The Livestream That Predicted Death

Seven Victims

Episode 5: Seven Victims

The darkness swallowed Sarah Bennett.

Her flashlight swept across the tunnel.

Nothing.

Only concrete walls, rusted pipes, and the faint sound of water dripping somewhere in the distance.

She raised her radio.

"Central, this is Detective Bennett. I need backup at Platform 6."

Static.

She tried again.

Nothing.

Her phone showed No Signal.

Sarah looked down at the USB drive in her hand.

Two letters were written across the label.

E.C.

Ethan Cole.

She couldn't understand it.

Then she heard the footsteps again.

This time, they were closer.

Sarah raised her weapon.

"Police!"

The footsteps stopped.

Silence.

Sarah waited.

Five seconds.

Ten.

Then something moved at the end of the tunnel.

A shadow crossed the wall.

Sarah aimed her flashlight toward it.

"Stop!"

Nothing.

She moved forward.

One step.

Then another.

The tunnel divided into two passages.

Sarah stopped.

The footprints continued toward the left.

She followed them.

After several meters, she found a metal door.

It was slightly open.

Sarah pushed it.

The door creaked.

Beyond it was a small room.

An old maintenance room.

There was a wooden table.

A chair.

And an electrical panel covered with dust.

But someone had been here recently.

A cup of coffee sat on the table.

Still warm.

Sarah's grip tightened around her weapon.

Someone had been waiting for her.

Then she saw the wall.

Seven photographs were pinned to it.

Seven people.

Seven strangers.

Each photograph had a number written beneath it.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Sarah stared.

Then her eyes moved to the first photograph.

She recognized the man.

Her stomach dropped.

"Impossible."

She knew him.

Not personally.

From a case.

A missing-person report filed three months earlier.

The second photograph showed a woman reported missing two weeks ago.

The third was a university student.

The fourth was a taxi driver.

The fifth was an elderly man.

The sixth was a young woman.

The seventh—

Sarah stopped.

She knew the seventh person too.

She had seen his face that morning.

On a police database.

He was currently listed as a witness in an unrelated robbery.

Sarah stepped closer.

Beneath the photographs was a single sentence.

SEVEN VICTIMS.

Underneath it:

ONE IS ALREADY DEAD.

Sarah's radio suddenly crackled.

"Detective Bennett?"

She almost dropped it.

"Go ahead."

"This is Central Command. We lost contact with you."

"I'm underground."

"Are you alone?"

Sarah looked around the room.

"Yes."

"What's your location?"

"Maintenance tunnel beneath Platform 6."

There was a pause.

Then:

"Detective... you need to leave."

Sarah frowned.

"Why?"

"We just received information about the people in that room."

Sarah looked at the photographs.

"What information?"

"They're not random."

Sarah's eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean?"

The voice on the radio became quieter.

"They're connected."

"Connected how?"

"We don't know yet."

Sarah looked at the seven photographs again.

"Who sent you this information?"

No answer.

"Central?"

Static.

"Central, respond."

Nothing.

Sarah's radio went dead.

She looked at the USB drive in her hand.

Then at the photographs.

Something was being hidden from her.

And someone was making sure she found it.

Across the city, Ethan sat alone in his apartment.

He had been staring at his phone for nearly ten minutes.

Sarah hadn't called back.

The last thing she'd said was:

It has your initials on it.

Then the call had disconnected.

Ethan tried calling her.

Straight to voicemail.

Again.

Nothing.

He looked at the livestream dashboard.

His channel was still growing.

219,000 subscribers.

Thousands of viewers were asking where Sarah was.

Some had already created theories.

Others were demanding another livestream.

Ethan ignored all of them.

He wasn't thinking about his channel.

He was thinking about the photograph he'd found beneath his desk.

The photograph of himself.

Someone had been inside his apartment.

And now a USB drive with his initials had been found beneath Central Station.

The connection was becoming impossible to ignore.

His computer suddenly made a notification sound.

Ethan looked up.

A new email.

No sender name.

No subject.

Just one attachment.

seven.jpg

His hands went cold.

He clicked it.

The image opened.

Seven photographs.

Seven people.

Ethan stared.

He recognized one.

The man from the first prediction.

The pedestrian hit by the red sedan.

Ethan's breathing stopped.

He looked closer.

The photograph wasn't of the man's body.

It showed him alive.

Standing outside a building.

And beneath it was a number.

1

Ethan scrolled down.

Six more photographs.

Six more people.

Each one numbered.

Then a sentence appeared at the bottom of the image.

THE FIRST ONE SURVIVED.

Ethan stared at the screen.

His heart began pounding.

He immediately called Sarah.

Still nothing.

Then another email arrived.

This time, the subject was:

YOU ASKED WHO I AM.

Ethan opened it.

There was only one sentence.

Find the seven before they become seven.

Ethan froze.

Then the email disappeared.

Not deleted.

It simply vanished from his inbox.

He searched again.

Nothing.

No trace.

His phone buzzed.

A donation notification.

