“Who’s there?” I whispered. My voice was too weak to overcome the ocean.
Fingertips brushed the back of my neck. I held myself perfectly still as they trailed lightly down my back to a point between my shoulder blades, then fell away. The person behind me sighed, and their footsteps fell back. I forced myself to turn slowly, my heart hammering.
The mist was thick. Thicker than any fog I’d ever seen. The figure in front of me stood no more than four feet away, but all I could see was a gray shadow through the mist. A person, but featureless, nearly formless. Silent, except for the persistent drip of water. A damp, earthy smell seemed to emanate from them.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“Who are you?” the figure repeated. Voice a croak like a raven’s.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“What do you want?” Less of a croak now. Almost human.
The figure faded. It took me a moment to realize they had stepped back—and back again, the mist swallowing them until all that was before me was a featureless expanse of gray.
I was alone.
VIDEO EVIDENCE
Recorded by Liam Kapoor
JUNE 28, 2018, 2:34 AM
Liam sits on his bed in one of Mrs. Popova’s rooms. He rakes a hand through his hair.
LIAM: Hey, Mum. Here’s your daily message, as commanded. I can’t sleep. Still. So that’s fun. Dr. Kapoor doesn’t want me here. Still. So that’s also fun.
He sighs and looks away from the camera, toward the window. He frowns.
LIAM: Hold on. Someone’s out there.
He walks to the window. The camera captures his face from below as he peers into the mist. Then he mutters something and switches to record with the rear-facing camera.
A figure walks past the window—a young woman, indistinct in the mist. She pauses directly in front of Liam and looks toward him, her features obscured.
LIAM: Sophia? What is she—
The girl walks away swiftly.
LIAM: She shouldn’t be out there.
He moves quickly, dashing out of his room and down the hall. The backdoor gapes open. Liam swears and pauses to shove his feet into his boots.
LIAM: Just my luck if the new girl falls and breaks her neck on the first night. And it’ll be my fault somehow, I guarantee you . . .
He jogs out into the mist.
LIAM: Sophia? Sophia, are you out here?
The mist is growing thinner, a stiff breeze carrying it away, and a gap reveals the slim figure out on a spit of rock, arms wrapped around herself and hair whipping in the wind.
LIAM: Sophia!
The girl looks back. For an instant, Sophia’s strange, solemn features are clear—and then she turns away and steps into the water.
LIAM: What the hell . . . ?
She takes a step deeper into the surf.
LIAM: Stop!
Liam runs forward, but his untied boots skid out from under him, and he falls with a yelp and a clatter of rock. By the time he scrambles upward, there is no sign of Sophia. And then the camera focuses, and Liam swears again. Sophia stands up to her rib cage in churning water. A swell engulfs her to the neck as it passes, and then she takes another step, farther from shore.
LIAM: Sophia! Come back! What are you doing? Jesus, that water’s freezing, you’re going to—
But she only walks onward, and the water folds over her. She vanishes—and does not emerge again.
LIAM: No. No, come on . . .
He breathes heavily, stepping toward the water before shying away again. At this point in the summer, water temperatures remain dangerously cold. Yet Liam steps closer to the water’s edge.
SOPHIA: Liam! I’m here.
He whirls around. Sophia staggers out of the mist from the direction of Mrs. Popova’s, looking dazed.
LIAM: What the—?
He looks again toward the ocean, but there is only black water and white foam, and the mist, growing thicker with every breath.
Of the girl who walked into the ocean, there is no sign at all.
4
I HEARD LIAM calling my name, but I was still rooted in place. It took me what felt like an eternity to start moving. Longer to get my voice back and call to him. He looked at me wildly, like it was impossible that I was standing there.
Then he grabbed me in a tight hug, releasing me before I could decide how to respond. He cleared his throat, looking awkward. “Sorry. It’s just I saw—I thought I saw—”
I didn’t get to hear what he was going to say. From farther along the beach came a crash