Britney Spears has caused alarm among her fans with a cryptic Instagram post.
On Monday, March 29, the 39-year-old pop superstar took to her official Instagram account to share a strange image with her 29 million followers.
The pic in question, which you can see below, is a black-and-white photograph that appears to date from sometime in the 19th century.
The picture shows a Victorian-era woman wearing a long dress, who has turned away from the camera, holding a small skull-headed child in her arms.
Adding to the overall mystery of her morbid post, Britney then captioned the pic: "Devil is in the details 😈 …. wouldn’t want this baby to hit me one more time 😂😂😂 !!!! [sic]"
Britney's post quickly accrued a lot of attention from other social media users online and currently boasts over 356,000 likes and over 12,600 shares as of the time of writing.
However, the unusual choice of picture and wording has worried some of her followers, with several putting forward theories behind what the star could mean.
For instance, one Instagram user theorized that the image might be a metaphor for Britney's sense of isolation, and referenced another lyric from the same track, writing: "Does this mean your loneliness is killing you?"
Another fan expressed concern, writing: "Girl, what is happening?"
Someone else wondered if Britney's account had been hijacked in some way, or was being controlled by another person, writing: "Ok this ain't Britney."
A fourth person simply wrote: "This has to mean something!"
Another fan seemed excited about the prospect of more conspiracy theories, writing: "Wass queen bring back the illuminati era. [sic]"
Someone else was so worried about Britney's safety that they asked to appear on camera herself, writing: "Can you open a live? We want to see you."
Another person opined simply: "Someone else is gonna have to decipher this because I'm lost. "
This isn't the first time that Britney has bamboozled her fanbase with her puzzling pictures.
And her social media posts will likely only further incentivize the #FreeBritney movement, which seeks to free the Toxic singer from her conservatorship.