Chapter 2

In my panic, I knocked over a pill bottle on the nightstand. I reached out instinctively to catch it, but I sent the glass of water tumbling instead.

The sound of shattering glass split the silence.

Shards scattered across the floor, and water dripped down the edge of the nightstand.

A jagged piece nicked the back of my hand, but I barely felt the sting.

I covered the phone’s receiver with my hand and prayed that the person on the other end did not hear it.

However, it was too late!

The chilling and triumphant laugh of a man echoed through the phone.

“Well, well, I’ve found you!”

It felt like a bomb had gone off inside my skull.

“No! Please! Please leave Aurora alone!” I screamed into the phone like a lunatic.

What followed drained every ounce of hope within me.

Aurora’s piercing screams mingled with the man’s sinister and giddy laughter.

Then all of a sudden, both voices were cut off.

All that remained was empty, crushing static.

I lost control and screamed like a lion caught in a steel trap.

I swept everything off the nightstand.

The warm yellow lamp flickered twice before it went out and left the room in a suffocating darkness.

Suddenly, there was heavy pounding on the door behind me.

“What the hell are you doing?”

My husband, Sam, was back.

He turned on the light, and I was gasping. Like someone who had almost drowned, I was desperate and praying for salvation.

Sam frowned as he rushed over and pulled me into his arms.

For a moment, I felt anchored again. I even had a feeling that maybe Aurora and I could be saved.

I told him everything that had just happened.

However, Sam just gripped my shoulders and shook me hard.

“Get a hold of yourself! Aurora is dead! Someone broke into our house and robbed us three years ago. They murdered her!”

“I know what happened, but it was her! Aurora just called me!”

I dialed the number again, as I was desperate to prove that I was telling the truth.

Even though Aurora was gone, I never threw out her smartwatch.

I had kept it hidden from Sam all this time. I had been paying the monthly bills and charging it.

However, the call did not connect. It said the number was no longer in service!

It was the same number. It was never disconnected, so how could it be out of service?

I broke down in sobs and mumbled repeatedly through tears, “No, this isn’t real. How is this possible?”

Sam held me tightly against his chest and gently patted my back. He tried his best to be patient and comfort me. “I’m sorry for losing my temper and yelling at you. Look at you. You’re burning up. That nightmare must’ve frightened you.”

After that, he helped me back onto the bed and handed me some pills as well as a glass of water.

“Here. Take the cold medicine and get some rest.”

For a moment, I could not tell if I had really dreamed it all.

Even so, my anxiety had not eased in the slightest.

Something felt wrong. My husband was not the type of man to apologize so easily.

Everything about it felt off, but I was still having a splitting headache. As such, I did not have the strength to argue and just obeyed.

“Get some sleep. I’ll be in the study preparing the files for work tomorrow,” Sam said.

He pressed a kiss to my forehead before shutting the door behind him.

I spat out the pills from under my tongue. Then, I wrapped them in a piece of tissue and tossed them into the trash.

I waited and listened until there was no movement outside.

Carefully, I opened the jewelry box and picked up Aurora’s smartwatch.

The battery was full, and the bill had been paid.

The number was right too. The first three digits were the same as mine, and the last eight consisted of her birthday.

I knew it by heart, and there was no way I could have gotten it wrong.

Ready to try again, I hurried to unlock my phone. However, I found that there were more than twenty missed calls!

They were all from Aurora’s number.

I quickly hit redial while I kept my eyes on the jewelry box.

The pink screen remained dark and silent.