Chapter 39: The Unseen Strings

The blood on the wall had dried into a dark, crusted smear by the time forensics arrived. Kai stood motionless, staring at the words—"Not yet, but soon."

Soon.

For what?

Taylor paced nearby, arms crossed, eyes darting around like he expected something to crawl out of the walls. He had every right to be on edge. This wasn't a normal murder. Nothing about this case had been normal since it started.

"Sir," Taylor muttered, glancing at Kai. "What the hell do we do with this?"

Kai didn't answer.

He could hear the lab techs muttering behind him, their voices hushed. Everyone in the room could feel it—something wasn't right. The air itself seemed wrong, like the space they stood in was being watched by something unseen.

Kai finally turned away from the message, walking toward the exit. "We find out who this guy was," he said flatly. "And we figure out why he was killed."

Taylor frowned. "You think he was chosen?"

Kai tightened his grip on the shotgun slung over his back.

"Yeah," he muttered. "I do."

The Dead Man's Name

Back at the station, the victim's ID came in.

Nathaniel Hensley.

Age: 41.

No immediate family. Lived alone. Worked as a mechanic in town.

And, most importantly—

Kai had never seen the guy before in his life.

Taylor tapped a pen against the desk. "So what, he's just some random nobody?"

Kai didn't buy that.

The thing—whatever was haunting him—had picked this man for a reason.

He turned to the department's old case files, pulling out everything he could on Nathaniel Hensley. Most of it was unremarkable—an old bar fight, a minor theft charge from years ago—but then, Kai found something.

A missing person report.

Filed over twenty years ago.

Nathaniel Hensley had disappeared for exactly 27 days before suddenly returning home.

No explanation. No memory of where he had been.

Kai's chest tightened.

It's all connected.

Taylor leaned over his shoulder. "Oh, hell no."

Kai's mind raced. The 27-day cycle. The curse. The thing whispering in his ear. It wasn't just picking random people. It was choosing people who had already been touched by it.

Nathaniel had survived the cycle once.

But it had come back for him.

And now, Kai knew—

It was coming for him, too.

The Survivor's Secret

They needed answers.

And the only person who might have them was dead.

But that didn't mean Kai was out of options.

An hour later, he found himself standing in front of an old, rusted trailer on the outskirts of town. The address had been listed as Nathaniel's emergency contact on an old work form.

The person who lived here?

A woman named Miriam Hensley.

Nathaniel's older sister.

Kai knocked twice, shotgun slung over his shoulder.

After a long pause, the door creaked open.

Miriam was thin, her face worn with age and exhaustion. But her eyes—sharp, piercing—locked onto Kai like she already knew why he was there.

"You're here about Nathaniel," she said, voice steady.

Kai nodded. "You knew?"

Miriam exhaled. "I felt it."

She stepped aside, motioning him in.

Inside, the trailer was cluttered but clean, shelves lined with old photographs and stacks of yellowed newspapers. A single candle burned on the table, its wax dripping onto a plate covered in strange symbols.

Kai's stomach twisted.

She knew about the curse.

Miriam sat down across from him, hands folded. "He told me it would come back," she said softly. "He knew he wasn't supposed to make it out the first time."

Kai leaned forward. "What happened to him? What did he see?"

Miriam's gaze darkened. "He wouldn't say. Not in words."

She reached for something on the table—a battered old notebook, its pages filled with frantic handwriting.

Nathaniel's handwriting.

Kai skimmed through it, his heart pounding.

The pages were filled with dates.

27-day intervals.

Descriptions of strange figures watching him from the corners of his vision. Of whispers in the night. Of something waiting for him in the dark.

And then, near the end—

One line, underlined in deep, jagged strokes.

"I was supposed to die. It won't let me go."

Kai exhaled slowly.

Nathaniel had escaped.

And the curse had waited—patiently, inevitably—until it could claim him.

Now, it was doing the same to Kai.

Miriam studied him. "You've seen it, haven't you?"

Kai met her gaze. "Yeah."

She hesitated, then whispered, "It's inside you now."

Kai's blood went cold.

Miriam leaned closer, voice barely audible.

"If you don't stop it…"

Her fingers tightened around the candle, wax dripping onto her skin.

"…it'll make sure you never leave."

The Spiral Tightens

By the time Kai left the trailer, the sky had darkened.

The weight in his chest had only grown heavier.

Taylor leaned against the car, waiting. "Anything useful?"

Kai handed him the notebook. "Nathaniel wasn't just a random victim."

Taylor flipped through the pages, eyes narrowing. "You're saying this thing waits? Like a delayed execution?"

Kai nodded. "And it's already decided I'm next."

Taylor cursed under his breath. "So what do we do?"

Kai tightened his grip on his shotgun.

"We find out how to break the cycle."

Taylor snorted. "Oh, sure. Let's just go ahead and destroy a supernatural curse that's been killing people for decades. Should be easy."

Kai didn't smile.

Because deep down, he knew—

This wasn't going to be easy.

It was going to be a war.

And he had no idea if he could win.