DON'T COME LOOKING FOR ME The Boyfriend Behind the

Chapter 1 : The Last Message

At 2:13 a.m., Nora Bennett was still awake.

Again.

Her room was dark except for the pale light of her phone, which illuminated the blanket pulled up to her waist. Rain tapped softly against the window, steady enough to become part of the silence.

She should have been sleeping.

Instead, she was staring at the same conversation she had been staring at for the last five minutes.

Elias.

His name sat at the top of the screen, followed by the little green symbol that usually meant he was online.

Nora typed.

Nora:

Are you awake?

Three dots appeared almost immediately.

Elias:

Unfortunately.

She smiled.

Nora:

It's 2 a.m.

Elias:

Exactly. That's why I'm unfortunately awake.

Nora:

You could sleep.

Elias:

So could you.

Nora:

I asked first.

A few seconds passed.

Elias:

Then I'll sleep when you do.

Nora rolled her eyes.

He did that all the time.

He had a way of turning almost everything into a joke, especially when he knew she was tired.

She had known him for three years.

Three years of messages.

Three years of calls.

Three years of birthdays celebrated through a screen, late-night conversations, arguments that lasted twenty minutes before one of them apologized, movie nights where they pressed play at the same time and complained about the same scenes.

Three years of knowing someone she had never actually met.

It should have felt strange.

Sometimes it did.

But most of the time, it didn't.

Elias knew that she hated overly sweet coffee. He knew she always checked the weather before leaving home, even when she had nowhere important to go. He knew she couldn't fall asleep if there was a light coming through the curtains.

He knew she became quiet when something bothered her.

And he knew she lied when she said, I'm fine.

Unfortunately, he was very good at catching that one.

Elias:

You're thinking again.

Nora frowned.

Nora:

How do you know?

Elias:

You use fewer emojis when you're thinking.

She looked at her last few messages.

He was right.

Nora:

That's ridiculous.

Elias:

You've used three emojis tonight.

Nora checked.

Three.

She stared at the screen.

Nora:

You're creepy.

Elias:

And yet you love me.

She smiled despite herself.

Nora:

Unfortunately.

Elias:

There she is.

Nora pulled the blanket higher.

For a few seconds, she simply looked at his name.

Elias Vale.

Three years.

Three years, and she still didn't know what his face looked like outside the tiny profile picture he had once sent her.

That thought had been bothering her more lately.

Not because she doubted him.

At least, she told herself that.

But twenty-three was probably old enough to admit that dating someone for three years without ever meeting them was unusual.

Very unusual.

She typed slowly.

Nora:

Can I ask you something?

The typing indicator appeared.

Then disappeared.

Then appeared again.

Elias:

That sentence never ends well.

Nora:

Why haven't we met yet?

The typing indicator vanished.

Nora waited.

Ten seconds.

Twenty.

A minute.

She sat up.

Nora:

Elias?

Nothing.

She checked his status.

Online.

She frowned.

Nora:

Did you fall asleep?

Nothing.

Five minutes passed.

Then ten.

The rain outside seemed louder now.

Nora stared at the screen.

She knew his habits.

Elias never disappeared in the middle of a conversation.

Not like this.

She called him.

The call rang once.

Twice.

Then stopped.

Call failed.

Nora tried again.

The same thing.

She opened their conversation.

His profile picture was still there.

She pressed his name.

The page loaded.

Then froze.

For one strange second, the screen went completely white.

When it returned, his profile picture was gone.

His name was gone.

His status was gone.

The entire conversation was still there, but the person attached to it seemed to have vanished.

Nora's stomach tightened.

She refreshed the page.

Nothing.

She tried calling again.

No answer.

Then her phone vibrated.

A new message.

Unknown number.

«Stop looking for him.»

Nora stared at it.

Her first thought was that someone had hacked her account.

Her second was that it was a joke.

Her third was much simpler.

Who the hell is this?

She typed.

Nora:

Who are you?

The message remained unread.

She waited.

Nothing.

Nora looked back at the conversation with Elias.

Something about the unknown message had brought back an old memory.

Not one she had thought about in months.

A conversation from nearly two years ago.

She searched their messages.

The word appeared.

meet.

Hundreds of results.

Most were ordinary.

One day.

When things calm down.

When I can take time off.

When you come here.

Excuses.

Plans.

Plans that never happened.

Then she found one particular conversation.

It was late.

Much later than tonight.

Elias had been unusually serious.

Elias:

Promise me something.

Nora:

Depends.

Elias:

If I ever tell you not to come looking for me, promise me you won't.

She remembered laughing.

Nora:

Why would I come looking for you?

His answer had arrived almost immediately.

Elias:

Because I know you.

She had sent a laughing emoji.

Then:

Nora:

And if you disappear?

There had been a long pause.

Then:

Elias:

Especially then.

Nora's smile disappeared.

She scrolled further.

Another conversation.

Another warning.

Elias:

If you ever see something you can't explain, don't touch it.

Nora:

Very helpful.

Elias:

I'm serious.

Nora:

You're always serious about weird things.

Elias:

Promise me.

She had promised.

At the time, she had thought he was being dramatic.

Elias had always been strange about certain things.

He avoided video calls whenever she asked to see where he lived.

He never gave her a precise address.

Whenever she asked why they couldn't simply choose a place and meet, something happened.

A family emergency.

A work problem.

A sudden illness.

A canceled trip.

