Ace's skin prickled.
Goosebumps crawled up his arms, rising without warning, like his body had sensed something his mind refused to accept. He glanced around the room, suddenly aware of how small it felt. The shadows in the corners seemed deeper than before.
This is stupid, he told himself.
It had to be a prank. Some bot account. Some edgy post designed to mess with people who overthink too much. The internet was full of that kind of nonsense. especially nowadays, there's a lot of AI that pops up that you don't know if it's real or not
Still, his grip tightened around the phone.
A quiet unease settled in his chest, the kind that made him listen harder to the hum of electricity, to the sound of his own breathing, to anything that could prove he was still alone.
"Ghosts aren't real," he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper.
Yet his eyes drifted to the door. Closed. Locked. Just the way he'd left it.
The phone buzzed.
Ace flinched.
The screen lit up on its own. One notification appeared from anknown number, saying
"You think this is a joke."
Ace's heart skipped.
Okay. No. This isn't funny anymore.
His mind raced. Hackers. Algorithms. Targeted ads. Anything but what his instincts were screaming at him. He rubbed his eyes, trying to shake off thinking maybe it's just his imagination, or maybe I am just tired from work
Ace hesitates to open the notification from an unknown number; it takes him a minute to gather the courage to open and reply to the message
And he replied, "hello may I know who's this?"
The screen flickered again.
And a new notification appeared from the same number
"You're not afraid of ghosts."
Ace swallowed hard.
He sat up, the mattress creaking beneath him. Every hair on his body felt on edge, like the air itself had shifted. He searched the room again ceiling, the walls, and the window, expecting something to reveal itself. cause maybe someone pulled a prank on him, or maybe have a hidden camera.
But nothing.
And that somehow made it worse.
"Who are you?" Ace whispered.
Am I imagining things now?
Silence returned to the room.
Ace sat there, frozen, staring at his phone long after the light dimmed. His heart still raced, thinking whether he's going to reply or ignore the unknown number
His thoughts spiraled about hidden accounts, strange coincidences, and the uncomfortable possibility that something unseen had reached out to him. But exhaustion weighed more heavily than curiosity. His eyelids grew heavy, his grip on the phone loosening.
Ace lay back on the mattress.
The cracked ceiling blurred.
And before he could decide whether he was relieved or afraid, Ace fell asleep.
While Ace is asleep, he receives more notifications from that unknown number.
While dreaming of standing in an open field beneath a sky untouched by wires or towers. The air felt clean and alive in a way he had never known. Before him stood figures, their faces familiar yet distant, like memories passed down through blood rather than words.
Men and women dressed in old garments, their eyes calm, steady, knowing.
His ancestors.
One stepped forward, placing a hand over Ace's chest.
"You feel the world is broken," the figure said, voice gentle. "Because you sense what was taken."
Another spoke, her tone warm but firm. "Life was never meant to be owned. It was meant to be understood."
Images filled Ace's mind, land shared, hands working together, thoughts shaping reality without greed or fear. He saw intention give form to action, belief turning into consequence.
"Your mind is powerful," they told him. "But power without understanding destroys."
"Do not bend life to your will," one warned. "Learn how to live with it."
Ace tried to speak, to ask questions, but the words wouldn't come. Instead, the teachings flowed into him patience, balance, and responsibility. Not commands, but reminders. As if he already knew, and had only forgotten.
As the figures began to fade, one final voice echoed:
"When you wake, remember thought is the seed. Reality is the soil."
Ace reached out
He woke with a sharp inhale.
Morning light filtered through the window. The room was the same. The fan spun lazily.
But his chest felt different.
Calmer.
He didn't understand what had just happened.
While his mind was still puzzled, Ace grabbed his phone and noticed a flood of notifications from the night before, all from an unknown number.
That's when he realized someone had been messaging him last night. He had assumed it was part of his dream.
When Ace opened the notifications, he saw message after message:
"Hey, bro, answer me.""The deadline of our project is tomorrow."
Ace froze.
Then it clicked.
The unknown number wasn't a ghost or some entity; it was his classmate. A wave of relief washed over him, quickly followed by embarrassment.
But the coincidence made his chest tighten again.
Their project, which is now due, was about ghosts and Philippine folklore. A thesis exploring ancient beliefs, unseen entities, and stories passed down through generations.
Ace stared at the screen, uneasy.
The strange account. The messages. The dream. And now this.
It all felt connected.
And for the first time, coincidence didn't feel random.
But another problem quickly arose.
