My roommate, Bella, told me she was pregnant. I almost died laughing. I was about to tease her—how could she be pregnant when she didn’t even have a boyfriend? But then, a line of scrolling text floated across my vision. [Whatever you do, don't contradict her!] [Your roommate is a rabbit spirit. If you expose her phantom pregnancy, she’ll eat you!] 1 [It's no use telling her. She’s dead for sure.] [She just has the worst luck. The heroine happens to be on leave this week; otherwise, she might have been saved.] [But if she's saved, how does the story start? The whole plot kicks off when the heroine returns to campus, finds her roommate's death suspicious, and begins her investigation and monster-hunting.] [I remember this first story arc being especially brutal. The rabbit spirit devours almost all the flesh from the body.] My eyes instinctively darted to Bella, who was stroking her belly with a look of tender anticipation. Then, I pulled out my phone and Googled: Do rabbits eat meat? The search results were a long-winded mess of fluff. The gist of it was: if they’re curious, they might take a nibble, but their systems can't handle it. Too much will kill them. See? I knew it. Rabbits are herbivores. Eating people? Total nonsense. A series of ellipses drifted across the screen. [Seriously, what is with her thought process? The main point is whether rabbits eat meat?] [You should be more concerned about the fact that she just looked up, right at us.] [Are you saying she can see the comments? And she trusts Google over us? Did we not make it sound scary enough, or is this girl a complete idiot?] [Yo, you rhymed. You a rapper?] I shot bolt upright, my eyes flicking upward again. Holy crap. Normal people can’t see this text, can they? But I could. [Sweetie, if you can really see this, listen to your big sis: don't. poke. the. bear. Do not tell her she isn't pregnant!] [I just saved your life. You're welcome.] [It’s no use. This is the opening act. She’s destined to…] Before I could read the rest, my arm was yanked hard. Bella had somehow appeared beside me, and she was pressing my hand against her stomach. “Kelly, I was talking to you. Why are you ignoring me?” “Here, feel my baby. It’s kicking.” 2 Feel what in that flat-as-a-board stomach? I swallowed the sarcastic remark that was on the tip of my tongue and forced a dry smile as I patted her belly. “When the baby’s born, you’ll be the godmother…” Bella’s daydream was cut short by a cold scoff. From the top bunk, Tori sat up, rolling her eyes in annoyance. “Bella, if you’re sick, go see a doctor, seriously.” “I’ve been putting up with this for long enough. You’ve been going on about being pregnant all week, but your period literally just ended three days ago. Are you having your period and a pregnancy at the same time?” The gentle expression on Bella’s face froze. I watched as she slowly, deliberately, turned her head, the bones in her neck letting out a sickening series of cracks. It was after lights-out in the dorm, and the only illumination came from a small desk lamp. So Tori probably didn’t see it. Bella’s head was now facing Tori, but her feet were still pointed at me. Her voice was ice. “Are you saying… I’m not pregnant?” A bone-deep chill crawled up my spine. My gut and the scrolling comments were screaming the same thing: the moment Tori opened her mouth again, it was over. I shot to my feet, throwing myself in front of Tori, who was climbing down from her bunk, ready for a fight. I clapped a hand over her mouth. “Don’t say another word! Just shut up!” But she was already worked up. She shoved me aside. “Bella, what’s with the tone? Are you threatening me?” “You’re not pregnant! And you can’t be pregnant!” “Could you please stop playing the little expectant mother in our dorm room?” The comments flew across my vision. [It's over.] [Told you she couldn't be saved! The plot has to move forward, and someone has to say the lines.] [Kelly, run! Your roommate is a lost cause, but you can still save yourself!] [Just don't watch her have the 'miscarriage.'] 3 Wait, how do you have a miscarriage from a fake pregnancy? My brain short-circuited. I abandoned all attempts at logic and decided to just listen. If I could see phantom text and my roommate was a monster whose head could spin 180 degrees, then anything was possible. Run! My body moved faster than my brain. I grabbed Tori’s arm, trying to bolt, but she wrenched me back. “Kelly, what the hell is your problem? Telling me to shut up, taking her side?” Her grip was like a vise. I twisted my wrist, trying to break free, but she didn’t budge. What was I supposed to do? Bella was staring daggers at me. I couldn’t exactly say, She's about to eat us. “Bella’s acting like a total psycho! Last night, I heard her cooing to a baby in her bed, you know that?” “It was two in the morning! First, she was mimicking a crying baby, then she was shushing it like a mother. It was creepy as hell!” “And her bed! Come look!” Tori was an athlete. During our freshman orientation hike, she was at the front of the pack while I was dying in the back. Now, holding me was like holding a chicken. She dragged me to Bella’s bed, which was hidden behind a curtain. Tori reached in and pulled out a huge, tangled clump of hair. “She’s been pulling out her own hair, and mine, you know that?” “Every night, in the middle of the night, she whispers my name. If I don’t answer, she reaches over and yanks out my hair! Tell me she’s not sick in the head!” Tori was filled with anger, but I was filled with a creeping dread. Though the hair was a tangled mess, I could see distinct strands that had been pulled