Episode 12 — Don't Answer
792 Words
The phone kept ringing.
Daniel stared at Maya's name.
His thumb hovered over the screen.
Elena grabbed his wrist.
“Don't.”
Daniel pulled away.
“That's my sister.”
“I know.”
“She disappeared seven years ago.”
“I know.”
“Then why shouldn't I answer?”
Elena looked terrified.
Not confused.
Not surprised.
Terrified.
Daniel's anger returned.
“What aren't you telling me?”
The phone continued to ring.
Once.
Twice.
Then—
It stopped.
Daniel stared at the screen.
A new message appeared.
MISSED CALL — MAYA
His chest tightened.
Elena slowly released the steering wheel.
The car was still moving.
“Elena.”
She didn't respond.
“Elena!”
She looked up and quickly pulled the car to the side of the road.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Rain tapped against the windows.
Daniel held the phone between them.
“Tell me why you were afraid.”
Elena stared through the windshield.
“When Maya disappeared, someone called me.”
Daniel waited.
“She told me not to trust the police.”
His expression changed.
“Who told you?”
Elena finally turned toward him.
“Maya.”
Daniel's grip tightened around the phone.
“When?”
“The night she disappeared.”
His mind raced.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“I know.”
“You said you barely knew her.”
“I lied.”
“Again.”
Elena looked away.
Daniel's voice became quieter.
“How well did you know my sister?”
Elena swallowed.
“Better than you thought.”
The answer hit him harder than he expected.
“What does that mean?”
Elena reached into her coat.
She took out the silver key.
Then she placed it in Daniel's hand.
“Maya gave me this the week before she disappeared.”
Daniel looked down.
214.
“What did she say?”
Elena hesitated.
Daniel looked at her.
“What did she say?”
“She said if anything happened to her, I should wait.”
“Wait for what?”
Elena's eyes moved to his phone.
“For you to receive a message.”
Daniel went still.
The car seemed suddenly too quiet.
“What message?”
Elena looked directly at him.
“She didn't say.”
Daniel's phone buzzed.
Both of them looked down.
A new text.
YOU WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO ANSWER THAT CALL.
Daniel stared at the words.
His pulse quickened.
Elena whispered, “Daniel…”
Another message arrived.
CHECK THE VOICEMAIL.
Daniel frowned.
“There wasn't a voicemail.”
He opened the missed call.
His finger stopped.
There was a small icon beneath it.
Voicemail.
Daniel looked at Elena.
“I didn't see that before.”
“Don't play it.”
He turned toward her.
“Why?”
Her face crumpled for a second.
“Because if that's really Maya…”
She couldn't finish.
Daniel pressed play.
At first, there was only static.
He raised the phone closer.
Then a voice came through.
Faint.
Broken by interference.
But unmistakable.
“Daniel…”
His entire body went cold.
It was Maya.
Elena covered her mouth.
Daniel couldn't move.
The recording continued.
“If you're hearing this…”
Static swallowed the next few words.
Daniel turned up the volume.
Then Maya's voice returned.
“...don't come looking for me.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
The recording continued.
“Trust—”
Static.
Then silence.
Daniel stared at the phone.
The voicemail had ended.
“What did she say?”
Elena whispered.
Daniel didn't answer.
His phone screen changed.
A location had appeared.
Daniel looked at it.
His stomach dropped.
It was not the storage facility.
And it wasn't Elena's father's house.
It was somewhere Daniel knew.
Somewhere he had been before.
He looked out through the rain-covered windshield.
“Elena.”
“What?”
Daniel showed her the location.
Her face went completely still.
“No.”
Daniel's voice dropped.
“You know this place?”
Elena slowly shook her head.
But Daniel knew she was lying.
The location was only fifteen minutes away.
And for seven years, Daniel had passed it without stopping.
He looked at Elena.
“Start the car.”
She didn't move.
“Daniel—”
“Start the car.”
Elena looked at the road ahead.
Then at the mysterious location on his screen.
Finally, she whispered—
“We're too late.”
Daniel frowned.
“For what?”
Elena's phone began to ring.
She looked down.
And Daniel saw the name on her screen.
UNKNOWN CALLER.
Then a message appeared on Daniel's phone.
HE KNOWS WHERE YOU'RE GOING.
Daniel looked through the rear window.
Far behind them, headlights appeared in the rain.
Following them.
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