The phone went dead.
"Alice?!" Alice's voice cracked through the empty line. "Mum hello?!" She yanked the phone from her ear, stabbing at the screen to redial. It rang once, twice… voicemail. Again. And again. Always voicemail.
Her stomach dropped into ice. "No, no, no."
She grabbed her bag, keys already in her hand. "Mum," she muttered, pulling up her mother's name and hitting call. It rang. No answer. Again. No answer.
The air felt heavier. Her brain tried to convince her this was just bad reception. But her chest knew better—there was a thread tying these moments together, tightening around her neck.
"Pick up, pick up, please—" she whispered.
Still nothing.
Alice froze, phone still against her ear. Two people she loved. Two people missing. And one horrible, crawling thought slithered up her spine.
This wasn't a coincidence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
