The last signal

When the Lights Dies

2% battery.

Tunde’s hands shook so badly he almost dropped the phone.

“Think… think!” he whispered, pacing in the dark. The scratching sound behind him had stopped—but somehow, that was worse.

Silence meant it was thinking.

Buzz.

“It’s adapting.”

“Then help me!” Tunde snapped, his voice cracking. “What do I do?!”

For a moment… nothing.

Then:

“Trap it in the reflection.”

Tunde blinked. “Reflection…?”

His eyes darted around the room. Mirror. Wardrobe glass. Window.

His gaze locked onto the standing mirror near his door.

The camera flickered on again.

The thing was still behind him—closer than ever. Its long arm now stretched toward his shoulder, stopping just inches away, like it was enjoying the fear.

1% battery.

“Okay… okay…” Tunde whispered, backing slowly toward the mirror. “If it only moves when I don’t see it… then I just need to—”

The screen glitched.

The creature jerked forward.

He screamed.

Its face—if you could call it that—was now inches from his own on the phone screen. The smooth darkness rippled, as if trying to form something human.

A mouth.

Almost.

Then the phone vibrated violently.

“Use BOTH.”

Tunde froze.

Both?

His mind raced.

Then it clicked.

The phone camera… and the mirror.

Two angles.

Two views.

Two ways to trap it.

With a burst of desperate courage, Tunde turned and faced the mirror directly, holding the phone up beside his face.

Now—

He could see behind him through the phone.

And see it again through the mirror.

The creature stopped.

For the first time…

It hesitated.

Its body twitched, like it didn’t understand what was happening.

Tunde’s breathing slowed just a little.

“It can’t move…” he whispered.

The thing jerked again—its arm stretching, then snapping back unnaturally, like it was being pulled in two directions at once.

A faint, distorted sound came from it.

Almost like a voice.

“S…top…”

Tunde’s eyes widened.

“You… you can talk?”

The creature’s surface rippled harder now, struggling—

“Do…n’t… look… at… me…”

The phone screen cracked slightly from the pressure of his grip.

“Why not?” Tunde demanded, fear mixing with anger now. “What ARE you?!”

The creature suddenly lunged—

But froze mid-motion.

Caught.

Split between the mirror and the camera.

Its body began to distort violently, like a signal breaking apart.

Buzz.

One last message.

“Now choose.”

Tunde’s heart skipped.

“Choose… what?”

“Break the mirror… or let the phone die.”

His blood ran cold.

He looked at the mirror.

Then at the phone.

If the phone died… he’d lose one angle.

If he broke the mirror… same thing.

Either way…

It would be free.

The creature’s head snapped toward him.

This time—

It smiled.

A real one.

Wide.

Impossible.

The phone screen dimmed.

0% incoming.

The mirror behind him began to crack… slowly… on its own.

Tunde whispered:

“No… no, this isn’t fair…”

To Be Continued…