THE LAST MESSAGE

THE LAST MESSAGE Chapter One: The Message Daniel Reed had spent seven years trying not to look at his phone when it buzzed after midnight. Nothing good ever arrived at that hour. At 12:17 a.m., the sound pulled him awake. For a few seconds, he stared at the ceiling of his apartment, waiting for it to stop. It buzzed again. Daniel reached for the phone on his bedside table. Unknown Number. He almost ignored it. Then he saw the message. His breath stopped. You were right about everything. Daniel sat upright. There was nothing unusual about the words. Not to anyone else. But Daniel knew exactly who used to say them. His fingers began to shake. He typed one name. Who is this? The reply came immediately. You promised you wouldn't tell them. Daniel dropped the phone. For seven years, he had tried to forget that promise. And for seven years, he had believed there was only one person who knew about it. His sister, Maya. Maya had disappeared on a rainy Thursday night. Three days later, her phone was found inside a car pulled from the lake. The police called it an accident. Daniel never believed them. Because Maya had called him twenty minutes before she disappeared. She had been terrified. And she had said something Daniel had never told anyone. “If anything happens to me, don't trust them.” Daniel stared at the screen again. A new message appeared. This time, it contained only three words. They're watching you. The lights in Daniel's apartment went out. And somewhere in the darkness outside his window, a car's engine started.