The Vanishing
Chapter 1: The Vanishing
I had never felt the quiet in the city this way before. It wasn’t the usual hum of traffic or the distant chatter from the café across the street. This silence felt heavy, almost deliberate, pressing against the walls of my apartment as I sat on the edge of my bed staring at my phone.
It had been three hours since Max didn’t answer my texts. Three hours since he left for the library, as usual. I tried to convince myself that he had just lost track of time he often did but a small, nagging unease refused to leave me.
I grabbed my jacket and stepped outside. The streets seemed emptier than usual, shadows stretching longer and darker in the fading light. My phone buzzed a notification from an unknown number.
“I know what you’re looking for. Look under the old oak tree.”
My heart skipped a beat. Max loved pranks, but this didn’t feel like him. The message was too cryptic, too deliberate. I ran down the streets, ignoring the curious glances from passersby. The old oak tree wasn’t far from the library, near the corner where the streetlight flickered like it was failing.
I reached the tree and froze. There, pinned to the trunk with a single silver nail, was a small envelope. My fingers trembled as I opened it. Inside was a folded piece of paper with a single line written in Max’s handwriting:
“Trust no one. They are closer than you think.”
A shiver ran down my spine. Whoever sent this knew something. Something I didn’t. And for the first time, the reality hit meMax wasn’t just missing. Something darker was unfolding, and somehow, I was already part of it
