Page 43 of Wraith

Soft. Mocking. Too close.

I didn’t stop to check where it came from. I bolted for the exit, the weight of something unseen pressing against my back.

The cold night air hit me like a slap, but it didn’t shake the feeling of being watched. My fingers curled tighter around my coin as I made my way to my car, my hands shaking by the time I unlocked the door and climbed inside.

I locked the doors. Flipped the coin again. Heads. Again.

I needed sleep. Just a few hours. But the moment I closed my eyes, the world refused to let me rest.

An owl hooted too close—its cry warped, elongated, twisting into something almost human before cutting off abruptly. My eyes snapped open, my breath sharp in my throat.

Just a bird. It had to be just a bird.

A group of students stumbled past, laughing too loudly, but the sound distorted, like a record played backward. My skin prickled. The voices warped, stretching into something not quite human before fading into silence.

The air inside the car thickened, pressing down on me, the chill seeping deeper into my bones. It wasn’t just cold—it was wrong. Too still. Too empty. My breath clouded in the air, but my body felt feverish, too hot beneath my skin.

Every time I drifted off, something pulled me back—a sudden tap against the window. My eyes flew open. Nothing there.

An engine revved in the distance, but the sound dragged, like a deep growl reverberating through the night. A dog barked, a frantic yelp that cut off too suddenly, like something had stopped it.

And then there was the whisper—low, drawn out, curling into the small space like smoke.

Kael.

I bolted upright, my heart hammering. No one was there.

I locked the doors—again.

I clenched my jaw, rubbed my face, and stared at the empty streets around me. If I stayed here, I’d lose my mind. Maybe if Ikept moving, she’d leave me alone. Maybe it was the stillness she liked, waiting for me to sink into exhaustion before closing in.

I climbed into the driver seat, started the car, hopefully leaving the bullshit behind me.

I drove aimlessly, my fingers gripping the wheel so tight my knuckles ached. The streets blurred together, each stoplight stretching longer than it should, each turn leading me somewhere I didn’t remember choosing.

Shadows played tricks in my mirrors—flashes of movement that vanished when I looked directly at them. The streetlights buzzed, flickering as I passed beneath them, like something was following me, shorting them out one by one.

I forced my breathing steady. Just drive. Just keep moving. But it didn’t help. The engine hummed too low, the street signs blurred, and the clock on my dashboard flickered between numbers that didn’t make sense. 2:47 AM. 3:16 AM. 1:59 AM. Back to 2:47.

And then the whisper came again right against my ear.

"You can’t outrun me, Kael."

The wheel jerked in my hands. The tires skidded as I swerved, my pulse spiking like ice through my veins. I slammed the brakes, my breath ragged, my heart hammering.

I couldn’t do this. I had to stop.

I pulled into an empty parking lot, gripping my coin like a lifeline. By the time the first light crept over the horizon, I felt like a corpse in my own skin. My limbs ached, my head pounded, and exhaustion clawed at me, but sleep never came. Not when all my thoughts revolved aroundher.

Twenty-Nine

The party was too loud,too packed, too chaotic—but that was exactly why I was here. The bass rattled the floorboards, vibrating up my spine. Laughter and drunken shouts blurred together, tangled with the scent of alcohol, sweat, and perfume.

This was normal.

Normal people did this—got drunk, met strangers, lost themselves in noise and bodies and shitty beer. Normal people moved on.

That’s what I was doing. Moving on.

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