The entire treehouse went dead silent.
Outside, the cold wind hissed through the branches, the kind of empty sound that makes you feel like something is watching.
Momo stood frozen.
Renji, Cairo, and Nami all stared at her like she had just confessed to murdering Santa.
They were confused… but mostly, they were pissed.
Because Momo without knowing it had walked straight into something dangerous.
For a long moment, nobody said a word.
Then Cairo finally broke the silence.
Cairo
"So… Momo. That video… you didn't post it, right?"
He didn't care if the video was on her phone.
He cared if the world had already seen it.
Nami
"Yo you crazy bitch! Why'd you even follow us?! Once you dealt with that creepy card, you should've gone home! So you've been the one feeding it?!"
Renji
"Not now. Look it's late. We need to go home before Nami's sister finds us again.
And Cairo bro, you know your mom is scarier than any ghost in this forest."
He pointed at Momo.
"And you whatever your name is go home. Pretend none of this ever happened."
Momo
"HUH?! Yo did he just call me 'whatever her name is'? What's your problem?!"
They climbed down from the treehouse and started walking.
Branches cracked under their feet as they left the woods behind.
They took a sharp turn down the street, away from the forest and toward town.
They reached the old road beside Renji's grandparents' property or what was left of it.
The house had collapsed ages ago, leaving broken blocks scattered across the ground like old bones.
The sun was dropping fast.
The sky turned purple, then violet, then the kind of dark that whispers go home if you don't wanna die.
Renji stopped at the edge of the ruins, staring at what used to be his grandparents' house.
Nami
"Yo we gotta go. The sun's basically gone. I'm not trying to get dragged into ghost crap tonight."
Cairo
"Call me crazy but the dude wants to stay a little. You get why."
Nami
"I know. But let's leave. I don't wanna deal with ANY supernatural nonsense."
Momo stood behind them, confused as hell, still holding her phone.
Then the final sliver of sunlight vanished.
Night hit instantly.
The moon lit up the sky.
And then…
the bells rang.
Soft at first.
Then louder.
Cling… cling… cling…
The air turned colder than ice.
Something moved inside Renji's grandparents' compound.
A figure appeared at the far end of the yard
wearing their school uniform.
Long hair hanging forward, hiding the face completely.
Cairo
"Guys… look at that. That's the damn ghost everyone keeps talking about."
Nami
"What the hell first the damn popular girl Momo, now a ghost?! I thought after what happened with Eli, ghosts were supposed to be scared of us!"
Renji
"Did you bring the katana?!"
Cairo
"No! You were rushing us to get home before nightfall!"
Renji
"Damn it… I knew I shouldn't have shaken Kiki…"
Nami grabbed her skirt tight, trembling.
Nami
"Not again… not again…" she whispered.
Momo stared at all of them.
She couldn't see the ghost her phone wasn't pointing that way.
Her stomach twisted.
This wasn't funny anymore.
Momo
"Okay THIS isn't cute. Are you all trying to scare me so I won't leak the video? Is that it?!"
She had no idea the ghost was real.
She had no idea it was walking toward them.
And she definitely didn't know…
it already knew her name.