I was a kindergarten teacher. I genuinely loved children.nMaybe I was strict. Maybe I raised my voice more often than I should. But that didn't change the fact that I cared about every child under my watch. Among all my students, however, there was one child who stood out from the rest. Qiqi, Troublesome, The kind of child other teachers would sigh about in the staff room.

She rarely spoke unless necessary, often wandered off into her own world, and had an unfortunate habit of causing problems without any explanation. Sometimes she would interrupt other children while they were playing. Other times she would suddenly snatch objects away from them or block them from going somewhere. Whenever I asked why she did those things, she would simply lower her head and remain silent. Yet after spending enough time with her, I learned something nobody else seemed willing to hear.

*Qiqi believed she could see ghosts. According to her, she wasn't trying to cause trouble. She was trying to protect people. Of course, nobody believed her. Most people assumed she was making things up. That she was strange but she was still a child and whether her stories were true or not, I couldn't bring myself to dismiss her completely. So instead of judging her, I chose to understand her or at least try to. *

Lately, there Several child abduction cases had been reported in nearby neighborhoods. The news spread quickly. Soon every teacher in our kindergarten was called into an emergency meeting. We were instructed to keep a close watch on the children at all times, especially during outdoor activities or whenever they left the school grounds. At first, everything seemed normal. Nothing unusual happened. The days passed peacefully.

Yet there was a feeling I couldn't shake. A feeling that someone was watching us. At first, I dismissed it as paranoid but the sensation never disappeared. Day after day, Like eyes following us from somewhere just beyond sight. I had no proof, so I told nobody. Until one afternoon. While supervising the children outside, I noticed a figure standing partially concealed behind a large tree across the street. Watching. The moment our eyes met, the figure stepped further behind the trunk. Over the next few days, I paid closer attention and eventually, I saw her again. A woman. Not a man as I had initially assumed. A woman carrying a camera, watching and what disturbed me most was who she was watching. Qiqi.

The woman followed from a distance. She appeared near the kindergarten, the park, the routes children took home. Sometimes she would simply stand there, staring. Other times she would quietly photograph from afar..There was something unsettlingly obsessive about it. The kind of fixation that made my skin crawl.

One afternoon, Qiqi disappeared. According to the children who had been with her, she had suddenly wandered away after claiming she saw a ghost. The moment we realized she was missing, panic spread through the staff. Teachers split into groups and began searching the surrounding neighborhood.

Then finally, I found her. Qiqi stood perfectly unharmed. Beside her was the woman, That freak stalker. She was crouched down to Qiqi's height, smiling warmly as they chatted as though they were old friends. Qiqi looked fine, Not frightened, injured. The woman didn't appear hostile. Yet none of that mattered. Because all I could think about was the fact that a stranger had been stalking one of my students for days and now I found them together.

Rage surged through me before reason could catch up. Ignoring the voices of my fellow teachers calling my name from somewhere behind me, I stormed forward. I grabbed her collar and slammed her against the nearest wall. My grip tightened, protective fury burned through every nerve in my body. I positioned myself between her and Qiqi, glaring directly into her eyes.

"What did you do to Qiqi?" I shoved her harder against the wall.

"You've been following her for days. Watching her. Photographing her. Waiting for her after school. You worthless stalker."