out in clumps, one handful at a time. I could almost hear the sound of hair being ripped from a scalp. First, the soft rustle of friction, then a series of sharp, tearing pops. [FYI, this is a rabbit gathering fur to build a nest.] [This is genuinely terrifying! If I were the roommate, I’d be losing my mind too. This conflict is actually pretty well-written.] [Stop analyzing and run! Save yourself! This girl is not listening!] I tried! My arm is turning purple! I can’t get away! 4 [Too late. She’s not getting out of here.] [Remember, don’t look. Whatever you do, don't look. The second you look, you die.] [Just try to hold out. Your best bet is to survive until the heroine gets back tomorrow.] Suddenly, a low moan came from behind us. It was Bella. It was followed by the heavy thud of a body hitting the floor. Tori tried to turn, but I grabbed her head and held it steady. A comment flashed by, telling me to forget my roommate, that a side character was beyond saving. But to them, Tori was just a plot device, a disposable character. To me, she was my roommate, someone I saw every day, someone who, despite being blunt, had a good heart. My voice trembled. “Bella’s dead. It’s past midnight, this is the witching hour for her ghost. If you make eye contact, we’re both finished. So no matter what you hear, do not look at her.” Tori frowned, looking at me like I’d lost my mind. Dammit. I’d just spun a story that was, in theory, more believable than my roommate is a rabbit-monster who eats people. Why wouldn’t she believe me? Splat. Splat. The wet, sticky sound moved closer, fast. A pair of bloody hands clamped around my ankle and Tori’s. We both instinctively looked down. Bella’s eyes were blood-red, staring at us with pure, venomous hatred. “You see? Do you see now?” “My baby is gone.” A long, smeared trail of blood stretched out behind her. Her body was covered in it, making her look utterly horrifying. I sucked in a sharp breath. Fear finally flickered in Tori’s eyes. The next second, Bella’s expression crumpled into one of fragile agony. She pleaded in a tear-choked voice, “My stomach hurts so much. Please, take me to the hospital.” She held a weak hand out to us. Tori, petrified, was being pulled down, about to bend over and help her. [The rabbit spirit eats the face first.] [The moment her head is down, she’s a goner. It's like a free meal delivery.] 5 [I can't watch. Are they gonna censor it when she takes a bite?] I shrieked, kicking Bella square in the face, and yanked Tori with me as we scrambled out the door. Even as we fled, Tori’s mind was still processing. “Did Bella really have a miscarriage? Because of what I said?” “We should call 911. She lost so much blood…” She actually started to turn back. I was losing my mind. This wasn’t just being clueless; this was a whole other level of disconnection from reality. I finally snapped, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her, trying to rattle the water out of her brain. “Are you dense? No normal person loses that much blood and just gets up! They’d be dead or in shock!” “You’re the one who said she was acting weird! You called her a psycho! Why are you trying to go back?” Tori stared at me, her expression just as bewildered. “I hate that she’s acting crazy, but that doesn’t mean I’d leave her to die.” “You’re the one being weird! She’s bleeding out and you kicked her! If she dies, you’re going to jail!” Then it hit me. Tori’s strength was her unshakable rationalism. She didn’t read fantasy or horror; she was a devout skeptic. Faced with something this supernatural, my first thought was ghosts and monsters. Her first thought would always be psychotic break. As we stood there deadlocked, Tori suddenly raised a hand and wiped her face. A smear of red stung my eyes. I slowly lifted my head, swallowing hard. “If Bella could climb onto the ceiling… would you believe she’s a monster then?” 6 Maybe it was the sheer terror frozen on my face, but Tori followed my gaze upward. Bella was clinging to the ceiling like some kind of spider. Her four limbs were splayed against the walls, and her head swiveled towards us with a series of sickening cracks. That familiar, 180-degree turn. Her irises and sclera were gone, replaced by a solid, bloody red that filled her entire eye sockets. I wasn’t sure if those were the natural red eyes of a rabbit or if they were stained red by her hatred. She stared down at us, the corners of her mouth slowly, unnaturally, changing shape. In horror movies, to build the atmosphere, the monster usually smiles, a grotesque grin stretching from ear to ear, revealing a bloody maw. But not Bella. Her mouth curved downward into a sharp, inverted U, while the other muscles in her face remained completely still. It created a deeply unsettling, discordant wrongness. Tori was trembling uncontrollably. “Holy sh… is this Gonjiam?” She was way scarier than the black-eyed, rapping ghost from that movie. I clasped my hands together, praying to the air. “Please, just tell me a safe place to hide for the night.” I was begging the comments for guidance. Tori thought I had finally cracked. If we had faced this alone, we would have panicked and been torn apart. But with two people, one always ends up taking charge. She tightened her grip on my wrist and broke into a dead sprint. “I know a place we can hide. Come on!” 7 Our dorm building had six floors, and we lived on the top one. Tori pulled me on a frantic dash down the stairs, the thump-thump-thump of our footsteps echoing through the deserted hallway. It was the middle of the night, yet no doors opened, no one yelled at us, and the dorm supervisor was