The Third Witness

The night was too quiet.

Not the peaceful kind of quiet.

The kind that presses against your ears… like the world is holding its breath.

I remember my hands shaking as I stood there, staring at the road.

Empty.

Completely empty.

Just a few seconds ago, there had been three of us.

Now there were only two.

“Did you… see that?” I whispered, my voice barely alive.

Ayaan stood beside me, frozen. His eyes were wide, locked onto the same spot.

“I—I don’t know what I saw,” he said, swallowing hard. “But he’s gone.”

Gone.

That word echoed louder than anything else.

One moment, our friend Hamza was laughing—complaining about how dark the road was, how we should’ve taken a different way home.

And then—

A sound.

A sudden blur.

A flash of movement.

And he just… disappeared.

No scream.

No footsteps.

No trace.

Just silence.

We searched for him.

At first, it was panic. Then desperation. Then something worse.

Fear.

“Ayaan, this isn’t possible,” I said, running my hands through my hair. “People don’t just vanish.”

“Maybe he ran?” he suggested, but even he didn’t believe it.

“Without saying anything?”

He didn’t answer.

The wind picked up, cold and sharp, cutting through my jacket. The trees along the roadside began to sway, their shadows stretching unnaturally across the ground.

That’s when I felt it.

A presence.

Not beside me.

Behind me.

Slowly… I turned.

And my heart stopped.

Someone was standing there.

Not moving. Not breathing.

Just… watching.

I couldn’t see his face clearly. It was like darkness clung to him, swallowing every detail.

But I knew one thing.

He wasn’t supposed to be there.

“Ayaan…” I whispered, my voice trembling. “Do you see him?”

“See who?” Ayaan replied instantly.

My chest tightened.

“He’s right there!” I pointed, my hand shaking violently.

But Ayaan’s eyes only saw emptiness.

“There’s no one there,” he said, his voice now filled with fear—not of the figure… but of me.

I stepped back.

The figure didn’t move.

But somehow… it felt closer.

“You… you can see me, can’t you?” I said under my breath, my throat dry.

Silence.

Then—

A faint whisper.

“You saw.”

The words didn’t come from the air.

They came from inside my head.

I gasped, stumbling back. “Ayaan, we need to leave. Now.”

We ran.

We didn’t look back.

Not once.

But something followed.

I could feel it.

Not footsteps. Not sound.

Just… presence.

Like a shadow stitched to my soul.

That night, I couldn’t sleep.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him.

Standing there.

Watching.

Waiting.

The next morning, they found Hamza.

Or what was left of him.

At the edge of the forest.

The police said it was an accident.

They always say that.

But accidents don’t leave expressions like that.

His face—

Frozen in pure terror.

Like he had seen something no human should ever see.

Days passed.

Then weeks.

Ayaan tried to move on. Everyone did.

Except me.

Because I wasn’t alone.

Not anymore.

I started seeing him everywhere.

In reflections.

In dark corners.

Standing at the end of empty streets.

Always the same.

Watching.

Silent.

Patient.

“You’re not real,” I whispered one night, staring into the mirror.

For a second… nothing happened.

Then—

He appeared behind me.

Not as a reflection.

But standing in my room.

I didn’t turn around.

I couldn’t.

My body refused.

“What do you want?” I asked, my voice breaking.

A long pause.

Then the whisper returned.

“You saw.”

Tears filled my eyes. “I didn’t mean to—”

“You saw.”

The words were sharper this time.

Accusing.

Heavy.

And then it hit me.

That night.

The moment Hamza disappeared.

The blur.

The movement.

The truth.

I hadn’t just seen it.

I had caused it.

“I didn’t push him…” I whispered, my breathing turning uneven. “I just—he slipped—I didn’t—”

But the memory was clear now.

Too clear.

My hand.

Against his chest.

A small shove.

A joke.

A moment.

And then—

He fell.

Not into the road.

Not into the forest.

But into something else.

Something that had been waiting.

The Third Witness.

Not Ayaan.

Not me.

But him.

The one who stood in the dark.

The one who watched.

The one who took.

“I didn’t know,” I said, my voice shaking. “I swear, I didn’t know…”

Silence filled the room.

Then—

For the first time—

He moved.

A single step forward.

The air turned ice cold.

My breath disappeared.

And in that moment… I understood.

He wasn’t here to scare me.

He wasn’t here to haunt me.

He was here to take the next one.

My legs gave out.

I collapsed to the floor, unable to move, unable to scream.

“Please…” I whispered, tears streaming down my face. “Please don’t—”

But it was too late.

Because now…

There were only two witnesses left.

And I could already feel myself…

becoming the third.