Before I could process the full weight of what I was seeing, the phone vibrated again.

I flinched.

The sound felt too loud in the stillness, like it didn’t belong among graves and silence. My chest tightened as I slowly reached out, every instinct telling me to step back instead.

But I didn’t.

I picked it up.

The screen lit my face in a cold blue glow.

Another message.

“Don’t turn around.”

My breath caught.

For a moment, I froze completely. Every nerve in my body screamed at me to run, but something deeper—something stubborn, something that sounded like my father’s voice in my head—told me to stay still.

Think.

I forced myself to inhale slowly.

This wasn’t supernatural.

Someone was here.

Someone was watching me.

And they wanted me afraid.

Very slowly, I turned off the phone screen and held it tightly in my hand.

Silence pressed in from all sides.

The wind barely moved. The trees stood like witnesses. Even the distant hum of the city seemed to have vanished.

Then—

A faint crunch.

Gravel.

Behind me.

My heart slammed against my ribs, but instead of panicking, I pivoted fast.

“Who’s there?” I demanded.

No answer.

But I saw movement.