How did this happen

What about to tell you is something that can happen to anybody

The key was already in the lock when Mara got home. She stood still in the hallway, listening.

The apartment breathed softly—radiator ticking, fridge humming—nothing else.

Still, the key shouldn’t be there. She lived alone. Had lived alone since the funeral.

Inside, the lights were off, but the desk lamp in her bedroom flicked on as she passed.

Her laptop sat open. A single document blinked on the screen.

**LAST NIGHT — 11:48 P.M.**

Mara frowned. She hadn’t written anything in weeks.

Footsteps echoed behind her. She spun around. No one. Just the bathroom mirror, fogged as if someone

had showered. Words appeared slowly in the condensation, traced by an unseen finger.

*You promised you wouldn’t forget.* Her phone buzzed in her hand.

An incoming call. No caller ID. As she answered, the mirror cleared completely.

Her own reflection smiled back— and raised a finger to its lips, just as a voice on the line

whispered her name.