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.
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