Naya sat on her bed with the jar placed gently on her nightstand. The candlelight flickered low, casting warm shadows on the walls. She had her phone propped up, recording again like Sienna had done. The girls had agreed: document everything, no matter how small.
But Naya already knew this wouldn't be small.
She had felt it the moment the jar touched her skin. A warmth that wasn't comforting—it was... claiming.
She exhaled shakily.
"Okay, night one. Let's see if this was just paranoia or if we're actually cursed," she said with a nervous half-smile to the camera.
The first hour passed in stillness.
Then, her closet creaked open—just slightly.
She blinked. "Nope," she whispered and walked over, yanking it fully open.
Empty.
But when she turned back around, the jar had moved. It now sat in the center of her bed.
She hadn't heard a sound.
"Okay," she whispered, reaching for her phone to check the footage. Her hands trembled as she replayed the last minute.
Nothing. One frame: jar on the nightstand. Next frame: on the bed.
But she hadn't paused or edited anything. And the timestamp was continuos. Suddenly, a voice whispered in her ear—low, like breath.
"Tell me what you want most."
Naya froze.
"Who's there?" she called out, heart pounding.
Silence.
She backed into a corner, eyes darting between the jar and the shadows moving too slowly for logic.
Then the candle extinguished—on its own.
Complete darkness swallowed the room.
Her phone glitched violently, camera freezing on a single distorted frame: her, staring directly at herself with all-black eyes.
She screamed.
The next morning, Sienna arrived early. She didn't wait to be let in.
Naya sat at the dining table, pale, silent, and visibly shaken. The jar was sealed tightly in a woven basket on the counter.
"What happened?" Sienna asked gently.
Naya didn't look up. "It whispered my desire... the one I never told anyone. It knew. And when I didn't answer, it... showed me what would happen if I tried to fight it."
"Fight what?"
"I don't know yet," she whispered, voice cracking. "But the jar... it's not just cursed. It chooses."
Sienna sat beside her, jaw clenched. "We're not imagining this."
"No. And it's only getting stronger."
Outside, a crow landed on the window ledge, tilting its head as if listening.
Unseen, the hooded figure watched from the shadows again.
And back in Naya's room, the mirror had a single word etched faintly into the glass:
"Soon."
Naya stirred her tea absent mindedly, eyes locked on the steam swirling upward like smoke from a memory she couldn't quite place. Across from her, Sienna watched in silence, her fingers tapping lightly on the table. "It felt like something was inside the room with me," Naya finally said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I don't remember falling asleep, but I woke up gasping—like I'd been drowning in a dream." Sienna leaned forward, concern flickering in her eyes. "Did anything... happen?" Naya hesitated. "The jar whispered," she said. "Not words, exactly. Just... emotions. Rage. Sadness. Longing. But it wasn't mine." She looked up. "It felt like someone else was trying to reach me through it." Sienna's spine straightened. She reached for Naya's hand. "We need to tell the others. This is bigger than we thought." Naya nodded. "Yeah, but we need to be careful. It's watching. I felt it." As if summoned, the light above them flickered once. Then again. Both women froze. Outside, the wind picked up, slamming the window shut. Sienna exhaled sharply. "Next time, we don't stay alone with it." Naya whispered, "It's not just a jar, is it?" Sienna's expression darkened. "No... it's..."