Chapter 18
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I shoved my hands deeper into my pockets, the chill of the air biting at my fingers as I made my way to the bus stop. The world was still waking up. the soft hum of cars passing by and the crunch of my boots against the pavement the only sounds breaking the silence.
I was almost there when I saw her–a frail old woman struggling with way too many grocery bags. She was dressed like she had raided a secondhand shop blindfolded: mismatched patterns, a scarf that had seen better days, and shoes that looked older than I was. Her hair stuck out in all directions, wild and unkempt, and her muttering to herself was doing nothing to make her seem less unhinged.
I told myself to keep walking. I really, really did. But the can of soup she dropped rolled straight into my path like fate was nudging me to intervene. My better judgment screamed mind your fucking business, but of course, I ignored it.
“Damn it,” I muttered, stopping mid–stride. “This is how people get kidnapped in horror movies.”
Still, I turned back, crouching to pick up the runaway can. “Here,” I said, stuffing it into one of her overstuffed bags. “Let me help you with that before everything falls apart.”
That’s when she looked at me.
And not in the grateful, “oh, how kind of you” way. No, this was a full–on what are you doing in my swamp glare. Her watery gray eyes narrowed as she stared at me like I had grown a second head.
“Uh… you’re welcome?” I offered weakly, standing back up.
Then, without warning, she leaned in close and sniffed me.
Yes, you read that right. She. Sniffed. Me.
“What the actual fuck?” The words came out before I could stop them, and I instinctively took a step back.
Her lips twitched into what might have been a smile if it weren’t so… creepy. “You smell… different,” she rasped, her voice scratchy, like she hadn’t had water in days.
“Okay, well, that’s not weird at all,” I said, holding up my hands. “Look, I don’t know what your deal is, but—”
“You’re not supposed to be here.”
The way she said it, low and deliberate, sent a chill straight down my spine.
“Right,” I said, forcing a nervous laugh. “Thanks for the heads–up, Grandma, but I gotta go. Good luck with your…” I gestured vaguely at her bags. “Stuff.”
I turned on my heel and walked away as fast as I could without outright running. Her words echoed in my head, though: You’re not supposed to be here. What the hell did that mean?
I glanced back over my shoulder, half expecting to see her shuffling after me like some zombie from a horror flick, but she was still standing there, watching me. Her gaze never wavered, and it felt like her eyes were boring into the back of my skull even as I rounded the corner.
My heart hammered in my chest as I tried to shake off the encounter. “This is insane,” I muttered to myself. “First shadows in my room, now sniffing old ladies? What’s next, cursed mirrors?”
The bus stop came into view, and I let out a shaky breath. A few other people were already waiting, scrolling through their phones or sipping coffee like everything was normal. Lucky them.
I plopped down on the bench, trying to steady my nerves. But my thoughts kept spiraling back to the weirdness that had been following me like a shadow lately.
It all started when I moved into that cursed mansion. The eerie silence, the way Ethan seemed to be everywhere, the unsettling dreams… and now this? A random old woman telling me I didn’t belong?
The bus pulled up, its brakes hissing as the doors swung open. I climbed aboard, slumping into an empty seat near the back. The city blurred past the window, but I couldn’t focus on anything outside.
You’re not supposed to be here.
The words circled in my mind like vultures.
I had to get out of that place. Out of that house. Away from Ethan and the suffocating air of secrets that seemed to cling to every corner.
The problem was, I had nowhere else to go.
I leaned my head against the window, my reflection staring back at me, tired and pale. Maybe I was overreacting. Maybe I had read too many ghost stories growing up and was seeing things that weren’t there.
1/21
3:34 PM
Chapter 18
But deep down, I knew better. This wasn’t just paranoia. Something was wrong, and the more time I spent in that house, the more tangled up in it I felt.
I clenched my fists, forcing myself to take a deep breath. One thing was clear: if I wanted to keep what was left of my sanity. I had to find a way out. And soon.
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