Except wrong.
Too still.
Too patient.
Like it had learned her posture by watching her grief.
Sofia spoke softly:
“It used you to find me again.”
Elena shook her head violently.
“No… I never—”
But then she remembered.
The night at the hospital.
When she screamed for her daughter to come back.
When she refused to let go.
When she held Sofia’s cold hand and begged whatever was listening to return her child.
And something had listened.
The shadow shifted.
Just slightly.
As if acknowledging her memory.
Sofia continued:
“It can’t stay outside anymore.”
A pause.
“It needs a body.”
Elena’s breath stopped.
“No… no, you’re my daughter…”
Sofia looked at her again.
And for the first time—
There was fear in her eyes.
Real fear.
“I am,” she whispered.
Then quieter:
“But not only me.”
The lights flickered violently.
Daniel stirred in his sleep, uneasy.
The shadow in the corner stepped forward—
And for a brief moment—
It matched Elena perfectly.
Same height.
Same shape.
Same trembling breath.
Elena backed away.
“No… stay away…”
Sofia reached for her hand.
Warm.
Human.
Real.
⸻
“I don’t know how to send it back,” Sofia said.
“I only know it came because you couldn’t let me go.”
The room went silent again.
But this silence was different.
Not empty.
Occupied.
And then From the corner of the room—
Elena heard her own voice.
Soft.
Close.
Right behind her.
“I didn’t come back alone.”
End of Part 3
