Chapter 1: 2:17 AM
The first message arrived at 2:17 AM.
I wasn't supposed to be awake.
My room was dark, silent—except for the soft hum of the ceiling fan. My phone buzzed once on the table beside my bed. Just once.
I ignored it.
Then it buzzed again.
I turned my head, eyes half-open, annoyed. No one texts me this late. I reached for the phone, expecting spam or some stupid notification.
But it wasn't.
Unknown Sender
02:17 AM
Don't go to the bus stop tomorrow morning.
My heart skipped.
I sat up slowly, staring at the screen. No number. No profile photo. Just that single line.
"Creepy joke," I muttered.
I checked the time.
02:17 AM.
A chill ran down my spine.
I typed back.
Who is this?
No reply.
I waited. One minute. Two minutes. Nothing.
I locked the phone and threw it back on the table, trying to laugh it off. Maybe some app glitch. Maybe someone messing with me.
I went back to sleep.
The next morning, I woke up late.
I missed the bus.
Around 9:40 AM, the news exploded.
A bus had crashed into a divider near the main road.
Three students were injured.
One died on the spot.
The bus stop was my bus stop.
My hands started shaking.
I opened my phone.
No missed calls.
No new messages.
Just silence.
That night, I didn't sleep.
At 2:16 AM, I was staring at the screen.
At 2:17 AM, it buzzed.
Unknown Sender
You weren't supposed to survive that one.
My breath stopped.
Next time, you won't be so lucky.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to throw the phone away. But my fingers moved on their own.
What do you want?
Three dots appeared.
Then vanished.
A new message arrived.
To see how long you can run.
The phone slipped from my hand.
Outside, somewhere in the distance, a siren wailed.
And deep inside my chest, I knew one thing—
This wasn't a prank.
This was a countdown.