The Last Message Before Midnight

Claire looked at the mobile phone clock and saw the 11:48 PM display. The sound of the raindrops was so quiet and steady, just like the sound of her rapidly increasing heartbeat. A single notification appeared at the top of her screen: Unknown Number: One new message.

Her fingertips stopped over the screen as she weighed the pros and cons of opening the message on her internal scale. She had switched to a new line two months ago, and the incident had happened just after that. She felt that Ryan, her ex, was the one causing the trouble. But it would be very surprising if it were him. Wouldn't it?

Her inquisitiveness vanished after which she went to the message all the same.

"The house is not safe. You are not alone. You must stay in. Lock the doors. It is too late to be out there,"

A sense of horror seized her. She reread the message once more with her breath getting snagged. Was it a scam? Her friends never send anything like this, and even if they do, it wouldn't be from an unknown number.

The house had gone quiet, only the ticking of the clock in the living room could be heard. 11:52 PM.

Claire was in a state of panic. Shall she call someone? The police were not going to give attention to a vague text. Nonetheless, the anxiety kept eating her. She went to her front door. She checked that the locks were present. The deadbolt was in place and the chain was also secure. The windows were closed.

11:55 PM.

Then there was another message.

"Don't look out the window,"

Claire began to take quick breaths. Without knowing, she glanced momentarily in the direction of the large window in her living room. She had pulled the curtains shut so she couldn't see out, but she could hear something outside. A slight shuffle. Whisper of a movement that sounded like something sliding across the pavement.

She had her phone again.

"Besides, I realize that you want to see. Please, do not do it,"

She was in a panic. Did anybody see her? Was there someone playing a mean joke on her? Her hands were trembling as she was dialing her best friend, Emma.

No signal.The WiFi on her phone flickered and then vanished completely.

11:58 in the night.

A gentle knock on the door

She stopped dead in her tracks. The knock was heard again, this time much stronger. All her nerves strained to keep her from any move

Then he whispered, right outside the door.

“Clare… let me in.”

Her stomach tightened. That voice. It was so familiar — too familiar.

Ryan.

But that was something that could not be true. He was dead. He had died in a car accident six weeks ago. She was there at the funeral. She saw the casket followed into the earth.

The knocking changed into pounding. The voice, which was once soft, became assertive.

“You shouldn't have been spying, Claire.”

Horror chilled her blood. She was not the one who had looked. She had obeyed. But… had she?

The pounding did not return. Silence.

Claire was hardly breathing. Her phone screen blinked for the last time.

11:59 PM.

The last message:

“Midnight is too late.”

And then—

The lights went out.

Claire never saw the clock strike twelve.