The things we never say.

Chapter 8:The photograph

I didn't sleep that night.

Every time I tried to close my eyes, I saw the photograph.

The figure standing behind me.

Wondering how it got there.

The figure that hadn't been there when I took the picture.

I kept telling myself maybe it was a trick of the light.

A shadow.

Something in the background that I didn't notice.

Anything except what my mind was trying to tell me.

At 3:06 a.m., I finally reached for my phone.

The photograph was still there.

I zoomed in.

Then again.

The figure was clearer now.

It was standing directly behind me.

Close enough that if I had turned around, I should have seen it.

I stared at the screen until my eyes started hurting.

Then I noticed something I hadn't seen before.

The figure was holding something.

A notebook.

My notebook.

I sat up quickly.

"No."

I opened the drawer beside my bed.

The notebook was there.

I pulled it out slowly.

My hands were shaking.

I opened to the last page.

Nothing.

Just blank paper.

I turned the page.

Blank.

Another.

Blank.

Then, near the middle, I saw handwriting.

My handwriting.

Except I didn't remember writing it.

I read the sentence once.

Then again.

You already know who she is.

My stomach dropped.

Who?

I turned the page.

There was another sentence.

You just don't remember meeting her.

I stopped breathing for a second.

A memory flashed through my mind.

A hallway.

White walls.

A woman standing at the end of it.

She was smiling at me.

I couldn't see her face.

Then the memory disappeared.

Just like that.

I grabbed my phone and opened the photograph again.

The figure behind me was gone.

I blinked.

I checked the original.

Nothing.

No figure.

No notebook.

Nothing.

I almost laughed.

Maybe I really was losing my mind.

Then my phone vibrated.

A message.

Unknown number.

You saw her again.

My fingers went cold.

Another message appeared.

This time, she saw you too.

I stared at the screen.

Then came the final message.

Don't go to work tomorrow.

I didn't know why.

But something inside me already knew that I would.