The Return
1250 Words
The next morning, Isabel woke up feeling sore and tired. Her neck ached, and her body felt heavier than usual, as if she had run a marathon in her dreams. The night before had been strange — flashes of light, the feeling of someone whispering her name — but when she tried to remember, it slipped away like fog.
She groaned, sat up, and rubbed her temple. “What kind of weird dream was that?” she muttered.
Dragging herself to the bathroom, she splashed water on her face and stared at her reflection. Her eyes looked dull, the kind you get after a restless night, but behind them was something else — confusion, curiosity, and the tiniest hint of fear.
After brushing her teeth and dressing up, she whispered to her reflection, “This time, I’m not going to be scared anymore.”
She grabbed her bag and left for school. Her mother called after her from the kitchen, “Breakfast, honey!”
“Not hungry, Mom!” Isabel shouted back, shutting the door before her mother could argue.
She wasn’t in the mood to talk — not about her weird dreams, not about her worries. She just wanted a normal day.
---
Outside, the morning air was cool and soft. The wind brushed against her face as she hailed a cab. For once, she didn’t feel uneasy. Maybe she was getting used to it — the feeling of being watched, the strange shivers that came out of nowhere. Or maybe, deep down, she knew that whoever or whatever he was… he wasn’t trying to hurt her.
As the cab moved, she rested her head against the window. The sun was peeking through the clouds, the streets busy as usual. She smiled faintly — no strange noises, no shadows following her, no mysterious letters. Maybe today would finally be different.
She paid the driver and stepped out at the campus gate, adjusting her bag strap. Students hurried past her, laughter echoing through the compound. Everything felt normal — beautifully, boringly normal.
Then she heard it.
> “Isabel! Isabel!”
She turned and saw Dina running toward her, waving with both hands. Isabel’s face instantly lit up.
“Dina!” she said with a laugh. “You act like you haven’t seen me in weeks.”
Dina grabbed her hand, grinning. “Girl, I’ve got news!”
“What kind of news?” Isabel asked playfully. “You look like you just won the lottery.”
“Even better,” Dina said, leaning closer. “Derick is back!”
Isabel froze. For a few seconds, her mind went blank. “Wait… Derick? As in that Derick?”
Dina nodded excitedly. “Yes, that one. The one who made you lose your mind for two whole semesters!”
Isabel rolled her eyes and turned away. “Oh please, don’t start.”
Dina laughed, clapping her hands together. “You should’ve seen your face! You’re blushing already.”
“Am not!” Isabel protested, but her voice came out sharper than she meant.
“Relax, I’m just teasing,” Dina said, still smiling.
Isabel sighed and crossed her arms. “I just don’t want to talk about him. Not now.”
---
But as they walked toward their lecture hall, the memories came rushing back — her first love, her first heartbreak. Derick had been everything to her — charming, funny, caring — until he wasn’t.
She still remembered the night she caught him with another girl. The way his eyes went wide when he saw her standing at the door, the way her heart cracked like glass. She could still hear his voice begging her to listen, still see the tears she refused to shed until she got home.
It had been months since then, but some wounds never fully healed. And now he was back.
Dina noticed the faraway look on Isabel’s face and nudged her gently. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” Isabel said softly. “Just… remembering things I shouldn’t.”
“You need to let that go, Izzy,” Dina said. “He’s not worth it.”
“I know,” Isabel replied, forcing a smile. “But you can’t always control what your heart wants.”
They reached their class, and the noise of students chatting filled the room. Isabel tried to distract herself by flipping through her notes, but her thoughts kept drifting.
Why now? Why did he have to come back now — when her life was already strange enough with ghosts, whispers, and unseen watchers?
---
During the lecture, Isabel caught herself zoning out again. The professor’s voice became distant, replaced by a soft hum — familiar yet chilling.
> “You shouldn’t be thinking about him.”
She stiffened, looking around. No one else reacted.
> “He broke your heart once. Don’t let him near you again.”
The voice was low, deep, echoing faintly inside her head. Her pulse raced. She looked down at her notebook, pretending to write, afraid to draw attention.
It’s him again.
Her heart pounded wildly. Why can I hear him even here?
When the class finally ended, she packed her books quickly and dragged Dina toward the canteen. “I need food,” she said, trying to act normal.
But the voice lingered.
> “You belong to me, Isabel…”
She shivered slightly and clenched her fists.
---
At the canteen, Dina was her usual bubbly self, chatting about random things — movies, gossip, plans for the weekend — but Isabel barely heard a word. Her mind was running circles.
The moment she thought about Derick, the voice appeared again. That couldn’t be a coincidence.
“Hey,” Dina said, snapping her fingers in front of Isabel’s face. “Where are you right now?”
“Nowhere,” Isabel said quickly. “Just tired.”
Dina gave her a look. “You sure? You’ve been acting weird all day.”
“I said I’m fine.”
They ate mostly in silence after that. Isabel didn’t want to worry her friend, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone — or something — was watching her, even in broad daylight.
After lunch, Dina went to meet someone at the library, leaving Isabel alone. As she walked through the school courtyard, her phone buzzed. She checked it.
Unknown Number:
> Don’t let the past fool you, Isabel.
He’s not what you think he is.
Her breath caught. She looked around, half-expecting to see someone smirking behind a wall, but there was no one.
“Who are you?” she whispered as she typed back.
The moment she hit send, the message vanished from the screen. Not deleted — gone. Like it had never existed.
Her phone screen flickered once before turning black.
The wind blew hard, almost violently, making the trees sway. Isabel gripped her phone tightly.
Somewhere nearby, she thought she heard faint laughter — low and haunting, carried away by the wind.
She didn’t see him, but she could feel him — watching her from somewhere she couldn’t reach.
---
That night, when she returned home, she couldn’t stop replaying everything in her mind — Derick’s return, the whispers, the message, the invisible presence that refused to leave her alone.
And though she didn’t want to admit it, part of her heart fluttered at the thought that maybe… just maybe… it wasn’t fear she was feeling anymore.
Maybe it was connection.
---
- Writer
