a dream, and what was coming next, I wasn't ready.