Chapter 1
THE MESSAGE
The first message arrived at 11:47 p.m.
Eliora was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling while rain tapped against her bedroom window.
She had been trying to sleep for almost an hour.
It wasn’t working.
Her phone was beside her pillow.
She wasn’t expecting anyone to text her.
So when the screen suddenly lit up, she almost ignored it.
Almost.
She reached for the phone.
UNKNOWN NUMBER
Eliora frowned.
She opened the message.
There was only one sentence.
DON’T GET ON THE BUS TOMORROW.
She stared at it.
Then laughed.
“What?”
She checked the number.
No name.
No profile picture.
Nothing.
She typed:
Who is this?
She waited.
Nothing.
She tried again.
How did you get my number?
Still nothing.
Eliora tossed the phone onto the bed.
“People are strange.”
She turned off the light.
Five minutes later, another notification appeared.
She reluctantly picked up the phone.
A second message.
I’M NOT JOKING.
Her smile disappeared.
She sat up.
The rain became louder.
She looked at the time.
11:53 p.m.
“Who are you?”
The three dots appeared.
Someone was typing.
Eliora waited.
The message arrived.
Someone who knows what happens tomorrow.
Her heart skipped.
She stared at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
You have six minutes.
“Six minutes for what?”
No response.
Five minutes.
Four.
Three.
Eliora’s fingers tightened around the phone.
Then the final message arrived.
At 11:59, look outside your window.
She slowly turned toward the window.
Her curtains were closed.
She didn’t move.
11:57.
11:58.
11:59.
Eliora swallowed.
She reached for the curtain.
Pulled it open.
The street outside was empty.
Rain fell beneath the yellow glow of the streetlights.
Nothing.
She sighed.
“Stupid prank.”
Then she noticed something.
Across the street.
A boy was standing beneath an umbrella.
Eliora had never seen him before.
He wasn’t moving.
He wasn’t looking at his phone.
He was looking directly at her window.
Her heart began pounding.
Then her phone vibrated.
She looked down.
One final message.
DON’T LET HIM SEE YOU.
Eliora looked back at the boy.
Too late.
He lowered his umbrella.
Their eyes met.
And he smiled.
Not a friendly smile.
A smile that made her blood run cold.
Then he disappeared into the darkness.
Eliora stepped away from the window.
Her phone vibrated again.
She almost didn’t want to look.
But she did.
The message contained only five words.
HE KNOWS YOU REMEMBER.
Eliora’s breath caught.
“Remember what?”
The room suddenly went dark.
And somewhere outside her house…
a bus horn sounded.
At midnight.
There was no bus route on her street.
Eliora stood frozen in the darkness.
Then her phone lit up one more time.
TOMORROW HAS ALREADY BEGUN.
