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Ava has covered her mirrors with sheets. Unfortunately, the rest of the world didn’t get the memo. Windows, chrome, waxed cars—apparently every reflective surface is now a potential portal to absolutely fucking not.

In Chapter 9 of The WillowBend Glitch, avoiding her reflection becomes a survival strategy, and pretending she’s fine becomes a full-time job. Between bullying, the aftermath of Tyler’s assault, and the fear of being replaced by something wearing her face, Ava is running out of ways to hold herself together.

Then a voice interrupts the silence of an empty restroom:

“Do you want me to hurt him?”

Because apparently the thing watching her has opinions. And a deeply concerning approach to conflict resolution.

As Ava reaches her breaking point, a message from her mother and an unexpected moment of tenderness from Madison offer something she desperately needs: support. But an overheard conversation between two teachers suggests her nightmare has a history—and adults who know more than they’re saying.

Inside this chapter:

• Covered mirrors and a growing fear of reflections.
• The exhausting performance of pretending everything is fine.
• An unseen presence with a disturbing offer.
• Friendship and reassurance when Ava needs them most.
• A whispered conversation that changes what she knows about WillowBend.

Content advisory: Strong language, bullying, references to assault, emotional distress, implied violence, and supernatural horror.

The scariest word in the hallway isn’t “mirror.” It’s “again.”

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One quiet day. That’s all it took to start believing things might be normal again. Apparently, the nightmare took that personally.

In Chapter 8 of The WillowBend Glitch, a familiar face in the mirror becomes something terrifyingly unfamiliar. Between bathroom surveillance conducted like a paranoid raccoon and a phone that has apparently joined the enemy, our narrator discovers that being alone in her bedroom doesn’t mean she has privacy.

Then an unknown Instagram account sends three words:

“You saw us.”

Us. Plural. Because one supernatural asshole apparently wasn’t enough.

As exhaustion, bullying, and the weight of her mother’s past close in, a disturbing video turns an impossible suspicion into something far more intimate. Whatever is happening at WillowBend knows where she sleeps.

Inside this chapter:

• A brief return to normal—and the dread beneath it.
• A reflection that refuses to follow the rules.
• An anonymous message that changes the threat.
• Digital intrusion, mounting paranoia, and nowhere that feels safe.

Dark humor meets supernatural horror in a chapter where the screen offers no escape and the mirror offers no reassurance.

Content advisory: Strong language, bullying references, psychological distress, surveillance, and unsettling horror imagery.

Before you press play, maybe turn your mirror toward the wall.

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A threatening message arrives from Olivia’s number—but Olivia swears she never sent it. Moments later, an unknown sender gives Ava a new instruction:

Check the yearbook. 2005. Page 17.

Buried inside WillowBend High’s archives, Ava discovers a student science project involving treated wetland water, shadow oscillation, and something called displacement mirrors. The girl pictured beside the project looks disturbingly familiar. Not exactly like Ava—but close enough to make Olivia ask the question neither of them wants answered:

“Tell me that’s not your face.”

Determined to stop waiting for the next blackout, Ava begins documenting every reset, distorted shadow, and reflection that refuses to behave. If WillowBend’s reality is being rewritten, she intends to learn how to debug it.

For a few hours, an unexpected news story reminds Ava who she was before the shadows: an environmental activist, an eco-warrior, and someone capable of making a difference. But that moment of peace disappears when she enters school and discovers Tyler has turned an old photograph into fresh ammunition.

Then Ava finds the video.

Her silhouette is too long. The shadows surrounding her don’t simply fall—they reach. And inside the locker-room mirror, another Ava is waiting.

Same clothes. Same face. Vacant eyes.

And a smirk that isn’t human.

Content advisory: This chapter contains bullying, cyberbullying, harassment, strong language, panic, and disturbing supernatural imagery.

The WillowBend Glitch is an original supernatural thriller presented by Twisted Chapters Podcast.

