We turned and started running.
At first, the whispers remained faint—barely audible, like something behind a thick door. But the further we ran, the clearer they became. They grew louder, rising from a distant murmur to something almost too close to ignore. Whispers swirling around us, words jumbled, frantic, as if dozens of voices were coming from all directions.
"Ashan!" Jee's voice cut through the growing noise. "Don't look back!"
I didn't need to be told twice. Every fiber of my being screamed to run, to escape whatever nightmare we had stumbled into. My legs pumped harder, my breath a ragged cloud in the cold night air, but still the voices followed. The whispers echoed louder with every step, as if they were right on our heels. They pulsed in my ears, a cacophony of whispers that rose in pitch and urgency, chilling me to the core.
It was too much. The voices seemed to be closing in, following us, wrapping around us like a tightening noose.
And then, just as suddenly as they had appeared, the sound began to fade. Slowly at first, and then all at once, the whispers fell away into nothing. The air returned to its usual stillness, and the eerie pressure that had pressed against my chest lifted.
We ran for what felt like forever, but the path behind us was silent now. No more whispers, no more cold chill. Just the sound of our breath and the crunch of the dirt beneath our feet.
We didn't stop running until we reached the clearing near the edge of the path, where the trees seemed to give us a bit of space. I looked back, half-expecting the whispers to follow us—but there was nothing. Only the soft rustle of leaves in the wind.
I glanced at Jee, her face pale and eyes wide with disbelief, and for the first time, I wasn't sure if the silence was comforting... or worse than the sound of the whispers themselves.
We collapsed in the clearing, our chests heaving, breaths coming in sharp, frantic gasps. The air around us felt thick, almost suffocating, and though the whispers were gone, an unsettling silence filled the space. Jee was still shaking, her face pale, her eyes wide and distant, like she was trying to shake off the remnants of whatever had just happened.
"Jee, what the hell was that?" I finally managed to speak, my voice rough and tense. I was still trying to process it, but it was hard to make sense of anything. The memory of those whispers, soft at first, then growing louder the farther we ran—it didn't make sense. Nothing about it did.
Jee swallowed hard, her eyes flickering to the dark woods behind us, as if expecting something to jump out at any moment. "I—I don't know," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "But we need to go. Now." She tugged at my arm, urgency in her voice. "The others... we have to get back. Now."
I nodded, not needing any further convincing. Whatever we'd just experienced, I wasn't sticking around to figure it out. We turned and started back the way we came, my legs feeling like lead as I fought the urge to look over my shoulder. The night felt wrong now, the air too still, the darkness too thick. The path that had once seemed harmless now seemed to stretch on forever, as though trying to trap us.
We walked quickly, and the closer we got to where we'd left the others, the more the tension in my chest began to ease. But that feeling didn't completely leave. I couldn't shake the dread that had settled in my gut, the lingering sense that something was watching us, waiting for us to let our guard down.
When we finally reached the rest of the group, they looked up at us in surprise. Rena was the first to speak. "What happened?" Her eyes scanned us both, catching sight of Jee's pale face and my stiff posture. "You two look like you've seen a ghost."
I glanced at Jee, but she was already shaking her head, her lips pressed into a thin line. "We... we need to talk," she said, her voice low. "Something happened back there."
We gathered around, the group falling silent as Jee and I began to explain. The tension in the air seemed to grow with every word. When we told them about the whispers, about how they started off so faint, so quiet, and then grew louder as we ran, Rena's eyes widened.
"Wait," she said slowly, her voice careful. "You said the voices got louder the further you ran?"
"Yeah," I said, my throat tight. "It was strange... at first, I thought it was just us being paranoid, but the farther we got, the more distinct they became."
Rena's expression shifted, a look of recognition crossing her face. "There's a saying in our culture," she said, her voice low. "When a ghost or spirit is near, the voices are so soft, so low you can barely hear them. But when they're far away, when they're calling from the distance... that's when their voices grow louder."
The words hit me like a wave, and I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It made sense—why the whispers were so faint near the grave, why they had grown louder as we'd run. My heart skipped a beat, the realization sinking in. Jee, too, looked as if the air had been knocked out of her.
But there was still something lingering. A question, unspoken, hanging in the air between us. Jee had never told me what she had seen—what had made her say, "Run." I could see the hesitation in her eyes, the way she avoided looking directly at me. It didn't take much to understand she wasn't ready to speak of it.
"Jee…" I began, my voice gentle but insistent. "What did you see back there? What was it?"
But Jee didn't answer, her gaze darting away. She hugged her arms around herself, as if trying to hold herself together.
"I... I don't know," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "I couldn't... It was too much."
The weight of her words, the mystery in her eyes, left a heavy silence between us. We all understood: whatever she had seen, whatever had happened to her back there, it was too much for her to put into words.
