Chased By Shadows

Chapter Eight: The Visitor from Hollow Creek

The rain came hard that morning, drumming on the roof like it had something to say. Elise sat by the window, arms wrapped around her knees. She didn’t sleep last night. The dream kept looping. A girl’s scream. A knife in the leaves. Her own hands covered in dirt.

Kaia stood in the kitchen, holding a cup she forgot to drink. Maren was gone. No note.

Just gone.

Silas appeared at the door just after ten. Mud on his boots. Ash on his jacket. “She’s not missing,” he said before anyone could speak. Kaia narrowed her eyes. “Maren?” Silas nodded. “She went looking.”

“For what?” Kaia asked. He paused. “Her past."

Meanwhile, on the other side of Hollow Creek, a girl walked into town. Early twenties. Hood over her head. Faded bag on her shoulder.

She asked the florist if the old Finch house still stood. The florist stared at her a beat too long before nodding. The girl didn’t say thank you. She just turned and walked.

At noon, the doorbell rang. Kaia opened it to find the same girl soaking wet, eyes too sharp to be innocent. “I’m looking for Elise,” she said. Kaia stood frozen. “Who are you?” The girl smiled. It didn’t reach her eyes. “My name’s Lana. I think… I used to know you all.”

Elise stared at her from across the room. “You look familiar,” she said. Lana tilted her head. “You don’t.” Silas leaned in the doorway, arms folded. He didn’t trust her. Neither did Kaia. But Elise, she was watching Lana like she was watching her own shadow walk in.

“Where are you from?” Kaia asked. Lana shrugged. “Nowhere. But Hollow Creek used to be home. Until it wasn’t.”

That night, Lana sat by the fire with a photo she pulled from her pocket. Folded so many times the edges were nearly gone.

Elise peeked over her shoulder. The photo was old. Grainy. Three girls standing in a clearing. One looked like Elise. The other looked like Kaia. The third… couldn’t be seen clearly. But Lana was staring at that blurred figure like she remembered her face perfectly.

Maren came back near midnight. Covered in dirt. Shaking. Kaia found her at the foot of the stairs. “Maren?”

“I… I went to the school,” she said. “The one we all went to. But it’s gone.” Kaia blinked. “Gone?”

“Burned down. Years ago. But there was a name carved on the stone wall.” Kaia helped her up. “Whose?” Maren looked up. “Yours.”

Lana spent the next day walking the edge of the woods. Alone. Silas followed her at a distance. She wasn’t just wandering. She was tracing something. He stopped her near the river. “What are you looking for?” She smiled without turning. “The place where she disappeared.”

“Who?” She turned slowly. “You know who.”

And walked away.

Kaia caught Elise whispering in her sleep again. Only this time, she was answering questions. “No… I didn’t see her face.”

“She screamed when the water touched her.” “Yes. I left her there." “No. I didn’t want to—” Kaia shook her awake.

“Elise!” Elise blinked. “Where’s Lana?” Kaia frowned. “What?”

“I think she’s lying.”

Lana cooked dinner that night like she’d lived there for years. She told stories from Hollow Creek. About how the town turned on a girl once, after a string of strange disappearances.

They blamed her. She had no alibi. No family. One day she just vanished. “Do you know her name?” Silas asked. Lana nodded.

But she didn’t say it.

Later, Kaia pulled Mallory aside. “She’s hiding something.” Mallory agreed. “Everyone is.” She handed Kaia a new folder. No name. Just numbers. But the handwriting matched Elise’s old journal.

“Where did you get this?” Kaia asked. “It was mailed to the station this morning. No return address.” Inside were scribbled lines: “I woke up again with her voice in my mouth.” “I think I’m becoming her.” “What if I already am?”

Kaia looked at the last page. In red ink: “Find the third before she finds you.”

Maren was crying in the bathroom. Kaia found her on the floor, shaking. “She was there,” Maren whispered. Kaia crouched down. “Who?” “In the mirror. Just for a second.” Kaia frowned. “Your reflection?”

Maren’s lips trembled. “No. Someone else.” She lifted her arm. Three fresh scratches down her shoulder. “I didn’t do this to myself.”

Lana sat on the porch, looking up at the trees. Elise sat beside her. “You said we knew you once.” Lana nodded. “You don’t remember?" Elise shook her head. Lana didn’t look surprised. “You forgot a lot, didn’t you?”

“Yes.” Lana turned to her, gaze unflinching.

“Do you remember the river?” Elise went pale. “No.” Lana smiled. “You will.”

Silas smoked under the porch light. Mallory joined him. “She’s lying,” he said without looking up. Mallory nodded. “About what?” He blew smoke into the dark. “Everything.”

In a dream that wasn’t a dream, Kaia found herself walking through a burned house. The walls wept ash. In a corner, a little girl sat hugging her knees. Kaia knelt beside her.

“What’s your name?” she whispered. The girl didn’t answer. She just lifted her hand and pointed behind Kaia. Kaia turned. And saw herself. Smiling. Holding something behind her back.

Elise woke up with a cut on her palm. Kaia with dirt under her nails. Maren with no memory of the night. And Lana, smiling over breakfast like nothing happened.

In a dusty basement, Lana unzipped her bag. Inside: a photograph, a cassette tape… and a blood-stained ribbon. She held the ribbon up to the light. And whispered: “Almost home.”