Chapter Four
1554 Words
I couldn’t breathe properly.
Even after he left the room… even after the door was wide open again… even after the light came back in.
It still felt like something was there.
Watching.
Waiting.
I wrapped my arms around myself, my fingers digging into my skin as I forced my legs to move. One step. Then another. Out of the room. Into the hallway.
But I didn’t feel safe.
Not even a little.
I turned back once.
Just once.
The room looked empty.
Quiet.
Normal.
Like it hadn’t just swallowed me whole seconds ago.
Like there weren’t dozens of pictures of me still plastered on those walls.
My chest tightened.
“Stay out of this room.”
His voice echoed in my head.
Too late for that.
Way too late.
I rushed down the stairs, my heartbeat loud in my ears, every creak of the house making me flinch. By the time I reached the living room, I was breathing hard like I had just run miles.
This wasn’t okay.
None of this was okay.
I grabbed my phone from the couch with shaking hands.
I needed to call someone.
Anyone.
My best friend.
My mom.
No… not my mom. She would panic. Or worse, she wouldn’t believe me.
I unlocked my phone quickly and dialed my best friend’s number.
It rang.
Once.
Twice.
Then—
Call failed.
I frowned.
“What?”
I tried again.
Same thing.
Call failed.
A strange feeling settled in my stomach.
No signal.
I checked the top of my screen.
Nothing.
No bars.
No internet.
Nothing.
“That’s… that’s not possible,” I whispered.
I had signal earlier.
I know I did.
My grip tightened around the phone as panic started creeping back in.
Okay.
Okay.
Stay calm.
Maybe it was just temporary.
Maybe the network was down.
Yeah.
That had to be it.
I forced myself to breathe, lowering the phone slowly.
But then—
A soft vibration.
I froze.
The phone buzzed in my hand.
Unknown Number.
My heart skipped.
I stared at it for a second.
Then another.
Don’t answer.
Everything in me said don’t answer.
But my finger moved anyway.
“Hello?” my voice came out smaller than I expected.
Silence.
I swallowed. “Who is this?”
A faint sound came through the line.
Breathing.
Slow.
Steady.
My stomach twisted.
“Stop playing,” I said, trying to sound firm. “If this is some kind of joke—”
“You went into the room.”
My blood ran cold.
The voice.
It was the same one.
From upstairs.
My grip tightened around the phone. “Who are you?”
“You weren’t supposed to go in there.”
My chest rose and fell quickly. “How do you know that?”
A pause.
Then—
A soft chuckle.
“I saw you.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“No,” I whispered. “That’s not funny.”
“I’ve been watching you.”
The room suddenly felt too small.
Too tight.
“Where are you?” I demanded, spinning around like I would somehow see them standing there.
“Closer than you think.”
My breath hitched.
“Stop it!” I snapped. “Stop messing with me!”
“You shouldn’t trust him.”
My brows pulled together. “Trust who?”
“You know who.”
Ethan.
My grip on the phone loosened slightly.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, my voice shaking now.
“He didn’t tell you, did he?”
“Tell me what?!”
Another pause.
Longer this time.
Like they were deciding something.
Then the line went dead.
I pulled the phone away slowly, staring at the screen.
Call ended.
My hands were shaking again.
“No… no, no…”
This couldn’t be real.
This couldn’t be happening.
I turned in a slow circle, my eyes scanning every corner of the living room.
Nothing.
Empty.
Silent.
But it didn’t feel empty.
It felt… occupied.
Like someone was just out of sight.
Watching.
Always watching.
A sudden loud knock on the front door made me jump.
I gasped, my heart leaping into my throat.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
“Open the door.”
Ethan.
Relief hit me so fast it almost made me dizzy.
I rushed to the door and pulled it open without thinking.
He stood there, looking… off.
His eyes immediately went to my face, scanning me.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
I let out a shaky breath. “Something is wrong.”
His expression hardened instantly. “What happened?”
“I got a call,” I said quickly. “From an unknown number. It was the same voice from upstairs. The one I heard in that room.”
His jaw clenched.
“And?”
“And they said they’ve been watching me,” I continued, my voice trembling. “They said I shouldn’t trust you.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Thick.
His eyes darkened slightly.
“What exactly did they say about me?”
“That you didn’t tell me something.”
I watched him closely.
Waiting.
Hoping he would deny it.
Explain it.
Do something.
But he didn’t.
He just looked at me.
And that scared me more than anything else.
“Ethan,” I said slowly, “what didn’t you tell me?”
He exhaled quietly, running a hand through his hair.
“This isn’t how I wanted you to find out.”
My stomach dropped.
“Find out what?”
He stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
Then he turned to face me again.
“This house…” he started, his voice lower now, more serious than I had ever heard it.
“…has a history.”
I let out a small, nervous laugh. “A history? That’s your explanation?”
“People used to live here before us,” he continued, ignoring my reaction. “A long time ago.”
“That’s every house, Ethan.”
“Not like this one.”
Something in his tone made me go quiet.
“What happened here?” I asked.
He hesitated.
Just for a second.
Then—
“A girl went missing.”
My breath caught.
“What?”
“They never found her,” he added. “Not officially.”
A chill spread through my body.
“What do you mean ‘not officially’?”
He held my gaze.
“Because some people believe she never actually left.”
The room felt colder.
Quieter.
Like even the air was listening.
“You’re saying she’s…” I couldn’t finish the sentence.
“I’m saying strange things happen here,” he said. “Things that don’t make sense.”
I shook my head slowly. “No. No, this is crazy. You’re trying to scare me.”
“I’m trying to warn you.”
“Then why are there pictures of me in that room?” I shot back. “Did the missing girl take those too?”
His expression tightened.
“That room… doesn’t belong to me.”
My heart skipped.
“Then who does it belong to?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
And that silence—
That silence said everything.
A horrible thought crept into my mind.
“No…” I whispered. “No way.”
He looked at me.
Straight into my eyes.
And said the one thing I didn’t expect.
“It belongs to you.”
My world tilted.
“What?”
“You just don’t remember.”
My heart stopped.
“What are you talking about?” I whispered.
His gaze didn’t waver.
“You’ve been here before.”
The words hit me like a slap.
“No, I haven’t.”
“Yes, you have.”
“I would remember that!”
“Would you?” he asked quietly.
Something about the way he said it made my stomach twist.
“No,” I said firmly. “You’re lying. You have to be lying.”
But even as I said it…
Something felt off.
A flicker.
A strange, distant feeling.
Like a memory just out of reach.
“No…” I repeated, softer this time.
Ethan took a step closer.
“You really don’t remember anything, do you?”
My head started to spin.
“I’ve never been here,” I said, but now my voice lacked conviction.
His eyes searched mine.
Then slowly…
He reached into his pocket.
And pulled something out.
A small photograph.
My breath caught as he held it up.
It was me.
Standing in front of this house.
Smiling.
Like I belonged here.
But that wasn’t the worst part.
The worst part was the date printed at the bottom.
It wasn’t recent.
It was from years ago.
My fingers trembled as I took the photo from him.
“This… this isn’t real.”
But it was.
It had to be.
Because deep down…
Something inside me stirred.
A feeling.
A memory.
Something buried.
And for the first time since I stepped into this house…
I wasn’t just scared of what was happening now.
I was terrified of what I might have forgotten.
Because if I had been here before…
Then what else was I not remembering?
And why did it feel like…
Whatever was watching me…
Had been waiting for me to come back?
- Writer
