Shadows At 1:47
EPISODE 1:
Author
Hello again, dear reader.
Author
You made it through The Disappearing Hour. You witnessed the silence at 1:47 when the world shifted, when hours vanished, and when shadows whispered. And yet… you’ve come back.
Author
This time, the shadows are closer. They know your name. They know when you’re reading. And if you dare to continue, remember—this isn’t just a story. Time is ticking for Ava. For Noah. For Harper. For you.
Author
Read at night. Alone. With the lights off. That’s the only way this tale will reach you the way it should.
Author
I’m welcoming you back… but the shadows?
They’re waiting to see if you’ll stay.
UNKNOWN
don’t listen to the author.
you didn’t survive the first book…
you just forgot.
at 1:47, I’ll remind you.
The gymnasium was a tomb of grief. Parents sobbed into their hands, investigators whispered, and the rows of covered bodies stretched endlessly beneath the cold glow of fluorescent lights.
But for Ava, the noise blurred into static. The only sound she heard was the low buzz of her phone.
The group chat.
The Unknown had spoken again.
UNKNOWN
You are special. Your outcome will not be like theirs.
Ava
It’s talking to us again… Noah, it’s not done.
His voice was low, flat. No surprise in his tone — only dread.
Ava
You already told me everything. The smiles, the hours disappearing, what happens if it ever says “harm yourself.”
But this—
This is different.
Noah
Yeah. It’s not just hunting anymore.
It’s playing.
Her throat tightened. The Unknown wasn’t lurking in the dark anymore. It was here. It was watching.
And it had chosen them.
Ava
…Why did it say we’re special?
What makes us different?
Noah
That’s the part I don’t know.
And that’s what scares me the most.
Ava
Do you think it’s connected to Lily?
Noah
Everything is connected to Lily.
But this…
This feels bigger.
A ripple of cold crept up Ava’s spine. She glanced at the nearest body bag, half-expecting it to move.
And then the second message came.
UNKNOWN
You two are the only ones left. Everyone else was practice.
Noah
Don’t react. That’s what it wants.
Ava
It already knows we’re scared.
Look around you, Noah. Everyone’s crying but… doesn’t it feel like none of them see it?
She was right. The shadows under the bleachers seemed longer, stretching unnaturally across the gym floor. They swayed, like breathing things.
No one else noticed.
Just them.
Ava
Noah… it’s marking us, isn’t it?
The air felt heavier. Like the gymnasium itself was holding its breath.
Then their phones buzzed again, in perfect sync.
UNKNOWN
Stop asking why. Ask when.
Noah
Stay calm. Ava, don’t—
But before he could finish, the lights above them flickered. The hum of electricity crackled, shadows jerked along the walls, and Ava swore one of them broke away — Lily’s shadow, faceless, eyeless, rising from the ground.
She blinked, and it was gone.
Another vibration. Their hands shook as they raised their phones.
UNKNOWN
It begins tonight. 1:47.
The gym clock read 4:26 PM.
That left them just over nine hours.
Nine hours before the shadow came again.
Ava’s heart pounded. She had begged Noah for the truth before, and he had given it — every awful piece. But now she wondered if even he had reached the end of what he knew.
Because if they were “special,” then their nightmare wasn’t going to end like the others.
It was only beginning.
EPISODE 2:
The words on the phone screen burned in Ava’s mind:
Every tick of the clock sounded louder. The gym felt smaller, suffocating. She wanted to scream, but instead, she didn’t
Ava
Noah, what do we do?
We only have hours.
Noah
We don’t panic. That’s rule number one.
Ava
Rule number one? Like you’ve written a survival guide for this thing.
Noah wasn’t joking. His expression was carved in stone — too calm for what was happening.
Noah
I’ve been writing things down.
Patterns. Times. Words it uses.
Stuff about Lily too.
Ava
And you never thought to share that sooner??
Noah
Would you have believed me before it texted you?
They left the gym quietly, slipping past parents sobbing into tissues and investigators scratching notes onto clipboards. The air outside was heavy with the gray promise of rain.
Their phones buzzed again.
But the more Noah insisted, the more Ava’s thumbs itched. She wanted to type back, to scream at it, to demand answers.
She shoved her phone into her pocket instead.
By the time they reached Noah’s house, the sun was setting. Shadows stretched long and jagged across the floorboards as they entered.
Noah’s room looked less like a bedroom and more like a war bunker. Papers tacked to the wall, scribbled timelines, words circled in red.
And in the middle: a single phrase, scrawled in black marker:
“SMILE FOR ME.”
He pulled a battered notebook from under his bed and tossed it onto the desk. Ava flipped through it. Page after page of notes.
