Chapter 4 — 03:20
331 Words
Malick did not run.
For a few seconds, he couldn't.
He stared at the laptop screen, waiting for the photograph to change again.
It didn't.
The room was silent.
Then he heard three knocks.
Not from the door.
From inside the wall.
Knock.
Malick stepped backward.
Knock.
The sound came again, closer this time.
Knock.
His phone lit up.
03:20
A new message appeared.
YOU HAVE ONE MINUTE.
Malick grabbed his jacket and moved toward the bedroom door.
The moment his fingers touched the handle, the knocking stopped.
He opened the door.
The hallway was empty.
But something was different.
The family photographs hanging along the wall were all facing downward.
Every single one.
Malick walked past them.
At the end of the hallway, he noticed one photograph still hanging normally.
He stopped.
It showed his house.
But the house looked abandoned.
The windows were broken.
The walls were covered with strange black marks.
And standing in front of it was Malick.
Older.
Much older.
He reached toward the photograph.
The image changed.
The older Malick suddenly looked directly at him.
Then he raised one finger to his lips.
Stay silent.
The lights went out.
Malick heard footsteps behind him.
Slow.
Heavy.
Getting closer.
He turned.
Nothing.
His phone vibrated again.
03:20
The footsteps stopped.
A final message appeared:
IT IS ALREADY INSIDE.
Malick looked toward the kitchen.
A faint blue light was coming from underneath the door.
He slowly approached it.
The door opened by itself.
Inside, sitting on the kitchen table, was a small black device he had never seen before.
It looked like a radio.
Its screen displayed one word:
LISTEN.
Malick reached toward it.
The device switched on.
Static filled the room.
Then a voice emerged.
His own voice.
But this time, it wasn't whispering.
It was screaming.
“MALICK, DON'T LET IT REACH 03:21.”
The clock on the wall changed.
03:20.
The second hand began moving faster.
Malick stared at it.
One second remained.
03:21.
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