Ethan sat at his desk, fingers hovering over his keyboard, trying to remember what he was supposed to be working on. The words on his screen blurred, letters shifting in and out of focus as if they didn’t want to be read. He blinked hard. The screen snapped back to normal.

  He sighed, running a hand through his hair. Just focus. One thing at a time.

  “Ethan?”

  He looked up. His coworker, Daniel, stood by his desk with a puzzled expression.

  “You good, man?”

  Ethan frowned. “Yeah. Why?”

  Daniel hesitated, then gave a half-shrug. “I mean… you were just talking to me, and then you completely spaced out.”

  Ethan’s stomach twisted. “I was?”

  “Yeah. You asked me about the reports, and then—” Daniel waved a hand in front of Ethan’s face. “Just… nothing. Like you weren’t even here.”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Ethan forced a chuckle, though his hands felt clammy against his desk. “Guess I’m just tired.”

  Daniel nodded slowly but didn’t look convinced. He walked away, muttering something under his breath. Ethan turned back to his computer, only to find his inbox open to an email he didn’t remember writing.

  Subject: I AM NOT AWAKE

  To: Unknown Recipient

  Message: Do you remember me?

  His breath caught in his throat. He hadn’t written this. He didn’t even recognize the email address it was sent to. But there it was, timestamped ten minutes ago.

  His reflection in the monitor flickered. For half a second, his on-screen self didn’t move when he did.

  A cold, electric fear crawled down his spine.

  He reached for his phone, dialing Jonah. It rang twice before going to voicemail. No message, just the automated voice telling him to leave one. He hung up and tried again.

  This time, the line clicked open.

  But there was no voice.

  Only static.

  Ethan’s grip tightened. “Jonah?”

  The static crackled, whispering beneath the noise, a distorted voice curling around the edges of sound.

  “Who… is… Jonah?”

  Ethan yanked the phone away from his ear, heart hammering. His fingers trembled as he checked the call history. The number he had dialed wasn’t Jonah’s. In fact, it wasn’t a number at all. Just a string of shifting symbols that his eyes couldn’t quite process.

  The air around him felt heavier, pressing against his skin like something unseen was watching, waiting.

  His phone buzzed in his palm. A text notification.

  Unknown Number: You’re starting to understand.