Episode 3

Maya’s hands gripped the cold bars of the gate.

The footsteps had stopped, but the silence on the other side felt alive, thick enough to press against her chest.

She forced herself to lean forward, peering through the gap.

The hallway beyond was still, lined with dented lockers that seemed to lean toward her like eavesdroppers. The light overhead flickered once, twice, then died completely.

Something moved in the dark.

A shape—small, human—slid into view. Bare feet, pale against the cracked tiles. They took a single step forward. Then another.

“Maya…”

The whisper curled through the air, and before she could pull back, something brushed her fingers. Cold. Wet.

She jerked away, her breath ragged. The bars clanged against the chain.

When the light sputtered back on, the hallway was empty.

---

“Maya!”

She turned to see Eli rushing toward her, his hoodie sleeves pushed up, eyes wide. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I…” She stopped. Her brain scrambled for a lie, but the truth tumbled out instead. “Something touched me.”

Eli glanced at the gate, then back at her. “That’s how it starts.”

---

They walked to the bus stop together. Eli kept his voice low, as if the wind might be listening. “Most people just hear her. Some see her. But once she touches you…”

“What?”

“She won’t stop.”

Maya almost laughed, but it caught in her throat. She could still feel the damp chill clinging to her skin.

---

That night, she sat at her desk with her history book open but unread. The apartment was quiet—too quiet. Her mother was working late again.

Her phone buzzed.

> How did it feel?

She didn’t answer.

Buzz.

> Want to feel it again?

She shut the phone off and dropped it in her desk drawer. Then, from the hallway outside her room, she heard it—the same slow footsteps as before.

One.

Two.

Three.

They stopped outside her door.

She stared at the shadow under the frame. For a second, it looked like a pair of bare feet were standing there, motionless.

Then they vanished.

---

Morning came with a dull, leaden sky. The bus ride was a blur. Maya walked into Franklin High feeling like she hadn’t slept at all.

Jade was waiting.

“You’re seeing her now, aren’t you?” Jade asked, stepping into her path.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Jade’s voice was almost a hiss. “Don’t lie. She touched you. I can see it in your face.”

“Why do you care?” Maya shot back.

Jade’s expression twisted—anger, fear, something else she couldn’t name. “Because I told her to choose you instead of me.”

Before Maya could respond, Jade walked away.

---

Third period was a blur. Maya tried to focus on the teacher, but her gaze kept drifting to the classroom window.

At first, it was nothing—just the grey sky beyond the glass. But then, a reflection appeared.

A girl stood just behind her. Wet hair clung to her cheeks. Her eyes were hollow and dark, her lips curved into a slow, knowing smile.

Maya spun in her seat.

No one was there.

---

At lunch, Eli slid into the seat across from her. “You look like crap.”

“Thanks,” she muttered.

“You need to stay away from the gate.”

“That’s not going to help anymore.”

Eli’s brows pulled together. “Why?”

“She touched me.”

His expression darkened. “Then you’ve got two choices. Ignore her and hope she gets bored—”

“And the other?”

He leaned in. “Find out what she wants and give it to her.”

---

That evening, Maya stayed late at school under the excuse of “making up lab work.” The halls were mostly empty by the time she made her way toward the east wing.

The gate was there, same as always, but the light above it was dead.

She took a step closer. Her breath clouded in the air.

From the dark beyond the bars came a whisper.

“Maya…”

She swallowed hard. “What do you want?”

The whisper turned into a low laugh. Then came a voice, soft and clear:

“Find me.”

The chain rattled—not from her touch, but from something on the other side.

And then, from the far end of the hallway, she saw her.

A girl in a soaked school uniform, hair dripping down her shoulders, walking toward her with slow, measured steps. Each one echoed too loud in the silence.

Maya couldn’t move. Her feet felt nailed to the ground.

The girl stopped just short of the gate, her head tilting, eyes fixed on Maya’s.

“Don’t let him lock me in again.”

Before Maya could ask who he was, the light overhead blinked on—and the hallway was empty.

---

She ran all the way to the bus stop, the echo of wet footsteps following her in her head.

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