đź“– Chapter 2: The Seventh Footprint
336 Words
I turned around so fast that I almost lost my balance.
No one was there.
The empty road stretched behind me, silent under the burning afternoon sun. The old houses stood motionless, their windows dark like watching eyes.
My breathing became uneven.
“Stop messing around,” I said, trying to sound braver than I felt. “This isn’t funny anymore.”
Still nothing.
A warm wind passed through the banyan tree, making its branches creak softly above me. For a second, I thought I heard whispering hidden between the leaves.
I looked back down at the footprints.
Six normal sets.
One strange set.
The deeper footprints continued toward the narrow path behind the abandoned well near the edge of the village.
And beside them…
smaller footprints appeared.
Barefoot.
As if someone had been dragged.
My stomach tightened.
“Linh?” I called out.
No answer.
I pulled out my phone, but the screen flickered the moment I unlocked it. The battery dropped from 63% to 1% in seconds before the phone suddenly shut off.
“What the hell…”
A loud laugh echoed somewhere nearby.
Not a happy laugh.
A broken one.
I swallowed hard and followed the footprints down the narrow path. The air felt colder with every step, even though the sun was still high in the sky.
Then I saw it.
A red ribbon hanging from a bush.
Linh’s ribbon.
I recognized it immediately. She always tied her hair with that same bright red ribbon.
I picked it up slowly.
It was wet.
Not with water.
Blood.
My hands began shaking.
“Linh…?”
A branch snapped behind me.
I turned sharply.
For a brief second, I saw someone standing between the trees.
Tall.
Too tall.
Its body was thin and unnatural, almost blending into the shadows. But its face—
Its face looked exactly like mine.
I couldn’t move.
The thing smiled.
Then it whispered in my voice,
“Ready or not…”
And suddenly, the footsteps behind me started running.
- Writer