#TheWillowBendGlitch #TwistedChaptersPodcast #ChapterSeven #NotMeInTheMirror #SupernaturalThriller #YAThriller #HorrorFiction #DarkFiction #MirrorHorror #EverGreen #TheWaterRemembers #PodcastFiction

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Still reeling from Tyler’s violation, Ava returns home carrying a storm of anger, fear, and humiliation. But when the power suddenly dies, something appears in the kitchen window—her reflection, only slower, colder, and seemingly capable of moving on its own.

The next morning, a terrified EverGreen employee intercepts Ava outside WillowBend High. He claims the company’s experiments go far beyond contaminated water. EverGreen has been studying umbrokinetics—the manipulation of shadows to influence reality, invade minds, and extract the essence of a human being.

His warning is brief: Drains. Swamp.

With Olivia digging through old newspaper archives, Ava discovers that she may not be the first person to see her reflection blink independently. What was dismissed as fringe paranoia in 2007 suddenly feels terrifyingly real—and someone wants Ava to stop looking for answers.

The water remembers.
The shadows are watching.
And EverGreen may be creating something capable of wearing a human face.

Content advisory: This chapter contains references to unwanted physical contact, trauma, panic, strong language, and psychological distress.

The WillowBend Glitch is an original supernatural thriller presented by Twisted Chapters Podcast.

#TheWillowBendGlitch #TwistedChaptersPodcast #ChapterSix #TheShadowScience #SupernaturalThriller #YAThriller #HorrorFiction #DarkFiction #Umbrokinetics #EverGreen #TheWaterRemembers #PodcastFiction

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Ava arrives at school expecting another miserable day. Instead, she discovers that Hannah Whitman has dug up a horrifying secret from her mother’s past. Lacey Perez once worked alongside Willow Sullivan, the nurse remembered as the “Lewisville Vampire,” and Hannah has turned that buried connection into fresh ammunition.

As rumors spread and Ava’s family history becomes hallway entertainment, she confronts her mother and learns that Willow was more than a coworker. She was Lacey’s best friend. Worse, Willow’s death may not have ended the danger surrounding her.

The next morning, Ava returns to school determined not to give her tormentors the reaction they want. She laughs at the vampire jokes, mocks their pathetic decorations, and refuses to break. But when Tyler Gentry’s behavior turns violent and sexually threatening, the cruelty crosses a line. Something about Tyler feels wrong, as though the boy Ava once knew is no longer entirely in control.

A family secret has escaped its grave. The bullying is escalating. And whatever is infecting WillowBend may already be walking its hallways.

Content advisory: This chapter contains bullying, panic and anxiety, physical violence, sexual harassment, and nonconsensual physical contact.

#TheWillowBendGlitch #TwistedChapters #SupernaturalThriller #YoungAdultFiction #HorrorFiction #DarkFiction #ParanormalThriller #SerialFiction #AudiobookPodcast #ChapterFive

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Ava survives “The Conversation” with her mother, wrestles with Science Stream, and gets an unexpected thermodynamics rescue when Noah climbs through her bedroom window. For a little while, entropy makes sense, her anxiety settles, and life almost feels manageable.

Then comes the school assembly.

Standing beneath the spotlight to speak about the wetlands cleanup, Ava’s flashcards fall, her words vanish, and one catastrophically mangled sentence turns a nervous presentation into a full-scale public humiliation. Noah tries to save her, Madison reminds her she is not alone, and Mrs. Lombardi promises that the moment will pass—but the laughter follows Ava through every hallway.

By the time she gets home, Ava is convinced she has survived the worst day of her life.

Tomorrow is about to prove her wrong.

In This Chapter:

• Ava tells her mother about the unexplained blur that attacked her
• Noah makes thermodynamics slightly less painful
• Hannah Whitman plots her next move
• Ava confronts her fear of public speaking
• One verbal glitch becomes instant social ammunition
• Noah and Madison show Ava what real friendship looks like
• The worst day of Ava’s life sets the stage for something even worse

Content note: This chapter includes anxiety, panic, bullying, and public humiliation.

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Ava Perez is determined to move past the fear of Friday night and focus on something she can understand: saving the WillowBend Wetlands.

With Maddie and Olivia beside her, Ava begins organizing an ambitious restoration project involving cleanup crews, invasive species removal, native plants, water testing, and possibly even local news coverage. For a few hours, she almost feels like herself again.