$700

Oracle_13

The message:

Don't trust the list.

Ethan stared at it.

He typed:

Ethan: You sent me the list.

Oracle replied:

Yes.

Ethan: Then why shouldn't I trust it?

The typing indicator appeared.

Disappeared.

Appeared again.

Finally:

Because one of those people isn't a victim.

Ethan's blood ran cold.

Ethan: Who?

No response.

Then another message.

You have met them before.

The donation window disappeared.

Oracle_13 went offline.

Ethan leaned back.

He tried to remember the seven faces.

He recognized the first.

The others were strangers.

Or so he thought.

He opened the image again.

One face caught his attention.

The sixth photograph.

A young woman with dark hair.

Ethan stared at her.

Something about her looked familiar.

Not from the news.

Not from his channel.

Somewhere else.

He zoomed in.

Then his eyes widened.

He knew her.

She had been in the chat during his first livestream.

A regular viewer.

Her username was—

LunaSky.

Ethan's heart slammed against his ribs.

He opened the livestream chat.

LunaSky had been watching him every night.

And according to the photograph—

She was one of the seven.

At 2:14 AM, Ethan drove through the city.

He had no idea where LunaSky lived.

But he knew her real name.

She had mentioned it once during a livestream months ago.

Maya Collins.

Ethan found an old message containing her address.

He stared at the screen.

Then hesitated.

Sarah had told him to stay away.

The police were already investigating.

He should have called them.

But Sarah wasn't answering.

And if Oracle was right, Maya might be in danger.

Ethan started the car.

At the same time, Sarah was still inside the underground room.

She had photographed the seven pictures.

She had copied the USB drive.

Now she was examining the room.

There were no computers.

No files.

No obvious exits.

Then she noticed a second door behind the photographs.

She moved the pictures aside.

A small keypad was hidden beneath them.

Four digits.

Sarah thought for a moment.

Then looked at the seven photographs.

Maybe the numbers weren't simply labels.

Maybe they were a code.

She tried:

1-2-3-4

Red light.

Wrong.

She tried:

7-6-5-4

Red.

She looked around.

Then remembered the message.

11:17.

She entered:

1117

The keypad flashed green.

Sarah froze.

The door unlocked.

Beyond it was another room.

This one was much larger.

And filled with monitors.

Dozens of them.

Every screen showed a different location in the city.

A school.

A hospital.

A train station.

A hotel.

A shopping center.

A residential street.

And one screen showed—

Ethan's apartment.

Sarah stepped closer.

The camera displayed Ethan's empty living room.

The angle was unmistakable.

Someone was watching him.

Right now.

Sarah reached for her phone.

No signal.

She ran toward the door.

Then stopped.

One monitor changed.

A message appeared across the screen.

DETECTIVE BENNETT.

Sarah stared.

Another line appeared.

YOU FOUND THE LIST.

Then:

YOU FOUND THE DONOR.

Sarah's eyes narrowed.

"Oracle?"

The screen changed again.

NO.

Then:

BUT I KNOW WHERE ORACLE IS.

Sarah stepped closer.

A final message appeared.

ASK ETHAN ABOUT THE SEVENTH VICTIM.

The monitors went black.

Ethan's car stopped outside a small apartment building.

He checked the address.

This was it.

Maya Collins.

LunaSky.

He stepped out.

Before he could reach the entrance, his phone buzzed.

A donation.

$7

Oracle_13

The message contained only one word.

RUN.

Ethan looked around.

Nothing.

Then he heard a sound behind him.

A car engine.

Headlights appeared at the end of the street.

The vehicle accelerated.

Straight toward him.

Ethan jumped backward.

The car swerved onto the sidewalk.

He fell hard.

The vehicle sped away.

Ethan scrambled to his feet.

His heart pounded.

He looked toward Maya's apartment.

The lights were on.

Someone was standing behind the second-floor window.

A woman.

Watching him.

Ethan slowly raised his phone.

The woman disappeared.

He ran toward the building.

But before he reached the entrance, every light inside went out.

His phone buzzed again.

Another message from Oracle.

I told you to run.

Ethan typed:

Ethan: Why?

The reply came.

Because they found you.

Ethan looked behind him.

The street was empty.

Then his phone buzzed one final time.

Oracle_13: And now they have found the seven.

Ethan stared at the message.

Seven victims.

Seven photographs.

Seven lives.

And somewhere in the city, someone was already hunting them.

He looked up at Maya's dark apartment window.

Then his phone displayed one final notification.

Not from Oracle.

Not from Sarah.

A livestream comment.

From LunaSky.

I'm sorry, Ethan.

His blood ran cold.

A second message appeared.

I tried to warn you.

Then the account went offline.

Ethan stared at the screen.

The seventh victim wasn't simply someone he had met.

She had been watching him from the beginning.

And now she knew his name.

End of Episode 5

Cliffhanger: Who is Maya Collins really, and why does Oracle_13 warn Ethan about the seven victims while someone else claims Maya was trying to warn him?

TO BE CONTINUED.................................................