It was supposed to be one of the happiest days of Jenna's life.
She had won the interschool badminton championship.
Not just won.
She had brought the trophy back to her school for the first time.
Everyone had been congratulating her since morning. Teachers, classmates, even students she barely knew had stopped her in the hallway to say something.
By the end of the day, her arms were tired from carrying the trophy around.
She should have gone home earlier.
But her teacher asked her to stay and help clean the classroom after the other students left.
It was already dark when Jenna finally reached home.
She opened the front door quietly.
The house was unusually silent.
Then she heard voices.
Her parents.
They were arguing.
"You said you would tell her."
Her mother.
Jenna stopped.
"She doesn't need to know yet."
Her father's voice was quieter.
"She does. We can't keep pretending forever."
Jenna stood outside the room, holding the trophy against her chest.
She didn't understand what they were talking about.
Then she heard her mother say something that she couldn't make out.
Jenna stepped away before they could notice her.
She went to her room, changed her clothes, and got into bed.
When her mother came in a few minutes later, Jenna pretended to be asleep.
She didn't ask anything.
The next morning, both of her parents were gone.
At first, she thought they had gone somewhere together.
Then she found out the truth.
They had been separated for months.
There had been legal paperwork.
Arguments.
Meetings.
Everything.
And somehow, they had managed to keep pretending to be a family in front of her.
Jenna didn't know which part hurt more.
The separation itself—
or the fact that everyone had known except her.
After that, things changed.
Her parents argued more often.
Jenna stopped talking as much.
She spent more time alone in her room.
Sometimes she felt pressure behind her eyes.
Sometimes she suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe properly.
And sometimes, when the house was completely quiet, she heard someone say her name.
She blamed stress.
Then her parents decided to move.
The new house was old.
Very old.
The wooden floors creaked even when nobody was walking on them. The walls were cracked in several places, and some of the electrical switches looked like they hadn't been replaced in years.
There was also a room upstairs that remained locked.
Her mother told her not to worry about it.
"It belongs to the previous owner," she said.
Jenna didn't ask anything more.
The first night, the electricity went out.
Jenna checked her phone.
3:17 A.M.
She frowned.
Then—
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Three knocks came from upstairs.
Jenna sat up.
She waited.
Nothing.
Then she heard it.
"Jenna."
She didn't move.
The next morning, while she was getting ready, she noticed something on the bathroom window.
Words had appeared on the fogged glass.
She stared at them.
Four words.
YOU HAVE BEEN HERE.
Jenna wiped the glass.
The words disappeared.
That night, she dreamed of the rooftop again.
But this time, she wasn't alone.
Someone was standing beside the black hole.
A girl.
Jenna walked closer.
The girl slowly turned toward her.
It was her own face.
Then Jenna woke up.
And for some reason, she was crying.