Static
Nobody moves.
The message glows between them, cold white against the dark screen.
"She still thinks it's about her."
Mara can feel Elena staring at her, but she can't look up.
Her hands are shaking too hard.
"That's not possible," she whispers.
The words sound automatic. Meaningless.
The room is suddenly too warm.
Too small.
Like the walls are breathing around her.
Elena takes the phone carefully.
Not like it's dangerous.
Like Mara is.
The message stays on the screen for three long seconds—
Then disappears.
Not deleted.
Not unsent.
Just…
gone.
Mara lunges for the phone.
"What did you do?"
"I didn't touch anything."
"You had to— it was right there—"
"I saw it."
Elena's voice is quiet, but firm.
"I saw it too."
Mara stops breathing for a second.
Because that's worse.
Much worse.
If Elena saw it too, then this is real.
Or at least—
real enough.
A low crackle fills the room.
Mara flinches.
The television in the living room flickers on by itself.
Static floods the screen.
Sharp.
Violent.
The sound crawls into Mara's skull.
"Elena…"
"I know."
The static shifts.
For a split second, shapes move beneath it.
Not images.
People.
Standing close together in darkness.
Watching.
The screen glitches.
The figures vanish.
Then—
A voice pushes through the static.
Distorted.
Broken.
Familiar.
"Don't let her remember."
The television cuts black.
Silence slams into the room.
Mara's stomach twists.
Elena looks pale now.
Actually pale.
"You heard that too," Mara says.
It isn't a question.
Elena doesn't answer immediately.
Her eyes stay locked on the dead screen.
Then—
"Yes."
Mara waits for her to say more.
She doesn't.
The silence stretches until Mara can't stand it anymore.
"What happened six years ago?"
Elena's expression changes instantly.
A crack.
Small, but visible.
"You remember the woods," Elena says carefully.
Mara nods slowly.
Of course she remembers the woods.
Or at least—
she remembers what people said afterward.
The searches.
The police.
The way the entire town looked at them when they came back.
Two girls missing for nine days.
No explanation.
No memory of where they'd been.
But Mara remembers something else too.
Something worse.
Rain.
Mud soaking through her shoes.
A flashlight trembling violently in her hand.
And Elena—
crying.
Mara presses a hand against her temple.
A sharp pain spikes behind her eyes.
"Elena…"
The memory slips before she can catch it.
Gone again.
"You need to stop trying to force it," Elena says quickly.
Too quickly.
Mara looks at her.
"What does that mean?"
Elena opens her mouth—
Then freezes.
A sound comes from upstairs.
A slow creak.
Like someone shifting their weight.
Both girls look toward the ceiling.
Another creak.
Directly above them.
Mara's pulse stutters.
"Elena…"
Elena's face drains of color.
Because this time—
she whispers first.
"I live alone."