There are three things I instantly regretted that night:
Tapping "Accept."
Still wearing my helmet indoors.
Assuming the whisper behind me was just my imagination.
The second I hit that stupid little button, my moped outside let out a shriek like a dying goat.
Inside the apartment, my lights started flickering so fast, I thought I was being interrogated by ghosts.
And... something scratched against the back of my front door.
Very gently.
Very politely.
I didn't want to know.
I really, really didn't.
But then my phone buzzed again, because apparently life wasn't done bullying me tonight.
New Delivery Assigned!
Package: CONFIDENTIAL
Destination: GPS Coordinates Only (No physical address)
Delivery Window: 17 minutes
Warning: "Do NOT look behind you until drop is completed."
I blinked.
Read it again.
And then slowly, very, very carefully, shifted my body without turning my head.
You know. Just in case.
Because apparently, NOT looking behind me was now part of the terms and conditions.
And judging by the chill crawling up my spine like a centipede, breaking that rule probably wouldn't just cost me a star rating.
It'd cost me my soul.
I grabbed my jacket, phone, and whatever remained of my dignity, and bolted out the door.
The moped's engine was already humming, or maybe growling, low and steady.
Sitting in the delivery box at the back was tonight's package.
Small.
Wrapped in black velvet.
And... pulsing.
Yes.
Pulsing.
Like a freaking heart.
"Maybe it's just... really fresh meat," I whispered.
Then immediately gagged at the thought.
I shoved it into the moped's front compartment, hopped on, and revved the engine like my life depended on it.
(Which, at this point, it probably did.)
The GPS wasn't showing a normal map anymore.
No roads.
No directions.
Just a swirling black vortex and a tiny arrow labeled "YOU" spinning in circles.
"Cool. Very user-friendly," I muttered, wiping sweat off my forehead with the sleeve of my bomber jacket. "Definitely not ominous at all."
The ride was...
Wrong.
Wrong in the way dreams feel when you realize something's off but can't wake yourself up.
The city looked... stretched.
Buildings leaned at weird angles.
Streetlights blinked out one by one behind me, like something was following.
Shadows skittered across intersections — too fast to catch, too slow not to notice.
At one point, I passed a group of kids playing hopscotch.
Except they weren't jumping.
They were just... standing in their chalk squares.
Smiling.
Not blinking.
I looked away.
Hard.
Because again: DO NOT LOOK BEHIND YOU.
Also: DO NOT ENGAGE WITH CREEPY CHILDREN AFTER MIDNIGHT.
Pretty sure that's in the Bible somewhere.
Halfway through the trip, my moped sputtered.
"Don't you dare," I hissed, slapping the handlebars like I could intimidate a machine.
It gave a half-hearted cough, then reluctantly picked up speed again.
If this thing was alive and honestly, at this point, I wouldn't be surprised , it hated me.
The GPS vortex grew larger on the screen.
Coordinates ticking down.
Closer.
Closer.
My hands tightened on the grips.
Then, a street that wasn't supposed to exist opened up in front of me.
A narrow dirt road, sandwiched between two crumbling brick walls.
No lights.
No signs.
Just the overwhelming smell of wet earth and burnt sugar.
I hesitated.
Just for a second.
Then the moped beeped sharply, almost like a warning.
Delivery Window: 8 minutes remaining.
"Okay! Okay! I'm going!" I snapped, and turned onto the path.
The air immediately got heavier.
Like walking into a thick curtain of static.
Or dread.
(Or both.)
I rode for what felt like hours but was probably only minutes.
The trees overhead tangled together so densely, I could barely see the sky.
Bugs, or things pretending to be bugs, tapped against my visor.
Something laughed.
Softly.
In my left ear.
I refused to acknowledge it.
Absolutely refused.
Because rule number one of surviving weird horror situations?
If you pretend it's not happening, sometimes it leaves you alone.
(Sometimes.)
At last, the GPS chirped:
You Have Arrived.
I hit the brakes.
The path ended at a single, leaning telephone pole.
Nothing else around for miles.
Just dirt.
Grass.
Silence.
I dismounted slowly.
Heartbeat hammering.
Still didn't look behind me.
Still felt that tickle of something breathing down my neck.
Still wanted to throw up.
My phone vibrated again:
Drop Zone Reached. Please Leave the Package. Do NOT Wait.
Simple enough, right?
Except as I pulled the black-wrapped bundle from the moped's compartment, I noticed...
It was heavier now.
And warmer.
And definitely moving on its own.
"Don't think about it," I whispered through gritted teeth.
"Don't think about it don't think about it don't think about it—"
I dropped it at the base of the pole.
It thumped once.
Then lay still.
I backed away, steps clumsy.
Almost safe.
Almost done.
Almost—
That's when I noticed the shadow.
It stretched across the dirt.
Huge.
Towering.
Not mine.
And there was nothing casting it.
Nothing I could see anyway.
I froze.
Brain officially blue-screening.
Something was standing right behind me.
Something tall.
And... humming.
A low vibration through the ground, like a massive tuning fork.
My instincts screamed at me to run.
Scream.
Piss myself.
Something.
Instead, my phone buzzed sharply:
FINAL WARNING: DO NOT LOOK BACK. SHIFT WILL FAIL.
I squeezed my eyes shut and bolted.
Straight for the moped.
Didn't care if I tripped.
Didn't care if the thing behind me tried to grab me.
Didn't care about anything except GO GO GO.
I dove onto the seat, slammed the accelerator, and shot back down the path so fast the trees blurred into smears of black and green.
The moped whined under the strain but — thank every deity in the universe — it held.
I didn't slow down.
Didn't look back.
Didn't even breathe properly until I hit real asphalt again and the swirling vortex on the GPS blinked out.
Back at my crappy apartment, I collapsed onto the carpet.
Helmet still on.
Heart still hammering.
Brain still desperately pretending none of that happened.
Phone buzzed.
I barely twitched.
Finally, with shaking fingers, I lifted it to my face.
Delivery Complete!
You earned: $1,000 + Bonus Item: One (1) Mirror Shard (Unused).
Package Status: Claimed by Watcher #29.
"Watcher," I mumbled.
"Sounds... nice. Friendly."
Sure.
Why not.
I was obviously gonna die anyway.
Might as well pretend my mysterious new stalker was cuddly.
Something hard pressed against my side.
I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out...
A mirror shard.
Small.
Jagged.
Cool to the touch.
The cracks across its surface formed the shape of...
an eye.
Watching.
Always watching.
My stomach flipped.
I wanted to throw it out the window.
Burn it.
Bury it.
But I couldn't.
Literally.
My hand wouldn't let go.
Fingers locked tight around the shard like it was glued to my skin.
I sat there, hyperventilating quietly, until the phone buzzed again.
One last notification:
"Some doors are one-way only, Ray."
Cool.
Totally normal.
Exactly what I wanted to hear before bed.
I peeled myself off the floor, dragged my sorry carcass into the bathroom, and stared at my reflection for a long time.
The mirror shard pulsed once, faintly.
And for a split second...
My reflection smiled at me.
But I didn't.