I tried to sleep that night. I really did.
Curled up in my bed, the moonlight spilling through the curtains like a ghostly veil, everything looked calm. But it was a lie. My breath caught every few seconds, heart thudding like it knew something I didn't. My room—my safe place—felt cold, distant, like it was grieving me already.
That's when I heard it. Again.
"You don't belong here anymore, Emma."
I sat up, wide-eyed.
"Who's there?" I whispered, my throat suddenly dry. I already knew.
The voice responded like it was laced in fog. Smooth. Sorrowful. Familiar.
"You know me."
"Amelia," I said.
"You're stronger now. But this house... it remembers more than you think."
I looked around. The shadows looked like they were watching. The closet door creaked on its own.
"Why here?" I asked, voice breaking. "Why my house?"
"Because this is where my soul was first torn. Rituals. Screams. Fire. Blood. It was the beginning and the end... all in one place. And now, our connection is stronger."
"You mean… I made it worse by coming back?"
"Yes. And soon, the house will reject you completely."
I swallowed the rising fear. "Then what do I do?"
She didn't answer right away.
"I never had a choice. But you do."
I blinked. "You mean... leave?"
"If you want to live, Emma, yes."
I started crying, barely able to form the next words. "I don't want to lose everything. This is my home. My mom—"
"She'll understand. One day."
Then she faded, her voice lingering like smoke.
---
The Next Morning
I barely slept. I stared at the ceiling until the sun told me it was morning. I sat up slowly, my body heavy. My mom came into the room, her smile fading when she saw me.
"Emma... what's wrong?"
I looked at her, eyes filled with everything I couldn't say. "I can't stay here anymore."
She froze. "What do you mean?"
"I can't explain. But I'm scared, Mom. Not just of what's in the world. I'm scared of this house. I feel like it's trying to bury me in its walls."
Her eyes watered. "Emma... this is our home."
"Not anymore," I whispered.
Tears slipped down her cheeks as she hugged me tightly. "Okay. If you need to go, you go. Just promise me you'll stay safe."
"I'll try."
---
At Liam's House
Liam opened the door before I knocked. He saw the suitcase. He didn't ask.
"Come in," he said gently.
I stepped in, the warmth of his house wrapping around me like a hug I didn't know I needed.
Later, in the guest room, he brought me a cup of warm cocoa and sat next to me. I hadn't stopped shaking.
"You want to talk about it?"
I hesitated, then nodded. "Amelia came to me. She spoke to me in my room. She said... the house is poisoned. That I'll never be safe there again. It was built on pain. On her pain."
He looked down, thinking. "So she's taking control of more than just you. She's spreading through the walls."
I nodded. "It felt like I was drowning. She said if I stayed... I'd die."
He took my hand. "Then we make this your home. As long as you need."
I looked at him, eyes glassy. "Do you think I'm crazy?"
"No," he said softly. "I think you're surviving something no one else could. That makes you the strongest person I know."
I finally leaned into his shoulder. "Thank you."
---
That Night – Amelia Returns
As I drifted into half-sleep, her voice returned. But this time, inside my head.
"You're safer now. But not forever."
"Why me?" I whispered in the dark.
"Because you're the only one who can finish what I couldn't. You are the end of my story, Emma."
I sat up. "What do you want from me?"
Her voice trembled. "To be free."
I clutched the blanket to my chest. "Free from what?"
"From the pain. From the past. From the curse I became. But the ritual... it's coming. In four months, I will be reborn. In your body."
"No," I whispered. "You can't do that. I won't let you."
"You won't have a choice. Unless you find the answer."
"What answer?"
"You'll know when the time is right."
And then she was gone again.
---
Emma's Diary Entry – That Night
Dear Diary,
I left my house today. For good? I don't know.
Amelia spoke to me again. She told me my home is cursed by her history. By her death. By her rage. And now, she's planning to be reborn. In my body.
I feel like I'm slipping away. Like I'm just a shadow and she's stepping into the light.
But I won't give up. I will fight. Even if I have to do it from Liam's guest room. Even if I have to rebuild every part of myself.
I just want peace. A room that doesn't breathe when I sleep. A mirror that only shows my reflection. A night without whispers.
I don't know if I'll ever get that.
But I'm going to try.
Love,
Emma
That night, sleep wouldn't come. Not even a little. Every time I closed my eyes, I felt Amelia breathing down my neck—inside my head. So I sat up in bed, hugged my knees, and stared at the soft moonlight spilling through the curtains of Liam's massive window.
I don't even know what pulled me out of bed. Maybe it was curiosity. Maybe fear. Or maybe something older, stranger… like fate.
I slipped out quietly and padded down the marble hallway of Liam's house. It felt cold against my skin, and even colder was the silence. Until I reached the library.
The second I opened the huge wooden doors, I felt it—something shift. Like a heartbeat, thudding in the walls. And then I saw it.
One of the books on the center shelf was glowing faintly. Not in a horror-movie kind of way, but like it wanted to be found. Deep blue light seeped from its spine.
I stepped closer. My fingers hovered before I finally touched it.
The moment I opened the cover, the pages started flipping on their own. My heart stuttered in my chest.
Then it stopped.
A painting.
Of Amelia.
She looked younger. Angry. Alive. And next to her—my breath caught—was a boy. Hazel eyes. A mole near his right eye. Peter.
What the actual hell.
The ink on the page shimmered. Shifted. Rearranged into a sentence that sent a chill straight to my bones:
"The blood shall remember. The house was hers first."
I staggered back. That's when her voice returned in my head, gentle but terrifying:
"My home... was taken. You returned. And now... so shall I."
"Liam!" I screamed I don't even remember how many times..
He was there, bare feet, sleepy eyes, hair a mess. "Emma? What's wrong?"
I pointed at the book. "This house—it's not just a house, Liam. It—it belonged to her. Before. Somehow. I think… she lived here."
His expression darkened. "You mean Amelia?"
But his face seemed like he isn't seeing the book.
Was it invisible to him or what.
I nodded slowly.
I was not sure why I said that, I mean I wasn't sure if she meant this house of mine.
I don't remember clearly what happened.
I can't breathe, i collapsed.
And it means it was my inner something which made only me see that thing in book but not others, it took energy and that's why I collapsed.
The room felt colder now. Like something was waking up with us.