silent. The splat-splat-splat sound followed us relentlessly. I didn’t have to look back to picture Bella crawling along the walls, chasing us. Tori’s speed was incredible. She led me through a series of twists and turns, finally shoving us into an empty dorm room with a loosely latched lock. “Shh! Don’t talk!” We held our breath, pressing our ears against the door to listen. Splat-splat-splat-splat… The sound paused right outside our door for a moment, then continued its rapid descent down the stairwell. We collapsed to the floor, gasping with relief. “If she’s a ghost, does that mean we’re safe once the sun comes up?” Tori whispered. I wasn’t so sure. Because Bella wasn’t a ghost. She was a monster. And monsters don’t care if it’s day or night when they decide to eat. We didn’t need to survive until dawn. We needed to survive until the heroine arrived. Our other roommate, Sabrina, was the heroine the comments mentioned. She’d taken an abrupt leave of absence last week, looking pale and unwell. We’d all assumed there was a family emergency. Our worried texts had gone unanswered. But according to the comments, she had gone home for a "bloodline awakening" to unlock her supernatural sight. The remote mountain home had no cell service. Now, the ritual was complete, and she was on her way back. I desperately dialed her number. Each ring felt like an eternity of torture. Finally, Sabrina’s cool, collected voice answered. “Kelly? What’s wrong? Why are you calling so late?” Tears welled in my eyes as I quickly explained everything that had happened and where we were. “We’re hiding in an empty room on the fourth floor. She didn’t find us.” 8 Tori gestured to me that she needed the bathroom. I nodded. As the terror and adrenaline faded, I realized my own bladder felt fit to burst. Sabrina took a deep breath, her tone turning grave. “After Bella grabbed you, did you wash the blood off?” Blood? I looked down and saw the dried, crusty handprints on my ankles. My breathing grew heavy. Sabrina understood immediately and cursed under her breath. “Wash it off, now! And get out of there!” “As long as her blood is on you, she can find you anywhere.” I’d thought Bella found us before because Tori and I had been arguing too loudly. It was the blood. I scrambled to the small sink in the room, turning on the tap and scrubbing frantically. I called out to Tori, “Get out here and wash the blood off! We have to find another place to hide!” Before Tori could answer, Sabrina cut me off. “You two aren’t together?” “Tori just said she needed the bathroom. I’m in the main room, we’re just…” separated by a single door. Sabrina’s voice was sharp, cutting through my explanation. “There’s no time!” “Tori was the one who exposed her fake pregnancy. Bella hates her the most.” “She probably knew you were in there the whole time. The reason she didn’t come in was because she was waiting for you to split up…” In the back of my mind, I thought I heard a sickening, wet chewing sound coming from the bathroom. The bathroom door was slightly ajar. I pushed it open, and the sight that met my eyes nearly sent me crumpling to the floor. The small room was slick with blood. Tori was slumped on the floor. Her throat had been torn out. Half the skin on her face was peeled away, revealing the raw muscle and gleaming white bone beneath. I clapped a hand over my mouth, tears streaming down my face. She was still alive. She was even conscious. As I opened the door, her one remaining eye swiveled towards me, filled with terror and despair. I saw her mouth moving, forming small, soundless words over and over. Run… fast… I vaguely heard Sabrina shouting in my ear. “Kelly, run!” “Bella’s still in there! Tori is the bait…” A chunk of flesh fell from above. Bella was clinging to the ceiling, a grotesque smile twisting her face as she looked down at me. I stared, mesmerized, at her still-chewing mouth, unable to even scream. How did this happen? [Why isn't she running?] [She got in touch with the heroine! There was still hope!] [I think she’s in shock.] [Well, that’s it. No hope left.] [Is she blaming herself? That roommate was asking for it. She was never going to make it.] [I told her to run on her own. She didn't listen, and now look at the mess she's in.] [Guys, stop. She can see this…] The comments scrolled past, none of them mourning Tori’s death. For them, she was already forgotten. “Kelly!” Sabrina’s voice was a lifeline. “One hour! Hide by yourself for one hour, I’m almost there.” “I’ll take care of her. We’ll get revenge for Tori together!” “So please, please, don’t let anything happen to you.” The instant before Bella lunged at me, I slammed the bathroom door shut. She was trapped, for a moment. I stumbled out of the dorm room and fumbled with the loose lock, snapping it firmly into place. A furious pounding began from inside. My first instinct was to run downstairs, but as my foot hit the first step, I jerked to a halt. Running down is easier than running up. But the main entrance on the first floor was locked every night. I didn’t know the layout down there, didn’t know anyone. If I couldn’t wake the dorm supervisor, I’d be a rat in a trap. “Kelly, go up! Go back to our room! There’s a protective charm under my pillow. Put it on!” I managed a choked “Okay.” [I remember the heroine's charm was consecrated by her master.] [Right. The heroine's special constitution made her a target for spirits, but she couldn't see them to fight back, so her family gave her the charm for protection.] A loud crash echoed from behind me. The dorm room door had been smashed open.
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