The message kept blinking on my screen.
"You left something behind. You'll come back for it."
I stared at it like it might disappear if I waited long enough.
It didn't.
Ava leaned over again. "Who even has your number?"
I shook my head. "No one new. I haven't given it out."
Lena looked like she was trying to decide whether to tell me something or not.
Then she said, "It doesn't matter who sent it."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
She met my eyes. "It means they're already inside your head. That message? It's just confirmation."
Ava glanced between us. "So what do we do?"
"We find out how deep it goes," Lena said.
We walked home fast, staying close to the sidewalk, avoiding crowds. But all the way, I felt it — that quiet hum in my skull. Like something was listening. Waiting.
That night, I couldn't sleep.
I kept seeing flashes.
Not of the future.
Of me.
In places I'd been today. In conversations I hadn't realized were being watched.
Then came another message.
Same number.
This time, only two words:
"Hello, Alex."
I dropped the phone like it burned me.
And then I heard it.
Dr. Reyes' voice.
Clearer than before.
"You never really left us."
I looked around. No one was there.
But somehow, I knew.
She wasn't speaking to me from outside.
She was speaking from inside .
From the part of me that no longer felt fully mine.