It was a cold night, and the streets were almost empty. A woman named Sarah was walking home after visiting a friend. The streetlights gave off a weak yellow light, and the wind made the trees move softly in the darkness.
Sarah pulled her jacket tighter around herself and continued walking. Everything was quiet.
Then she heard it.
A girl was crying.
At first, Sarah stopped and listened carefully. The crying sounded far away. She looked around but couldn’t see anyone. The sound seemed to come from a small side street between two old buildings.
Sarah felt uneasy.
“Maybe a child is lost,” she thought.
She stood there for a moment, unsure if she should investigate. The crying continued. It sounded sad and desperate.
Finally, she decided to help.
“Hello?” she called as she walked toward the narrow detour.
There was no answer.
The crying continued.
Sarah slowly entered the dark passage. The light from the main street could barely reach inside. The shadows seemed to stretch across the ground.
“Is someone there?” she asked again.
Still no answer.
She followed the sound deeper into the alley.
Then she saw her.
A little girl was sitting on the ground near a wall. She looked about eight years old. Her knees were pulled to her chest, and her head was buried between her arms. Her long dark hair covered most of her face.
The girl continued crying.
Sarah felt relieved.
“Oh, thank goodness,” she said softly. “Hey sweetheart, are you okay?”
The girl didn’t move.
Sarah stepped closer.
“Did you get lost? Where are your parents?”
No response.
The little girl simply sat there and cried.
Sarah began to feel uncomfortable. Something about the situation felt wrong. The alley was too quiet. Even the wind seemed to have stopped.
She crouched down beside the child.
“It’s okay,” Sarah said gently. “I’m here to help.”
The girl remained motionless.
Sarah slowly reached out and placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder.
The crying stopped instantly.
The sudden silence made Sarah’s heart skip a beat.
For a few seconds, nothing happened.
Then the girl slowly lifted her head.
Sarah smiled nervously.
The smile disappeared immediately.
The little girl had no face.
There were no eyes.
No nose.
No mouth.
Only smooth pale skin stretched across where her face should have been.
Sarah froze in horror.
Her mind refused to understand what she was seeing.
The faceless girl tilted her head.
Sarah let out a terrified scream and fell backward onto the cold ground.
She tried to crawl away, but her body barely responded.
The faceless child slowly stood up.
Sarah screamed again.
The sound echoed through the empty streets.
Then something even worse happened.
A thin crack slowly appeared where the girl’s mouth should have been.
The crack widened.
And widened.
Until it stretched from one side of her face to the other.
A horrible sound came from inside the opening.
Not a scream.
Not a laugh.
Something far worse.
Something that didn’t sound human at all.
Sarah’s final scream echoed across the suburb…
Any similarity to real people, living or dead, is purely accidental. This story is entirely fictional.
Writer : Alireza Hazareh
Before You Leave… Read This: The Shadow in the Pages
