Maya shouldn’t have been there.

Every instinct screamed at her to turn back as she crept through the abandoned property, flashlight trembling in her hand. The place was supposed to be empty—just rumors, old sightings, whispers online. But whispers had been wrong before.

And this time, she needed proof.

She found the basement door hidden behind a shelf.

The air changed the second she opened it. Cold. Still. Heavy with silence.

Step by step, she descended the narrow stairs.

Then she heard it.

A quiet, broken whisper.

“Please… help me…”

Maya froze.

Her light swept across the basement—

And landed on you.

You were sitting on the cold floor, wrists tied in front of you, eyes wide with fear, your face streaked with tears. The second you saw her, your breath hitched.

“Maya,” you whispered desperately. “Please—don’t leave me. They’re coming back.”

Her heart stopped.

“You’re real,” she breathed. “You’re actually here…”

She rushed to you without thinking, dropping to her knees beside you. Her hands shook as she checked the bindings. “Hold on. I’ve got you. I swear.”

“They brought me here,” you said through shaky breaths. “They said no one would ever find me. I thought I was going to disappear.”

Maya swallowed hard, fighting panic as she worked at the knots. “Not today. Not with me here.”

A sound echoed upstairs.

Footsteps