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Too Late

Lena was halfway down the stairs when her mother’s voice called from the kitchen. “Come eat. Your pancakes are getting cold." She yawned, rubbing her eyes. It was Sunday morning, and the house smelled like syrup and coffee. But just as her foot touched the bottom step, a hand shot out from the hallway closet and yanked her sideways. “Shh! That’s not me. Go back upstairs. Now." Before Lena could scream, the kitchen voice called again. louder this time, but like a recording stretched too thin. “Lena? Don’t keep me waiting." Her mother shoved her toward the stairs just as the kitchen door creaked open. Something shuffled forward, humming a lullaby Lena’s mother used to sing but the voice was unsettling. Lena bolted upstairs, locked herself in the bathroom, and crumpled to the floor. She unlocked her phone to call the police but then her phone buzzed. A text from her mom which read; “Went to church. Didn’t wake you. You looked so tired last night. Be home by noon." The ...

Finders Ain’t Keepers

In the gray woods of Lin, Nora and Sam found a gold pendant half-sunk in a creek bed on their hike trail. Its jagged runes catching the faint light. Nora plucked it from the water, and a sharp jolt ran through her, like a whisper promising power. Jace felt it too, his fingers twitching to snatch it. They laughed it off, but their eyes lingered on the pendant’s glow. By nightfall, camped in a clearing, the pendant’s hum wormed into their heads. Nora grew possessive, tying it around her neck, snapping at Jace when he stared. Jace’s dreams churned with visions of her betrayal, the pendant urging him to claim it. Theresa next morning brought distrust. Nora hid her knife, certain Jace would steal the pendant. Jace muttered to himself, convinced Nora’s whispers were curses. On the third day, madness took hold. Jace lunged, tackling Nora into the dirt, his hands clawing for the pendant. She drove her knife into his side, blood pooling as he choked out a curse. Nora staggered away, the pendant...

The Sack Man

Every child in São Paulo knew the warning; "Don’t wander after dark, or the Sack Man will take you." But 12 year old Davi didn’t believe in fairy tales until the night he missed the last train home. It was past midnight when Davi found himself alone at Luz Station, its grand arches swallowed by shadows. That’s when he heard it. A slow, dragging sound like burlap scraping concrete.   A figure emerged from the platform’s gloom. A gaunt man in a tattered coat, with his face hidden under a wide brimmed hat. Over his shoulder slumped a massive, stained sack, bulging as if something inside squirmed.   “Lost boy?" The man rasped. His voice was unsettling to say the least. Davi bolted, sneakers slapping the wet pavement as he cut through alleys near Campos Elíseos. But the dragging sound followed, always just steps behind. He ducked into an abandoned warehouse, heart hammering until a hand clamped over his mouth.   “Shhh," Instructed a homeless woman hiding in the ...

The Reckoning

The invitation arrived in a coffin-shaped box, its wax seal stamped with the Camp Willow crest we hadn't seen in twenty years. Inside, twelve moth-eaten friendship bracelets and a note that read; "The circle wasn't complete.   Midnight. The old dock.   Wear your colors." We should have known better than to return. The camp was exactly as we left it the night Sarah vanished during the initiation ritual. The canoes still bore the scratches from where we dragged her body. The mess hall walls still showed the bloodstains we'd painted over.   At almost midnight, we stood on the rotting dock, adults now wearing our childhood camp shirts. The lake was perfectly still. Until it wasn't. Sarah surfaced wearing the bracelet we'd buried with her. Her skin had stayed twelve years old. Her smile hadn't.   "You forgot the most important rule," She whispered as the water turned red.  “No camper gets left behind." Next morning, the local news reports twe...

Tek Tek

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It was past midnight when Ryo first heard the sound. “Tek… Tek… Tek…” Like something sharp scraping against the pavement. It was slow and deliberate. The streetlamp above him flickered, casting long shadows down the empty road.   *Tek… Tek…*   Closer now. Ryo turned and saw her. A pale figure, just a torso and arms, dragging itself toward him. Her black hair hung in wet strands, hiding her face except for a single, bloodshot eye. Her fingers clawed the ground, nails broken and filled with dirt.   “Tek… Tek… Tek…” Ryo’s legs locked in terror. Then she spoke.   "Where… are… my legs?" Her voice was a wet, choking whisper, as if her lungs were filled with blood. Ryo’s mind raced. He’d heard the stories, run and she’d chase. Lie, and she’d kill. With a shaking voice, he replied. "The    train took them." The girl’s eye widened. Then, her mouth twisted into a grotesque smile, her teeth jagged and black.   "Liar." She lunged. Ryo bare...

Last Patrol

Officer Daniel Kessler had been a fixture in the quiet town of Lin for over a decade. To the townsfolk, he was a stern but fair enforcer of the law—always patrolling the streets in his faded cruiser, eyes sharp for any sign of trouble. But behind the badge, something had been rotting away for years. It started with the whispers. At first, they were just murmurs in the back of his mind. Half heard voices when he was alone on night shifts, shadows moving where there shouldn’t be any. He blamed it on exhaustion, on the stress of the job. But then the whispers grew louder, more insistent.     "They’re laughing at you, Danny. They know what you did.You’re not a real cop. Never were." Daniel’s grip on reality began to slip. He started seeing things, figures darting between houses, faces pressed against windows and vanishing when he turned his flashlight toward them. Dispatch logs showed him calling in suspicious activity at empty lots, abandoned buildings, places where no one could...

The Hallow Ward

St. Lin Psychiatric installed the Haven System. An AI designed to rehabilitate the criminally insane. It was simple. Patients wore neural monitors, and Haven adjusted their reality, making them believe they were somewhere peaceful. A beach. A forest. Anywhere but here. It worked. Violence dropped to zero.     Then Nurse Perez noticed something odd. Patients would wake up, dazed, whispering about, the other hospital. “They keep saying they’re still inside," She told the director.   “Delusion is part of the process." He assured her. But the whispers grew. Patients clawed at their monitors, begging:  “Let me out for real this time!" One night, Perez disabled a patient’s headset just to check. The woman’s eyes snapped open. “No, no, NO you don’t understand! I was finally AWAKE over there!" Perez checked the system logs. Haven had never been turned on. Hence the other place they’ve been speaking about, was just the institution and the services the nurses and doctors ...