Written on the back of the receipt in hurried handwriting was\u2026
\n\u201cCheck your trunk. Don\u2019t go home.\u201d
\nMy stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
For a second, I just stood there in my kitchen, the plastic grocery bags still half-unpacked on the counter. The words felt heavy in my hand, like the receipt had suddenly gained weight.
\nDon\u2019t go home?
\nBut I was already home.<\/p>\n
A cold prickle ran up my spine.
\nI slowly turned toward the front door, making sure it was locked. It was. Deadbolt, too. Everything looked normal\u2014too normal.<\/p>\n
My heart started to pound.<\/p>\n
I grabbed my phone, debating whether to call someone\u2014anyone\u2014but what would I even say? Hi, someone wrote something creepy on my receipt?<\/p>\n
Then I remembered the trunk.
\nMy car was parked right outside.<\/p>\n
I swallowed hard and stepped toward the window, carefully pulling the curtain aside just enough to peek out. My car sat there under the dim streetlight, quiet and still.<\/p>\n
Nothing unusual.
\nStill\u2026 that message.<\/p>\n
I slipped my shoes back on, my hands trembling, and stepped outside. The night air felt colder than it should have. Every small sound\u2014the rustle of leaves, a distant car\u2014made me flinch.<\/p>\n
I approached my car slowly, like it might suddenly lunge at me.
\nThe trunk.<\/p>\n
I hesitated, my hand hovering over the key fob.<\/p>\n
This is ridiculous, I told myself. It\u2019s probably nothing.
\nBut the woman\u2019s face flashed in my mind\u2014her smile\u2026 tight, almost forced. And the way she\u2019d rushed.<\/p>\n
I pressed the button.<\/p>\n
The trunk clicked open.
\nFor a moment, nothing happened.<\/p>\n
Then it lifted.<\/p>\n
Inside\u2026 was my spare grocery bag.
\nAnd underneath it\u2014<\/p>\n
A phone.<\/p>\n
Not mine.
\nI stared at it, confused, my breath shallow. The screen lit up suddenly, making me jump.<\/p>\n
An incoming message.<\/p>\n
Unknown number.
\nWith shaking fingers, I picked it up and read:<\/p>\n
\u201cYou weren\u2019t supposed to see that note.\u201d<\/p>\n
My blood turned to ice.<\/p>\n
Before I could react, another message appeared:<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s still nearby.\u201d<\/p>\n
I spun around, my eyes scanning the dark street.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s when I saw it.<\/p>\n
A figure standing across the road\u2026 watching me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Written on the back of the receipt in hurried handwriting was\u2026 \u201cCheck your trunk. Don\u2019t go home.\u201d My stomach dropped. For a second, I just stood there in my kitchen, … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-home"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstorynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstorynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstorynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstorynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstorynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1668"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/readstorynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1669,"href":"https:\/\/readstorynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1668\/revisions\/1669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstorynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstorynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstorynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}