**Episode 1**
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 he always complained made him look like a “soft lad.” 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 such passion I thought my soul would split in two. 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 wasnt right.
I called.
Again.
And again.
Then my best mate, Emily, walked into my room, her face pale. 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. 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 before. The voicemail: “On my way. Miss your body next to mine.” She stared at my phone, trembling.
“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 crumpled 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. I couldnt sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him. Sometimes at the foot of my bed. Sometimes whispering in my ear. One night, I heard him: “Dont cry, love. Im still with you.” I tried to record itgot nothing but static and my own ragged 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. Rotting. Gone.
Yet something grew inside me.
Something that kicks at night.
Something that glows beneath 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.”
**Episode 2**
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 shot upright, gasping, hands flying to my stomach. Then I heard it 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. Couldve sworn I saw a pulse of blue light under my skin. It flickered then vanished. My legs gave out. I sank to the floor, sobbing.
The next day, I forced myself to the clinic. Told the doctor Id conceived after my boyfriend “visited.” Lied about dates. Lied about everythingexcept the symptoms.
“Strange dreams. Skin that glows. Hearing voices of someone who isnt there.”
Her expression shifted from concern to quiet suspicion.
“Well run some tests,” she said carefully. “Stress can play tricks on the mind, especially with pregnancy hormones.”
She pressed the stethoscope to my belly. Froze.
“I cant hear a heartbeat. But somethings moving.”
She ordered a scan. On that cold metal table, the technician paled. Adjusted the wand. Said nothing 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 soon. 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.
Just whispered, “I need to take you somewhere.”
She led me to an old house behind her grans church. Inside, an elderly woman with long grey braids and pale eyes took one look at me 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 baby is both a blessing and a warning. His father shouldnt have returned. Now the doors open. And others are crossing.”
“To take him?” I asked.
“To take *you*.”
Suddenly, the lights flickered. A chill swept through the room.
And from the shadows James voice rang out:
“*Run.*”
**Episode 3**
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. Not anymore. Now, I feared the *others*. The ones she said were coming because he broke the rules.
She scattered ash in a circle, ordered me inside.
“Dont step out, no matter what. Understand?” she warned. “Youre a bridge now. Between life and death. And bridges are crossed both ways.”
I stepped in. My belly pulsed with that eerie glow. The baby kickedharder than ever.
Then came the voices. Dozens. Hundreds.
Screams. Moans. Pleas. Laughter.
All pouring from the dark.
“James, *please*,” I whispered. “Whats happening?”
Then I saw him.
But not as before.
His eyes were hollow, full of sorrow.
“Im sorry,” he said. “I never meant 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 forward, tears streaming.
“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* slithered from the shadowsa twisted thing 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 law, spirit. Touched the living. Now, we *feast*.”
The room shook.
The old woman chanted in a tongue I didnt know.
Emily gripped my hand, weeping.
“Lily! *Stay in 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*.”
Lights exploded.
The floor cracked.
Shadows howled.
And with every shattered piece of my heart, I screamed his name and let him go.
For a moment, he smiled.
Then vanished.