• Victims.
• Times of disappearance.
• Messages.
• The hour.
• The words.
And always, always: 1:47.
Ava
All of them saw the same thing?
Noah
Yeah.
First, Smile for me. Hours gone. Memory erased.
Then later… Harm yourself. That’s the end.
The room was silent, except for the pounding of Ava’s heart. She flipped to the last page of the notebook.
A sketch. Not detailed — more like frantic lines slashed onto paper.
But she recognized it instantly.
The shadow.
The window rattled suddenly, the wind howling as if the house itself shivered at Noah’s words. Ava jumped, clutching the notebook to her chest.
Her phone buzzed. She almost dropped it.
UNKNOWN
Counting down, Ava. 6 hours left
Ava
Why does it keep using my name??
Noah
Because it’s personal now.
Noah
Ava. Listen to me.
We have to be ready.
Ava
Ready?? For what??
We can’t fight a shadow
Noah
Then we learn its rules.
Because rules mean it can be broken.
The hours crawled. The notebook lay open on the desk, its pages trembling with the draft from the rattling window.
Every tick of the clock dragged them closer.
Closer to 1:47.
And for the first time, Ava realized the terrifying truth:
It wasn’t just about surviving the night.
It was about surviving the game.
UNKNOWN
Smile, Ava. Just smile.
Her phone screen glowed in the dark.
And when she looked up, the corner of the room was darker than it should have been.
Something was standing there.
Watching.
EPISODE 3:
The house was quiet, but not safe. Every corner seemed heavier, every shadow stretched too far. Ava and Noah sat on the floor of his room, backs against the wall, the notebook between them.
The clock read 1:43 AM.
Ava
4 minutes.
Noah, I can’t—my chest feels like it’s closing.
Noah
Don’t look at the clock.
Noah
Then look at me instead.
Ava forced herself to meet his eyes. He looked exhausted, but steady—like he had rehearsed this a thousand times before. Maybe he had.
The clock ticked louder.
1:44.
Her phone buzzed.
UNKNOWN
3 minutes. Smile for me, Ava.
Ava
I wasn’t going to.
Noah, what if—
Noah
Don’t finish that sentence.
Her throat was dry, her fingers trembling against the notebook’s cover. She flipped it open without thinking, scanning the last few lines Noah had written:
“At 1:47, everything changes. Time bends. Hours disappear. The shadow chooses.”
Her heart dropped.
1:45.
Ava
Noah… what if it chooses me?
Ava
You can’t fight a shadow!
Noah
Maybe not.
But maybe I can distract it.
The words made her blood run cold. Distract it? Did he mean… sacrifice himself?
Before she could answer, her phone lit up again.
UNKNOWN
2 minutes. Don’t blink.
Noah
we’re together in this.
The lamp in the corner flickered once. Twice. Then went out.
1:46.
The room plunged into a suffocating dark, broken only by the cold glow of their phone screens.
A sound crept through the air. Not footsteps, not breathing—something worse. A scraping, like nails dragging across glass, circling the room.
Ava froze.
Noah
Don’t move.
Don’t breathe too loud.
The air grew heavier, colder, pressing against their chests. Ava’s vision blurred at the edges. Her phone slipped in her sweaty grip, nearly falling.
And then—
1:47.
The scraping stopped.
A shadow uncoiled itself from the corner, taller than the ceiling, darker than the night. Its head tilted, as though curious.
A voice—soft, crawling, inside their heads—spoke without sound.
Noah
Ava—look down! Don’t make eye contact!
She squeezed her eyes shut, tears spilling. Her whole body shook as the air around them turned ice-cold. She couldn’t feel her fingers, her toes.
The shadow moved. Closer.
Her phone vibrated violently in her lap.
UNKNOWN
Hours are mine now.
Her chest heaved. The sound around her distorted—like water rushing into her ears.
The world tilted.
Spun.
Stopped.
And then—nothing.
Dark.
When Ava’s eyes fluttered open, morning sunlight spilled across Noah’s floor. Birds chirped outside, like nothing had happened.
The clock read 8:12 AM.
Her phone was on her chest. New messages filled the group chat.
UNKNOWN
You slept well, didn’t you?
UNKNOWN
Hours vanish. But yours… yours are precious.
UNKNOWN
Don’t forget: next time, one of you will vanish
Ava
Noah…
Do you remember anything?
Noah
No.
Just—darkness.
Then morning.
Noah
Or it means it’s just playing with us.
Ava clutched the notebook against her chest, her eyes on the word scrawled over and over again.
Smile.
The shadow hadn’t taken her. Not yet.
But it would come back.
It always came back.
And next time… someone might not escape.
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