Once, he had even bought a ticket and canceled it the night before.

He had apologized for hours.

She had believed him.

Because she loved him.

And because, despite everything, Elias had never given her a reason to believe he was lying about loving her.

Nora locked her phone.

She took a breath.

Then unlocked it again.

The unknown message was still there.

«Stop looking for him.»

She typed:

Nora:

I'm not looking for him.

The reply came instantly.

«Then stop asking questions.»

Nora's blood ran cold.

She hadn't told the sender what she had asked Elias.

She slowly lowered the phone.

The room was silent.

Too silent.

Even the rain seemed distant.

Then—

Knock.

Nora froze.

Her bedroom door was closed.

She looked toward it.

Another knock.

Three slow taps.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

Her heart began to beat faster.

She glanced at the time.

2:31 a.m.

Her bedroom door had been there all night.

Nothing unusual.

Nothing strange.

So why did she suddenly feel like she shouldn't open it?

Her phone vibrated.

Nora nearly dropped it.

A new notification appeared.

Not from a messaging application.

Not from any application she recognized.

A black screen had appeared.

White letters slowly formed across it.

[WELCOME TO THE NIGHTMARE.]

Nora stared.

Another line appeared.

[PARTICIPANT IDENTIFIED.]

Her breathing stopped.

Then:

[NORA BENNETT.]

She stepped backward.

The room suddenly felt smaller.

[MEMORY COMPATIBILITY: 98.7%]

Nora frowned.

“What does that even mean?”

The phone answered.

[SURVIVAL COUNT: 2]

She stared at the number.

Two what?

Lives?

Attempts?

She didn't know.

Another notification appeared.

[FIRST TRIAL AVAILABLE.]

Two options appeared beneath it.

[ENTER]

[REFUSE]

Nora reached for the screen.

Before she could touch either option, another message appeared.

[REFUSAL WILL NOT CANCEL PARTICIPATION.]

Her hand stopped.

“What?”

The lights went out.

Nora gasped.

Darkness swallowed the room.

She immediately reached for the lamp.

Nothing.

She pressed the switch again.

Nothing.

Her phone remained the only source of light.

The screen flickered.

Once.

Twice.

Then went black.

“N-no.”

Nora backed away.

Something moved near the bedroom door.

She raised the phone.

A shape stood there.

Tall.

Too tall.

Its body was thin enough to look almost unnatural, its head tilted slightly to one side.

Nora couldn't see its face.

She couldn't even tell whether it had one.

Her fingers tightened around the phone.

The figure didn't move.

Then text appeared on the screen.

[TRIAL STARTING.]

00:30

Nora stared at the countdown.

00:29

The figure took one step forward.

00:28

Nora stepped back.

00:27

The thing stopped.

A new message appeared.

[RULE 1]

DO NOT OPEN A DOOR THAT KNOWS YOUR NAME.

Nora's eyes moved toward her bedroom door.

The door was still closed.

Then something changed.

A thin line of darkness appeared beneath it.

Not outside the room.

Inside.

As if another room existed on the other side.

00:21

The door handle slowly turned.

Nora couldn't breathe.

The figure behind her moved.

She turned.

It was gone.

Only the empty darkness remained.

Then she heard something.

A voice.

Quiet.

Familiar.

“Don't.”

Nora's heart slammed against her ribs.

“Elias?”

No answer.

The voice had come from the door.

She stepped closer.

Her hand hovered over the handle.

Then another rule appeared.

[RULE 2]

DO NOT LET THE DOOR CLOSE BEFORE YOU ENTER.

Nora stared at the words.

“What kind of stupid rule is that?”

The door opened by itself.

Not completely.

Just enough to reveal darkness beyond it.

There was no hallway.

No bedroom wall.

No house.

Just darkness.

And something else.

Writing.

Someone had written on the inside of the door.

Three words.

Nora stepped closer.

Her stomach dropped.

She knew that handwriting.

The slightly uneven letters.

The way the final line of the g curved upward.

She had seen it in photographs.

On birthday cards.

On notes he had once written during their movie nights.

She knew it.

It was Elias's handwriting.

Her fingers trembled.

The message said:

DON'T COME LOOKING.

Nora stared at it.

For three years, she had believed Elias was keeping her at a distance because he was afraid of meeting her.

She had thought he was hiding something ordinary.

A complicated past.

A personal problem.

Maybe another life.

Something human.

Something explainable.

She had never imagined this.

Her phone vibrated again.

00:10

Another message appeared.

[ENTER THE TRIAL.]

Nora looked at the doorway.

Then at the words written by Elias.

Then at the darkness beyond it.

She should have stayed.

She should have listened.

For once in her life, she should have done exactly what Elias had asked.

Don't come looking for me.

But he had disappeared.

And someone—or something—had found her.

00:05

Nora stepped forward.

00:04

Her hand touched the door.

00:03

She looked back at her room.

Everything suddenly seemed impossibly ordinary.

Her bed.

Her window.

Her lamp.

The life she had known.

00:02

She thought of Elias.

00:01

“I'll find you.”

The countdown reached zero.

00:00

The floor vanished beneath her feet.

Nora fell.

She didn't scream.

She couldn't.

The darkness swallowed her whole.

And somewhere far below—

someone whispered her name.

Not through her phone.

Not through a speaker.

Not through a dream.

A real voice.

A voice she had heard every night for three years.

Elias.

“You're too late.”

Then everything disappeared.

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