Sandra had been with James for three years. Their bond was steady, filled with quiet dinners, shared dreams, and the kind of laughter that felt like home. So when James invited her to meet his parents, she was thrilled. Nervous, yes—but ready.
As they pulled up to his childhood home, Sandra smoothed her dress and took a deep breath. James squeezed her hand. “They’ll love you,” he said.
Annabelle and Robins greeted her warmly. Their smiles were kind, their voices gentle. But the moment Sandra stepped inside, something shifted. The air felt heavy. Familiar. Wrong.
She couldn’t explain it, but the scent of lavender mixed with something metallic made her chest tighten. The wallpaper, the light across the floorboards, the tiny locks on every door—closets, bedrooms, even the pantry—whispered secrets she couldn’t hear but somehow felt.
As they chatted in the living room, Sandra’s eyes drifted to a wall of family photos. One image, tucked in the corner, made her blood run cold. It was her. Or someone who looked exactly like her—a girl with the same eyes, same smile, standing beside a younger James.
“Who is that?” she asked, voice trembling.
Annabelle’s smile faltered. Robins cleared his throat. “That’s… Emily. James’s sister.”
James looked away.
Sandra’s heart pounded. She’d never heard of Emily. And yet, the resemblance was uncanny. She felt like she was walking through someone else’s memories—like the house had mistaken her for someone it had already lost.
Later, in the guest bathroom, she found a drawer filled with old letters. One was addressed to Emily. The handwriting was shaky, the words haunting: “I miss you every day. I see you in the light, in the laughter, in the girl James brings home.”
Sandra realized then—she wasn’t just meeting his parents. She was stepping into a grief they hadn’t let go of. She wasn’t Sandra to them. She was a shadow of someone they’d loved and lost.
That night, she asked James why he never told her.
“I didn’t want you to feel like you had to compete with a ghost,” he said. “But maybe… maybe I needed you to bring her back.”
Sandra left the house with more questions than answers. But one thing was clear: love can be beautiful, but when it’s built on echoes, it can also be haunting.
She didn’t walk away from James immediately. But she did ask him to choose—between remembering Emily, and truly seeing Sandra.
Sometimes, the most unsettling feeling isn’t fear. It’s being mistaken for someone else’s memory.
