By morning, Aryan had almost convinced himself that it was a dream.
Almost.
The number was still there in his call log. 11:59 PM. Same as before. but this time, it had lasted 7 seconds. that was real.
"It's probably a prank", he muttered to himself brushing his teeth like the voice hadn't crawled inside his headand stayed there. "Deepfake maybe...or maybe AI Clowning or something."
He didn't tell anyone. who would believe him?
His parents were barely around. And his best friend Kabir would just roll his eyes and say he needed to touch some grass.
But in evening, something weird happened.
Kabir called.
"Bro movie night tonight? Let's meet at Crown bridge, say 9?"
Aryan's grip tightened around the phone.
His mouth went dry.
"The Bridge?" he asked
"Yeah, we always chill there before heading to somewhere. Why?"
"DON'T GO TO THE BRIDGE TOMORROW"
The words echoed again in his own voice.
"Actually...I'm not feeling great so let's skip today." Aryan said quickly.