Their project was due today, and Ace was the one assigned to prepare the report.
His thoughts snapped back to reality. There was no time to overthink dreams, coincidences, or strange messages. Deadlines didn't care about mysteries.
Ace rushed out of his room, threw on his backpack, and went through his usual routine on autopilot. A quick wash. A hurried bite of breakfast. A mumbled goodbye.
Moments later, he was already outside, weaving through the familiar streets of the neighborhood.
The sun was climbing higher as he jogged toward the nearest computer shop, jeepneys passing by, and vendors setting up their stalls. His heart pounded, not from fear this time, but urgency.
Please don't let the printer be broken, he thought.
As he pushed open the door of the shop, the hum of computers and the smell of ink filled the air. He sat down quickly, logged in, and pulled up their report.
Ghosts. Folklore. Ancient beliefs.
Ace paused for just a second, staring at the title.
He shook his head and pressed Print.
Whatever was happening in his life, school still came first.
For now.
Once he was done at the computer shop, Ace headed straight for school, clutching the freshly printed report inside his backpack.
He checked the time.
I'm already late.
He quickened his pace.
But before he could get far, chaos erupted nearby.
Shouts echoed from the street ahead. People began running in different directions, some ducking behind stalls, others pulling out their phones. A small crowd gathered near the bank just a few meters from the computer shop, voices overlapping in panic and excitement.
"Hold up!" someone shouted."There's a gun!" another added.
Ace stopped in his tracks.
A bank robbery.
His hands trembled not from fear of the gun, but from a sudden, sinking thought.
I won't make it to school on time.
As people whispered and pointed, Ace found himself edging closer, curiosity pulling him forward despite his better judgment. From behind a parked jeepney, he caught a glimpse inside the bank.
The robber had the teller at gunpoint.
Ace's breath caught.
His eyes drifted downward, and that's when he noticed it.
A small hole in the floor near the robber's foot. Maybe damaged tiles. Maybe old concrete. Barely noticeable.
Ace's heart began to race.
If he steps back just a little…If his foot lands there…
The thought lingered clear, sharp, uninvited.
Then it happened.
The robber shifted his weight.
His foot slid into the hole.
He lost balance and stumbled backward, crashing to the floor. The gun skidded away across the tiles.
For a split second, the entire bank froze.
Then the police rushed in.
"Hands up!""Don't move!"
The robber was pinned down before he could react. The teller scrambled away, shaken but unharmed. Cheers and gasps erupted from outside as officers dragged the man out in handcuffs.
Ace stood frozen.
His chest pounded.
That… wasn't normal.
He hadn't said anything. He hadn't done anything.
He had only thought it.
And reality had listened.
Ace tightened his grip on his backpack and stepped away from the crowd, his mind spinning.
This time, he ignored what had just happened and focused on getting to school on time, even as he felt quietly amazed.
At school, Ace arrived on time. They presented the report as usual, chatted briefly with their groupmates, and once the class was over, everything felt normal again.
During break time, he sat alone, scrolling aimlessly on his phone, when voices nearby caught his attention.
"Did you hear about that cave?" one of his classmates said, excitement obvious in his tone.
"Yeah," another replied.
"The government just announced it yesterday. They said it hasn't been explored yet."
Ace looked up slightly, pretending not to listen.
"They think it's ancient,"
"Some people are saying it's a tomb. Like, really old. Pre-colonial or something."
"A tomb?" someone mocked.
"Why would they hide that from the public?"
"They're already guarding it," the other answered.
"Military and all. No civilians allowed."
Ace's fingers stilled on his phone.
"And guess where they found it," the classmate added.
"Near the old hills outside town. Just a few kilometers away."
Ace felt a strange chill crawl up his spine.
That was close.
Too close.
His thoughts drifted back to the incident at the bank and the strange dream that followed. He gave his head a sharp shake,
It's just a coincidence, he told himself.
But his chest tightened anyway.
As the bell rang and students began returning to their classrooms, Ace walked down the hallway with the rest of them.
Along the way, he spotted one of the teachers, a P.E. instructor holding a pair of scissors.
Ace stiffened.
At their school, long hair wasn't tolerated. If a student refused to get a haircut, some teachers would make a sharp, humiliating cut through the hair on the spot, forcing the student to comply.
Ace remembered that rule all too well.
As he passed by, his eyes lingered on the scissors. A strange thought crossed his mind, unintentional, fleeting.
What if he drops it…What if he steps on it…What if it breaks?
Ace didn't even realize he had thought it.