**Diary Entry October 12th**
I swear I saw him. Touched him. Kissed him. Felt him. His breath was warm, his lips tasted of mintjust like always. He even wore that oversized grey hoodie I used to tease him about, the one that made him look like a “soft thug.” He was real. He held me all night. Whispered “I love you” in my ear. Said wed marry next year. I remember every secondhow his fingers traced my arm, how he cried when I cried, how he made love to me with such passion I thought my soul would split in two. And then he was gone.
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 felt wrong.
I called.
Again.
And again.
Then my best mate, Emily, burst into my room, her face bone-white. I didnt understand why she was crying.
“Lily” she whispered. “You dont know?”
I laughed. “Know what?”
“James is dead.”
I blinked. “Dead how?”
She sobbed harder. “Two days ago. Car crash. The night of the storm.”
No. No. No.
I screamed. Shoved her. Called her cruel for joking. I showed her the text James sent me the night beforethe voice note saying, “On my way. Miss your body next to mine.” She stared at my phone, shaking.
“Lily he couldnt have sent that. He was already in the morgue.”
The world tilted. My knees gave way.
I ran to the bathroom, grabbed the towel hed usedstill damp. The hoodie on the floor. The bite mark on my neck.
He was here.
He had to be.
But the truth? James was buried yesterday.
And somehow, I made love to him last night.
Days passed. Nights became unbearable. 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 recording it. Only static. Only my own terrified breathing.
Then I missed my period.
Twice.
I blamed stress. Grief. Trauma.
Until I vomited five times 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. Rotting. Gone.
Yet something grew inside me.
Something that kicks at night.
Something that glows under my skin when the lights go out.
And every time I sob that I cant do this
I hear him whisper from the shadows:
“Youre not alone. Our son is coming.”
**Diary Entry October 19th**
I dont remember falling asleep. Just 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 rang dozens of times. 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 wanted my attention. I bolted upright, gasping, hands on my stomach. Then I heard him again.
James voice. Inside my head.
“Dont be afraid, love. I chose you.”
I screamed, scrambling out of bed. Lifted my shirt in the mirror. I couldve sworn I saw a 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 gotten pregnant after my boyfriend “visited.” Lied about dates. Lied about everythingexcept the symptoms.
“Strange dreams. Skin that glows. Hearing voices of someone not there.”
Her expression shifted from concern to quiet suspicion.
“Well run tests,” she said carefully. “Stress can do odd 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. The technicians face paled as she adjusted the monitor. She didnt speak until I begged.
“Theres a foetus,” she whispered. “But its glowing.”
I left without waiting for results. That night, I dreamed of James by our old spot at the lake, breeze ruffling his hoodie.
“Our son isnt like others,” he said, voice softer than wind. “Hes me and more.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
He only smiled sadly. “Youll understand. But you must protect him.”
I woke to find the curtains wide openthough Id locked them. The hoodie from my dream lay folded at the foot of my bed. I touched it. 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 rushed over, holding 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 a crooked old house behind her grans church. Inside, an elderly woman with silver braids and milky eyes stared at me once and said:
“Youre not the first. 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 babys both a blessing and a warning. His father shouldnt have returned. Now that doors open. And others are crossing.”
“To take him?” I asked.
“To take you.”
The lights flickered. A chill wind rushed through the windows.
And from the shadows James voice:
“Run.”
**Diary Entry October 26th**
The room turned icy. The old womans eyes widened as shadows stretched like claws across the walls.
“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 she said were coming because hed broken the rules.
She scattered ash in a circle, ordered me inside.
“Dont step out, no matter what. Youre a bridge now. Between life and death. And bridges can be crossed both ways.”
I stepped in. My belly glowed. The baby kicked harder than ever.
Then came the voices. Dozens. Hundreds.
Screams. Moans. Pleas. Laughter.
All from the dark.
“James, please,” I begged. “Whats happening?”
Then I saw him.
But not as before.
His eyes were hollow, full of sorrow.
“Im sorry,” he said. “I didnt mean to drag you into this. I just missed you. Wanted one more night. Didnt know Id opened a door.”
I reached for him, tears falling.
“Why me? Why the baby?”
He looked at my belly, then me.
“Because our love was stronger than death. But love like that breaks laws.”
Suddenly, something else emergeda 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 tongue I didnt know.
Emily gripped my hand, crying.
“Lily! Stay in the circle!”
I screamed as the creature lunged.
James tackled it mid-air.
The woman shouted:
“NOW! Choose, girl! Life or love?”
James turned to me, bloody, 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.”
Lights exploded.
The floor cracked.
Shadows howled.
And with all the pain in my heart, I screamed his name and let go.
He smiled.
Then vanished.
The darkness retreated.
The creature shrieked into smoke.
Silence fell.
I collapsed.
The circle faded.
And the baby inside me kicked once. Twice. Then settled.
Nine months later, I gave birth to
