We Never Recorded This
12:03 AM
The phone screen went black.
For a few seconds, nobody moved.
Then Daniela spoke.
“Okay. No.”
Megan looked at her. “That’s all you have to say?”
“What do you want me to say, Megan? The phone literally showed us standing in this room tomorrow.”
“Technically, it showed us standing here today,” Lara said quietly.
Everyone turned toward her.
Lara pointed at the screen.
“The timestamp said October eighteenth. It’s October seventeenth right now.”
Sophia slowly looked toward the clock.
12:04 AM.
“Oh my God,” Yoonchae whispered. “It’s already tomorrow.”
“That’s not funny,” Manon said.
“I’M NOT TRYING TO BE FUNNY!”
“Guys,” Sophia interrupted. “Can we please stop yelling?”
Silence.
The old phone sat on the coffee table between them.
Manon stared at it.
There was something familiar about the device. Not just because of what it had shown them, but because she felt like she’d seen it before.
Somewhere.
A long time ago.
“Should we watch it again?” Megan asked.
“No,” Lara answered immediately.
“Agreed,” Sophia said.
Daniela folded her arms. “Great. Then we throw it away.”
She reached for the phone.
The screen lit up.
Everyone jumped.
A new notification appeared.
NEW RECORDING AVAILABLE.
Daniela pulled her hand back.
“Nope. Absolutely not.”
Megan leaned forward, squinting at the screen.
“There’s another one?”
Manon picked up the phone.
“Don’t open it,” Yoonchae said.
“I just want to see the date.”
“Manon.”
“I’m not playing it.”
She tapped the notification.
A list of recordings appeared.
There were six files.
Each one had a name.
SOPHIA.mp4
MANON.mp4
DANIELA.mp4
LARA.mp4
MEGAN.mp4
YOONCHAE.mp4
Nobody spoke.
Then Sophia shook her head.
“That’s not possible.”
“Maybe they’re old videos,” Lara suggested.
“Old videos of what?” Daniela asked. “Us standing in our living room?”
Manon tapped the first file.
SOPHIA.mp4
Sophia immediately grabbed her wrist.
“Don’t.”
Manon looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because what if it shows something we don’t want to see?”
Megan raised an eyebrow.
“Since when are you scared of a video?”
Sophia let go of Manon’s wrist.
“Since the video showed seven shadows when there were only six of us.”
That shut Megan up.
Manon looked back at the phone.
Then she pressed play.
The video opened with a view of their living room.
The same couch.
The same coffee table.
The same lights.
But the room was empty.
The camera slowly moved toward the hallway.
Sophia frowned.
“Who recorded this?”
Nobody answered.
Footsteps came through the phone’s speakers.
The camera turned toward the stairs.
And Sophia appeared.
She was wearing the exact clothes she had on right now.
Her hair was tied back. Her face was pale, and she kept looking over her shoulder as if someone were following her.
“Wait,” Daniela whispered. “That’s literally what you’re wearing.”
On the recording, Sophia stopped at the bottom of the stairs.
She looked directly at the camera.
“If anyone finds this,” the recorded Sophia whispered, “don’t let Manon open the door.”
Everyone turned toward Manon.
Manon stared at the screen.
“What?”
The recorded Sophia began crying.
“She’s not the one who came back.”
The video cut off.
For a moment, the only sound in the room was the hum of the refrigerator.
Then Megan slowly turned toward Sophia.
“What does that mean?”
Sophia looked genuinely confused.
“I don’t know.”
“It’s you in the video.”
“I KNOW THAT!”
“Then explain it!”
“HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO EXPLAIN A VIDEO I HAVE NEVER SEEN?”
“Stop!” Lara snapped.
Both girls fell silent.
Lara looked at Manon.
“Did you notice something?”
Manon shook her head.
“Look at the background.”
They all leaned closer to the phone.
Behind the recorded Sophia, near the staircase, stood a dark figure.
It was almost impossible to see.
But when Manon zoomed in, the figure became clearer.
A girl.
Long hair.
Pale face.
Standing perfectly still.
Yoonchae covered her mouth.
“Aria?”
Manon shook her head slowly.
“No.”
“How do you know?” Daniela asked.
“Because look at her face.”
The girl in the background was smiling.
But it wasn’t Aria.
It looked like—
“Me,” Manon whispered.
Everyone stared at her.
The phone suddenly vibrated in her hand.
The video disappeared.
A new message appeared on the screen.
RECORDING 001 COMPLETE.
Underneath it was another line.
ONE OF YOU IS ALREADY DIFFERENT.
“Turn it off,” Sophia said.
Manon pressed the power button.
Nothing happened.
She held it down.
The screen stayed on.
“Manon, please,” Yoonchae whispered.
“I’m trying!”
The phone vibrated again.
Another notification.
NEW RECORDING AVAILABLE.
This time, the file didn’t have a name.
It had a date.
OCTOBER 18 — 12:17 AM
Lara checked the clock.
12:11 AM.
“Six minutes,” she whispered.
“Six minutes until what?” Daniela asked.
“I don’t know.”
Megan stood up.
“Okay. New plan. We put the phone in a box, lock the box, and leave it somewhere far away from here.”
“Finally, a good idea,” Sophia muttered.
Megan reached for the phone.
The screen flickered.
A new message appeared.
MEGAN. DON’T TOUCH IT.
Megan froze.
Slowly, she pulled her hand away.
“Why does it know my name?”
Nobody had an answer.
Then the phone began playing audio.
A girl’s voice filled the room.
It sounded like Yoonchae.
But Yoonchae was standing right beside them.
The voice from the phone whispered:
“Please don’t let them watch the next one.”
Yoonchae’s face drained of color.
“That wasn’t me.”
The audio continued.
“Please. I don’t want them to know what I did.”
Then came a quiet sob.
The recording ended.
Daniela stared at Yoonchae.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing!”
“Then why would it say that?”
“I DON’T KNOW!”
Yoonchae’s eyes filled with tears.
Sophia stepped between them.
“Stop questioning her! Whatever this thing is, it’s trying to turn us against each other.”
Manon looked at the phone.
Sophia was right.
The house had done the same thing.
It had made them doubt their own memories.
Made them question each other.
And now, somehow, it was doing it again.
But the house was miles away.
Wasn’t it?
Manon looked at the screen one last time.
A final notification appeared.
YOU HAVE 6 NEW RECORDINGS.
She tapped the list.
Five files remained locked.
Only one was available.
The file was titled:
MANON — DO NOT WATCH.
Manon stared at it.
Then she noticed the tiny text underneath.
Recorded by: Aria.
Her breath caught.
“Guys…”
“What now?” Lara asked.
Manon turned the phone toward them.
Sophia’s eyes widened.
Daniela stopped moving.
And Yoonchae whispered the one thing none of them wanted to hear.
“She’s still here.”
The screen went black.
From upstairs came three quiet knocks.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Nobody moved.
Then a voice drifted down the staircase.
A voice they all recognized.
Aria’s voice.
“Girls?”
A pause.
“Can you let me in?”
