The bell rang, but none of them moved.
Students shoved past their table, laughing, stuffing bags with half-eaten sandwiches and unopened milk cartons. The cafeteria bustled with life. Normal life.
But Ethan and the others?
They sat frozen, staring at Jax's phone.
The dead screen. The last recording. The proof that their friend had been taken by something unnatural.
Ethan's stomach twisted. The air in the room felt thinner.
Jax was gone.
And now… they were next.
"We Have to Tell Someone."
Maya was the first to snap out of it. She shoved the phone back into Lucy's bag, eyes darting around the cafeteria.
"We have to tell someone."
Lucy flinched. "Tell who? The cops?"
"Yes!" Maya hissed. "A missing kid? A video of him being attacked? How is this even a question?"
Reed exhaled sharply. "You saw the video. What do you think the cops are gonna do? Arrest a shadow?"
Maya clenched her fists. "We have to try!"
Ethan barely heard them. His mind was spinning, caught between panic and something worse—understanding.
Maya wasn't wrong. The logical thing to do was tell someone. A teacher. The police. Anyone.
But reality had already started to bend around them.
No one remembered Jax.
His name wasn't on the attendance sheet. His apartment looked like no one had lived there. The city itself was rewriting the past to erase him.
Would the cops even see the video?
Would their words make sense to anyone outside this nightmare?
The thought made Ethan's blood run cold.
Because if no one else could see it—
They were completely alone.
Ethan had barely spoken since they left the cafeteria.
Maya stormed off first, phone in hand, determined to call someone. Lucy followed, not as sure but unwilling to let her go alone.
That left Ethan and Reed, walking side by side through the crowded hallway.
Neither of them said anything.
But Ethan could feel it.
That buzzing pressure.
Like something was watching them.
He glanced at the other students.
They all looked normal. Laughing. Talking. Living their lives, blissfully unaware that something was hunting in their city.
Then—a glitch.
Just for a second.
The hallway flickered.
The fluorescent lights popped, plunging everything into darkness.
A moment later, they hummed back to life.
The students around them didn't even react.
Like they hadn't noticed.
But Ethan had.
And so had Reed.
Reed's jaw was tight. "Did you see that?"
Ethan nodded slowly.
Reed exhaled, running a hand through his hair. "Dude… I think it's getting worse."
Ethan didn't reply.
Because deep down, he already knew.
By the time school ended, Maya was waiting for them outside.
One look at her face, and Ethan already knew what had happened.
"They don't believe me," she said, voice hollow.
Lucy stood beside her, arms crossed, staring at the ground.
Maya swallowed hard. "I called the police. I told them everything. I even tried to show them the video."
Ethan felt his chest tighten. "And?"
Maya shook her head, eyes wide, scared.
"They… they said there's no missing kid named Jax. That no one by that name even exists."
A cold silence settled between them.
Lucy spoke up, her voice barely above a whisper. "And the video?"
Maya licked her lips. "It wouldn't play."
Ethan's stomach twisted.
"What do you mean?"
Maya pulled out her phone, shaking fingers scrolling to her sent messages. "I texted it to myself. I tried emailing it. Nothing works." She looked up, panic rising. "The video is still on Jax's phone, but it won't send. It won't copy."
Reed rubbed his face. "It's like it's being contained."
Maya looked at Ethan now, her voice small.
"What the hell are we supposed to do?"
Ethan had no answer.
Because this wasn't just some weird dream bleeding into reality anymore.
This was a trap.
And they were already in it.
Nightfall...
Ethan sat on his bed that night, staring at his phone.
3:21 AM.
Twelve minutes until it happened again.
Jax had been the first to fall.
And if they weren't careful…
He wouldn't be the last.