SHADOWS

"Ever feel like someone is watching you?"

A faint scrape crawls along the wall.

"What does that mean?"

A soft chuckle answers-too close, yet nowhere at all.

"The shadows don't just follow you... they pull you under."

Dr. Lee exhales quietly, closing her clipboard with practiced calm. Across the room, the patient leans against the cold wall, her fingers twitching like she's listening to something no one else can hear.

"Mrs. Emma," Dr. Lee says gently, "we can help you out of that abyss."

Emma's head snaps up. Her eyes are wide-too wide.

"Let me out."

The words break into a scream as she lunges forward, fists slamming against the iron bars.

"Why am I here?!"

Dr. Lee doesn't flinch. She only watches.

"You're here," she says softly, "because you need help."

But Emma isn't listening anymore.

She's staring at something behind her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some memories don't fade.

They wait.

Emma doesn't remember how she got here-only that the walls feel too close, the silence too loud, and the shadows... too alive.

Inside the facility, they tell her she's safe. That she's healing. That everything she fears isn't real.

But the mind has its own way of remembering.

Fragments begin to surface-distorted, broken, and soaked in something she can't quite name. A voice in the dark. A presence that lingers. A past that refuses to stay buried.

And the deeper she searches for answers, the more the line between memory and madness begins to unravel.

Because some wounds don't just scar.

They change you.