Chapter 1
Hey, my name is Tyvon Simpson. I live with my single mom in New York City in a small, creepy apartment. The hallways outside our apartment always smell like cigarette smoke and wet carpet, but it is what it is.
I remember falling asleep on the night of October 30, 1975. I remember the sound of rain hitting my bedroom window and my TV still playing quietly across the room. The weird part is that after that night, nothing has felt real ever again.
My friends say I’ve changed after the accident, but they never tell me what actually happened. Sometimes I think they’re scared I already know.
At first, I noticed it had been weeks since my mom had said a word to me. One night, I saw her working in the kitchen, so I leaned over and asked, “Mom, what’re you making for dinner?”
No response.
At first, I thought she was mad at me for something. Maybe I forgot to do my laundry or take out the trash. But after a while, the silence started feeling wrong. Still, I let it go. I figured it’d be better to give her some time and let her talk to me when she felt ready.
Then there were the clocks.
Every single clock would stop at exactly 11:47 PM before starting again like nothing happened. At first, I thought it was just some weird coincidence, right? But then I realized that was the exact time of the accident.
There was another weird thing too. Every time I tried to use my phone, it kept saying:
No Service.
The next day, I told my mom I was going to get my phone fixed. Still no response. I just left, thinking maybe she was asleep.
When I got to the phone store, a little alarm went off as soon as I opened the door.
“Front door opened.”
A guy walked out from the back, looked around the room, and said, “Huh… that’s weird. Guess I’ve gotta fix the alarm.”
He acted like I wasn’t even there.
I frowned. “Hey… hello? Is anybody gonna help me?”
Nothing.
The worker walked past me again, so I waved my hand in front of his face.
No reaction.
“What’s happening today, man?” I muttered.
Everything felt confusing. Wrong.
I decided to leave, but as I walked out, I looked up at the security camera monitors, thinking I’d see myself leaving the store.
That’s not what happened.
