Page 27 of Presence

When I get to the part about the dark force targeting me, a shiver runs down my spine. I don’t want to think that all those times Cam joked about me being haunted were not jokes at all but some fucking premonitions of her witchy intuition. Yet, that’s exactly what comes to mind.

Something in my life is interfering, and that something could very well be an evil spirit.

Remember how I said I’m a skeptical person? Well, I might be losing that skepticism. After all, I feel watched. I used to think it was just my imagination, but as time goes by, I’m not so sure anymore.

That… something, that presence was there last night when the lights flickered, and when Cam was performing the ritual to summon Echo. It was there, watching as Echo protected me in my sleep. That same force must have opened the blinds on my windows.

I remember closing them, too frightened to face the vast, dark sky that chills me to the bone. Yet now, all the windows are uncovered, as if I hadn’t touched them at all. I wasn’t hallucinating or sleepwalking.

I’m certain of it.

Just as I’m about to jot down everything I remember, a sudden ringing startles me. My pen slips from my grip and clatters to the floor.

“Shit,” I mutter, jumping up from my seat and leaving it behind. The phone’s ringing in my bedroom.

It’s Camila.

“Hey, Cam,” I greet her, trying to keep my voice even.

“Yeah, hey you,” she replies, her tone already teasing. “Imagine my surprise waking up with no messages from you last night. Not even a reply this morning. My first thought? You were dead. Then I remembered—you’re not an insomniac anymore. Weird, huh?”

I scoff. “Very weird, sure. If you’d asked me a couple of days ago, I’d have said I’d sooner die than sleep through the night.”

“All thanks to me,” she quips. A smile creeps onto my face.

will never let me forget how she saved me from my insomnia—or, at least, lessened it. I’m still not sure if the problem is completely gone. But to her, it probably is. Even decades from now, she’ll remind me about it. And rightfully so. She’s an angel.

“Absolutely, you’re my hero, Cam. Seriously though, can we meet up soon? There’s a lot we need to discuss, especially about last night and... everything that’s been happening.” I try to sound casual, but my voice betrays the urgency I feel.

I don’t necessarily want to tell her about Echo—I want to keep him to myself—but that darkness coming for me? That’s a different matter. I could use a friend to help with that, especially one who’s clearly more knowledgeable about all things supernatural than I am.

There’s a strange sound on her end, like static but louder and deeper.

“You sure you won’t run away from me?” she asks through the distortion. Her voice sounds off.

“Huh?” I muse, walking back to the living room. “When have I ever run away from you?”

As soon as I say that, a laugh comes through the line. It doesn’t sound like her laugh. This one is dark, slow... malicious. I swallow hard, my body tensing. I want to ask if Jackson, the guy she was supposed to date, is near her, but the words get stuck in my throat.

The little hairs on my arms raise in alarm.

“Indeed, when have you?” somebody, something, asks. “Don’t tell me you already forgot?” My limbs turn cold. “You thought I wouldn’t find you? Oh, no, Claire. Your guardian spirit can’t save you from me.”

The line crackles, the voice warping into something grotesque and unrecognizable. Panic grips my heart as I clutch the phone tighter, my knuckles whitening.

“Who is this?” I manage to choke out, though part of me dreads the answer.

There’s a pause, then a mirthless chuckle filters through the static. “So coy you are...”

In an instant, I’m on my feet, adrenaline momentarily lifting the weight from my limbs. I drop the phone as if it’s scorched me and slam the disconnect button.

“Oh, fuck,” I mutter to myself.

Still trembling, I back away from the phone, half-expecting it to leap at me. My breath comes in short, sharp gasps.

What was that? Another hallucination? No, it can’t be. I’ve slept. I’m rested. There’s no fog clouding my judgment. Then what in the world…? The realization hits me hard: the force Echo warned me about has reached me, even here in the real world.

“Oh, no. No, no, no,” I mutter, rubbing my face. I can’t let fear take over. I need to calm down and think. But my hands won’t stop trembling, and my heart refuses to settle.

---