The night air felt colder now, the weight of what we'd just learned pressing on us all. The whispers, the feeling of something following us, the strange cultural saying—it all made too much sense. But the question remained: What had been calling to us? And why?
As Jee and I exchanged a look, a chill ran down my spine. We may have escaped, but whatever had been behind those whispers was still out there, lingering in the dark. And I wasn't sure we were done with it yet.
I got home safely that night. No bad dreams, no strange occurrences—just an uneasy silence that followed me to bed. But the next morning, I woke up with a fever. I couldn't tell if it was the cold night air catching up with me or something more sinister lingering from the whispers in the woods. Either way, I wasn't going anywhere.
For three days, I stayed home.
Between resting and sipping cups of ginger tea, my time passed in a hazy routine. Tsula's messages became my anchor during those days, She had this way of making the world feel normal, even when it wasn't. I couldn't help but smile at her updates, though one particular topic nagged at me—a guy. The library guy, as she called him.
She mentioned they were getting along well.
I should've been happy for her. Truly. But instead, I found myself scowling at my phone, imagining all the ways I could trip him on his way to the library.
No. Stop. That's ridiculous. I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the thought. Tsula deserved to be happy, and I needed to stop being... whatever this was.
By the third day, the fever broke. My head felt clearer, though my body was still sluggish. I decided I'd head back to class the next morning.
The next day came quickly.
When I reached the classroom, Rena and Jee were sitting together in the middle row. Something about their expressions caught my attention—Rena looked unusually quiet, her gaze fixed on her desk, while Jee seemed restless, glancing toward the door every few seconds.
"Morning," I greeted as I approached.
Jee's head snapped up, her eyes narrowing slightly as she looked at me. "Where have you been the past few days?"
I scratched the back of my head awkwardly, sensing a hint of irritation in her tone. "Oh, I've been sick. Fever knocked me out for three days straight."
Jee raised an eyebrow. "And the calls? Why didn't you pick up my calls?"
"Oh, uh…" I paused, realizing I might've made things worse by not checking in. "That must've been my other number. It doesn't have any recharge right now."
"What about WhatsApp?" she pressed, her voice tinged with suspicion.
"I... I use a different WhatsApp for college stuff," I admitted sheepishly. "I forgot to check my other one for days."
For a moment, Jee just stared at me, her lips pressed into a thin line. "What happened?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Nothing," she replied abruptly, looking away.
Before I could ask further, the bell rang, and the class began. Rena didn't say much either, which only made the silence more uncomfortable.
Later the cafeteria was quieter than usual, the hum of conversations barely audible over the soft clinking of cups. Jee sat across from me, her face serious, fingers tapping lightly on the table. I waited, sensing she was gathering her thoughts.
"Something's happened," she finally said, her tone low and deliberate.
I leaned in, suddenly alert. "What is it?"
Jee hesitated, her gaze darting around the cafeteria before returning to me. "It's about Rena."
"What about her?"
She swallowed hard, her voice dropping even lower. "Someone's been spreading fake pictures of her… and it's gotten really bad."
My stomach twisted. "Fake pictures? What kind of pictures?"
Jee sighed, her expression pained. "There are two. In one, she's walking with some much older guy—like, way older. And in the other… they're heading into a motel."
For a moment, I just stared at her, trying to process what she'd said. "What?" I managed, my voice barely above a whisper.
"I don't know who did it, but it's everywhere now," Jee continued, her words tumbling out in frustration. "It's all over group chats, and people are already talking."
Jee glanced at me, her brows furrowing. "That's why I tried to call and text you so many times."
I felt a pang of guilt. "Does she know about it?"
Jee nodded, her expression dark. "Yeah. She found out the day before yesterday." She sighed, looking down at her hands. "She didn't come to class the next day. Said she wasn't feeling well."
"And today?" I asked, leaning forward.
"She said she was fine," Jee replied, though her voice carried doubt. "But, honestly… I don't think she is. She barely spoke to anyone and just kept to herself."
Hearing that made my chest tighten. Rena wasn't the type to show weakness easily, but this? This was different. "So she's just… pretending to be okay?"
"Seems like it," Jee murmured. "But you know how she is—she won't let anyone see her struggle."
I nodded, the weight of the situation sinking in further. "Why would someone do this to her?"
Jee's face hardened. "I don't know, but whoever it is, they're cruel. And they're trying to hurt her on purpose."
I clenched my fists under the table, my mind racing. "We can't just sit back and let this happen, Jee."
"I know," she said softly. "That's why I came to you. I thought maybe you'd have some ideas."
"I'll think of something," I promised, my tone resolute.
The cafeteria suddenly felt suffocating, the weight of the revelation settling over both of us like a heavy cloud. I couldn't shake the thought of Rena trying to put on a brave face while enduring all this.