Almost.

Because the image of that closet door still haunts her.

At school, Ava’s growing momentum collides headfirst with Hannah Whitman. One slammed laptop, one hard shove, and one trip to the principal’s office later, Ava discovers Hannah is not finished with her.

Outside the school, Hannah and her crew corner Ava with no teachers and no clear way out.

Then something impossible happens.

A dark, unnatural blur tears across the pavement and sends both girls crashing to the ground. Hannah sees it too, leaving WillowBend’s untouchable queen shaken, humiliated, and suddenly losing control of her own loyal followers.

But the strangest reaction belongs to Maddie.

While Olivia wants to know more about the mysterious figure, Maddie refuses even to call it a ghost. She looks frightened, guarded, and haunted by something she is not ready to reveal.

Whatever was awakened has followed Ava into the daylight.

And this time, it protected her.

In This Chapter

• Ava launches her plan to restore the WillowBend Wetlands
• Maddie gets drafted into the Eco Warriors
• Hannah pushes Ava too far
• Ava lands in the principal’s office for the first time
• Hannah’s crew traps Ava outside the school
• A living shadow intervenes
• Hannah’s grip on her followers begins to crack
• Maddie’s reaction raises a disturbing new question

The Question

Did the shadow save Ava because it is protecting her?

Or because it has already claimed her?

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Something is outside Ava’s window.

Watching.

Waiting.

Fortunately, the first figure crashing into her bedroom is only Noah, making his usual unnecessarily dramatic entrance through the sycamore tree. His arrival adds another complication to Ava’s increasingly chaotic night: Madison has feelings for Noah, Olivia thinks Noah has feelings for her, and Noah appears completely unaware that he has wandered into a teenage telenovela.

Then Olivia tells them about the WillowBend Glitch.

Long before new homes covered the wetlands and abandoned farms, residents reported unexplained disruptions in reality. Mirrors lagged. Reflections moved independently. People claimed they saw exact copies of themselves walking through town.

Then the stories disappeared.

The forums went silent. The newspaper reports vanished. Even the people who had witnessed the phenomena seemed to forget they had ever happened.

Later, Ava, Madison, and Olivia awaken without remembering when—or why—they fell asleep.

A closet door opens on its own.

Something passes the window.

A shape glides across the lawn without walking, moving too smoothly and silently to be human or animal.

The girls rush downstairs to investigate, but the same unnatural screech follows them into the darkness.

This time, it’s closer.

And when something cracks behind them, Ava realizes the warning signs are no longer stories from a forgotten message board.

The WillowBend Glitch is awake.

Episode Credits

• Written by Rudy Stankowitz
• Read by Tessa
• Narrated from the perspective of Ava Perez
• From the novel The WillowBend Glitch

Content Advisory

This episode contains strong language, supernatural activity, frightening sounds, memory loss, unsettling reflections, stalking imagery, and scenes of intense fear.

Introduced in This Chapter

• Noah — Ava’s confident, tree-climbing friend who considers windows an acceptable form of entry
• The WillowBend Glitch — a collection of forgotten reports involving distorted reality, independent reflections, doubles, and unexplained memory loss
• The figure outside — something that moves without walking and may have entered when Ava opened her window

Featured Themes

Reality distortion, doppelgängers, haunted mirrors, unreliable memory, forgotten history, paranormal folklore, wetlands, shadow figures, teenage relationships, missing records, and the danger of noticing something that does not want to be seen.

Episode Quote

“I think some things aren’t meant to be noticed. And when they are...”

Keywords

The WillowBend Glitch, Rudy Stankowitz, Tessa, Ava Perez, It’s Awake, YA horror, supernatural thriller, speculative fiction, paranormal fiction, reality glitch, doppelgänger, haunted mirror, moving reflection, shadow figure, memory loss, creepypasta, serialized audiobook, fiction podcast

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WillowBend High feels wrong.

The hallways are packed with band kids, human clouds of Axe body spray, reheated tater tots, vandalized motivational posters, and teenagers pretending they have everything under control.

