Mia woke with a jolt. It was still dark outside. The world was silent, except for the ticking of the clock beside her bed. Her body was covered in sweat. She had no memory of what the dream was, but her heart was racing like she had just run through fire. Suddenly she saw her bedroom door opened not halfway but wide.
She always closed it before sleeping. Her mouth went dry. She pushed off her blanket slowly, feet hitting the floor. Every sound in the house seemed louder now, the groan of the wooden floorboards, the hum of the refrigerator downstairs, the whisper of the wind outside. She kept wondering if it was Lily again.
She picked up the note on the floor just inside the doorway.
"Lily can't protect you. Not when you're already broken."
Her hand shook. Her heart dropped like a stone. She backed up, bumping into her bedpost, then sat down and grabbed her phone.
Mia: Elise, I think someone was in my room.
The typing bubble appeared quickly.
Elise: What??? Are you okay? Does your parent know?
Mia: I saw another note and my door was open when I woke up.
Elise: Call the police.
Mia stared at the screen. Her stomach turned.
Mia: And tell them what? That an anonymous individual or a ghost left me a message?
There was no reply for a moment. Then:
Elise: I am coming over. I don't care what time it is. From there we would go to school.
Henry stood in front of his father's office door, fists clenched. He had stood here many times before as a child, as a teenager always on the edge of asking questions and being told to stay silent but not today. He burst through the door without knocking. Professor Charles looked up slowly from his desk.
"Henry, I expect you to knock."
"I need to talk to you," Henry said coldly. "About Lily."
The name dropped into the room like a bomb. Professor Charles' pen froze mid-signature. His jaw tightened.
"You've been told not to bring up the past."
"She's not just the past!" Henry shouted. "She appeared to me. In this house. You said she was gone. But she's not. She's trapped. And you know why."
Charles stood, eyes dark with something Henry couldn't name. "What are you implying?"
"That you did something to her," Henry said. "That you hid her. That you used her for whatever experiment you called 'Apparition.' I want the truth."
Charles walked around the desk and stood in front of his son. "Whatever you might have thought or heard, I always wanted you to bury the past mainly because it hurts. Your mom died and Lily disappeared. I want to get over that, don't call the names of people that are gone."
Henry revolted quickly, "You are a liar. Lily once appeared telling me about an apparition. I once heard you mention a 'project apparition' when I was a kid. You are involved."
Charles turned his back. "Go to your room, Henry. Before you regret this conversation."
Henry stared at him in silence, then left, rage boiling behind his eyes.
At Mia's house, by the time Elise arrived, Mia was curled up on the couch with a baseball bat beside her and every light in the house turned on. Elise dropped her bag and ran to her.
"I came through the back. Didn't see anyone," she said. "Did you lock all the doors?"
Mia nodded silently, pointing to the note.
Elise read it, frowning. "It's getting worse."
"I don't know what to do," Mia whispered. "Every time I think I am safe, something new happens. Notes, doors, shadows. I find it difficult to sleep. I don't even know if what I see is real anymore."
Elise sat beside her, wrapping an arm around her. "You're not crazy, Mia. They're trying to make you think you are. You said Lily told you something. About Henry?"
Mia hesitated. "She said I am close to the one who is holding back the truth and that he knows but he doesn't want to remember… it wasn't just a coincidence."
"You think he's involved?"
"I think…" Mia whispered. "I think he's part of the story since he is Lily's brother."
Elise was shocked as she shouted, "what? if so why has Lily always been appearing to you?"
"That I don't know, it seems I am obviously connected and maybe the fate that brought I and Henry together." Mia said been confused herself.
Elise held her hand. "Then we'll figure it out. Together."
Mia nodded, but her heart remained heavy.
Hilda watched from the shadows across the street, standing next to a black car with tinted windows. Eve sat inside, head down, watching Mia's house like it was a hunting ground.
"Did you see that?" Hilda whispered. "Lights on. She's freaking out."
Eve smiled evilly. "Good. Let's keep it that way."
Hilda pulled out a small envelope. "This is next."
Inside were printed photos, altered images of Mia, standing alone in her school uniform, except her eyes were scribbled out and one had a faint ghostly shape drawn behind her.
"We leave one on her school desk tomorrow," she said. "Another in her locker."
"She's going to lose it."
"That's the plan."
Eve chuckled. "And then?"
"Then, we expose her. Say she's dangerous. Say she needs help. That she talks to ghosts and sees things that don't exist. That she has no control."
"And people will believe us?"
"They already think she's weird. They just need a little push."
Eve leaned back. "Let's push."
Mia found the first photo in her locker. She stared at it for a long time before touching it as if it might bite her. The drawing of the ghost behind her… it wasn't just artistic. It looked like Lily to some extent.
She yanked it down and shoved it into her bag. Someone was targeting her but it wasn't just a prank. It was personal.
At her desk, she found another photo. This one was worse. A shot of her backyard and her bedroom window, taken from outside. Her hands shook. This was more than psychological. This was stalking.
Henry sat alone in the library, flipping through the oldest yearbooks Allen High had. He wasn't looking for class pictures. He was looking for Lily. And he found her in the 11th-grade yearbook, her eyes shining even in black and white. Next to her photo, the quote read:
"Some truths are heavier than silence."
He traced her name with his thumb.
"What happened to you, Lily?" he whispered. "Where did you go?"
Then he flipped another page… and found a note stuck between the binding. It was a handwritten one.
Project Apparition — Trial Subjects: L. Charles, Mia Lawrence.
His heart skipped, 'Mia'. His hands went cold. He knew it was possibly Mia. They were connected officially. His father had records. He closed the book and stood, shaking. Why Mia surname was Lawrence in the note was confusing but he had to warn her.
Mia sat in her room, lights on, curtains shut. Elise had gone home to grab some things, promising she would return soon. Mia couldn't stop staring at the photo from her locker. Who took this and why?
Suddenly, her phone lit up.
Henry: I found something. Something about you and Lily. We need to talk. Now.
She froze. How did he know? She didn't reply. A knock at the door made her jump. She grabbed the bat again. "Who's there?"
No answer. There was another knock, it was firmer. Then the sound of a paper sliding under the door.
She stepped forward slowly and picked it up. It was another photo. But this time, it was of her and Henry, the day he caught her when she fell. A red X was drawn over both of them.
Underneath it, someone had scrawled:
"Are you scared?"