I swear I saw him. I felt him. His breath was warm, his lips tasted of mintjust like always. He even wore that oversized grey hoodie I teased him about, the one that made him look like a “cuddly thug.” He was real. He held me all night. Whispered “I love you” in my ear. Promised wed marry next year. I remember every secondthe way his fingers traced my arm, how he cried when I cried, how he made love to me with so much passion I thought my soul would split. And then he vanished.
I woke alone. But I wasnt scared. I thought hed gone for a run, like he sometimes did. His cologne still clung to the sheets. My skin still burned where hed touched me. But something was wrong.
I called.
Again.
And again.
Then my best friend, Emily, burst into my room, her face ashen. I didnt understand why she was crying.
“Sophie” she whispered. “You dont know?”
I laughed. “Know what?”
“James is dead.”
I blinked. “Dead how?”
She sobbed harder. “Two days ago. Car crash. During the storm.”
No. No. No.
I screamed. Shoved her. Called her cruel for saying it. Showed her the text James sent me the night beforethe voice note saying, “Im coming over. Miss your body next to mine.” She stared at my phone, trembling.
“Sophie he couldnt have sent that. He was already in the morgue.”
The world tilted.
My knees buckled.
I ran to the bathroom, grabbed the towel hed usedstill damp. The hoodie crumpled on the floor. The bite mark on my neck.
He was here.
He had to be.
But the truth was James was buried yesterday.
And somehow, Id made love to him last night.
Days passed. Nights became unbearable. I couldnt sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw himsometimes at the foot of my bed, sometimes whispering in my ear. One night, I heard his voice: “Dont cry, love. Im still with you.” I tried to record it. All I got was static and my own terrified breathing.
Then I missed my period.
Twice.
I blamed stress. Grief. Trauma.
Until I vomited for the fifth time in a day.
I took a test.
Two lines.
Positive.
I collapsed.
The only person Id been with was James.
But he was dead.
Buried. Decaying. Gone.
Yet something was growing inside me.
Something that kicked at night.
Something that glowed under my skin in the dark.
And whenever I sobbed, saying I couldnt bear this
I heard him whisper from the shadows:
“Youre not alone. Our child is coming.”
I dont remember falling asleep. Only waking in the bathtub, the pregnancy test still clutched in my hand, those two pink lines mocking my sanity. I hadnt spoken to anyone in daysnot even Emily. My phone buzzed endlessly. Her name lit up the screen. I ignored every call.
How could I explain carrying a dead mans child? Whod believe me? I barely did. Until that night.
Id just drifted off when something pressed against my belly from inside. Not a normal kick. It felt deliberate. Like it was trying to get my attention. I bolted upright, gasping, hands flying to my stomach. Then I heard it again.
Jamess voice. In my head.
“Dont be afraid, love. I chose you.”
I screamed and scrambled out of bed. Lifted my shirt in the mirror. I couldve sworn I saw a faint pulse of blue light beneath my skin. It flickered then vanished. My legs gave out. I crumpled to the floor, sobbing.
The next day, I forced myself to the hospital. Told the doctor Id conceived after my boyfriend visited. Lied about the dates. Lied about everythingexcept the symptoms.
“Strange dreams. Skin that glows. Hearing voices from someone who isnt there.”
Her expression shifted from concern to quiet suspicion.
“Well run some tests,” she said carefully. “Stress can do strange things to the mind, especially with pregnancy hormones.”
She pressed her stethoscope to my belly. Froze.
“I cant hear a heartbeat. But somethings moving.”
She ordered a scan. Lying on the cold metal table, the technician paled. She adjusted the scanner, silent until I asked what was wrong.
“Theres a fetus,” she whispered. “But its glowing.”
I left without waiting for results. That night, I dreamed of Jamesstanding by our old spot at the lake, wind tugging at his hoodie.
“Our son isnt like the others,” he said, voice softer than the breeze. “Hes me and more.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
He only smiled sadly. “Youll understand soon. But you have to protect him.”
I woke to find the curtains wide openthough Id locked them. The hoodie from my dream was folded neatly at the foot of my bed. I touched it. It was still warm.
Then I knewwhat grew inside me was real. His. And it was changing me.
The next day, I finally called Emily. I needed help. She came running, held me tight. I told her everything. Showed her the glow in my belly. The dreams. The voice. The baby.
She didnt laugh.
Didnt scream.
She whispered, “I need to take you somewhere.”
She led me to an old house hidden behind her grandmothers church. Inside, an elderly woman with long grey braids and pale eyes studied me.
“Youre not the first,” she said. “But you must be the last.”
I asked what she meant. Her answer froze my blood.
“You carry the child of a bound soul. That baby is both a blessing and a warning. His father shouldnt have returned. Now that door is open. And others are crossing.”
“To take him?” I asked.
“To take you.”
The lights flickered. A cold breeze slithered through the windows.
And from the shadows Jamess voice:
“Run.”
The room turned icy. The old womans eyes widened in fear as shadows stretched unnaturally across the walls like claws.
“Hes here,” she whispered, clutching a rosary of bone and jet.
Emily shoved me behind her.
But I wasnt afraid of James anymore. I feared the others. The ones the woman said were coming because hed broken the rules.
She scattered ash in a circle, told me to step inside.
“Dont leave, no matter what. You hear me?” she warned. “Youre a bridge now. Between life and death. And bridges get crossed both ways.”
I stepped in. My belly pulsed with that eerie light. The baby kickedharder than ever.
Then I heard the voices. Dozens. Hundreds.
Screams. Moans. Pleas. Laughter.
All from the dark.
“James, please,” I whispered. “Whats happening?”
Then I saw him.
But not like before.
His eyes were hollow, full of sorrow and fear.
“Im sorry,” he said. “I didnt mean to drag you into this. I just missed you so much. Wanted one more night. One more moment. I didnt know I was opening a door.”
I stepped closer, tears falling.
“Why me? Why the baby?”
He looked at my belly, then at me.
“Because our love was stronger than death. But love like that breaks the rules.”
Suddenly, something else emerged from the shadowsa twisted figure with half a face and burning eyes. It hissed at me.
James stepped between us.
“You cant have her!” he roared. “You cant take our son!”
The thing laughed.
“You broke the rule, spirit. Touched the living. Now, we feast.”
The room shook.
The old woman chanted in a language I didnt know.
Emily grabbed my hand, crying.
“Sophie! Dont leave the circle!”
I screamed as the creature lunged.
James slammed into it mid-air.
The woman shouted:
“NOW! Choose, girl! Life or love?”
James turned to me, bleeding, fading.
“You have to let me go, love. For our son. For you.”
I shook my head, sobbing.
“I cant lose you again!”
“You never lost me. I live in him now. In you. But if you hold on theyll take everything.”
The lights exploded.
The floor cracked.
The shadows howled.
And with every shattered piece of my heart, I screamed his name and said goodbye.
For a moment, he smiled.
Then he was gone.
The darkness retreated.
The creature shrieked, dissolving into smoke