But beneath the ordinary high-school chaos, Ava Perez senses something else.

Something heavy.

Something electric.

Something waiting.

After a painful collision with her locker, Ava finds herself cornered by Hannah Whitman—the designer-clad Alpha Brat who has turned tormenting “Eco Bitch” Perez into a recreational activity. Fortunately, Ava isn’t alone. Madison arrives with combat boots, leopard print, and absolutely no patience for Hannah’s bullshit.

Later that night, Ava, Madison, and Olivia experiment with a smudge stick in Ava’s bedroom. When the unmistakable clack of Lacey Perez’s cane approaches, their spiritual cleansing becomes a frantic attempt to hide the smoke and convince Ava’s mother that nothing suspicious—or remotely sniffable—is happening.

Lacey is more amused than angry, but she leaves the girls with one strangely specific instruction:

Crack a window.

Spirits need a way out.

The girls follow her advice.

Unfortunately, opening a way out also creates a way in.

Episode Credits

• Written by Rudy Stankowitz
• Read by Tessa
• Narrated from the perspective of Ava Perez
• From the novel The WillowBend Glitch

Content Advisory

This episode contains bullying, strong language, implied teenage drug use, supernatural themes, and references to spirits and ritual cleansing.

Introduced in This Chapter

• Ava Perez — environmentally conscious, sarcastic, and increasingly aware that something is wrong
• Madison — Ava’s fearless and fiercely loyal friend
• Olivia — anxious, observant, and always within reach of emergency Febreze
• Hannah Whitman — WillowBend High’s designer-dressed Alpha Brat
• Lacey Perez — Ava’s mother, who may understand far more about spirits than she admits

Featured Themes

High-school bullying, teenage friendship, social pressure, smudging, spiritual cleansing, haunted spaces, protective rituals, parental secrets, shadow phenomena, and the danger of opening doors without knowing what is waiting outside.

Episode Quote

“We cracked it open, giving whatever imaginary spirits weren’t haunting us a way out. But in doing so... we let something in.”

Keywords

The WillowBend Glitch, Rudy Stankowitz, Tessa, Ava Perez, Hall Passes and Smudge Sticks, supernatural thriller, YA horror, speculative fiction, paranormal fiction, smudge stick, spiritual cleansing, haunted window, shadow figures, high school horror, serialized audiobook, fiction podcast

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Twenty-two years before Ava Perez’s story begins, her mother arrived in WillowBend carrying little more than a bag, a permanent limp, and secrets she refused to explain.

Lacey Perez claimed the injury came from a car accident. Or a hiking accident. Or, depending on the day, a fight with a serial killer. The truth was darker—and far more dangerous.

Before WillowBend, there was Lewisville. There was a mysterious hospital, a violent past, and something Lacey described not merely as dangerous, but sinister. Seeking refuge with family in Puerto Rico, she discovered curanderismo: prayers and rituals intended to protect, heal, and preserve balance.

But years later, devastated by the man who abandoned her and their unborn child, Lacey used what she had learned for revenge.

She broke the rules.

In this preface to The WillowBend Glitch, Ava introduces the secrets, shadows, and family curse that existed long before she was born—and explains why nothing that happens next can be understood without knowing what her mother was running from.

Episode Credits

• Written by Rudy Stankowitz
• Read by Tessa
• Narrated from the perspective of Ava Perez
• From the novel The WillowBend Glitch

Content Advisory

This episode contains references to trauma, physical injury, abandonment, supernatural practices, implied violence, and disturbing imagery.

Featured Themes

Family secrets, Puerto Rican folklore, curanderismo, generational trauma, supernatural revenge, shadow horror, curses, missing identity, small-town mystery, and the dangerous consequences of breaking rules designed to maintain balance.

Episode Quote

“The things I left behind weren’t dangerous. They were... sinister.”

Keywords

The WillowBend Glitch, Rudy Stankowitz, Tessa, Ava Perez, Lacey Perez, supernatural thriller, YA horror, Puerto Rican folklore, curanderismo, folk magic, paranormal fiction, family curse, generational trauma, dark fantasy, mystery audiobook, novel narration