CHAPTER 9 YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE COME BACK

Lena couldn't stop staring at the message.

YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE COME BACK.

Five words.

Five words that shouldn't exist.

Nobody knew.

Nobody could know.

Unless—

"Ethan."

He didn't answer.

His attention remained fixed on the paper.

Then he turned it over.

Nothing.

No signature.

No fingerprint.

No explanation.

"How did they know?" Lena asked.

Ethan looked at her.

"That's what we're going to find out."

He placed the paper inside a transparent folder.

"Don't touch it again."

"Why?"

"Because if whoever sent this wanted to scare you, they may have left something behind."

Lena looked at her glowing hand.

"They already left something behind."

Ethan followed her gaze.

The silver light had disappeared.

Again.

As if it had never existed.

"We need to understand that."

"I know."

"Tomorrow."

"No."

Ethan looked at her.

"Now."

He picked up his laptop.

They moved to the dining table.

Ethan connected the computer to the lodge's security system.

A small screen appeared.

Most of the cameras were old.

Some hadn't worked in years.

But the camera facing the front road was still functioning.

Ethan rewound the footage.

Nothing.

He went back ten minutes.

Nothing.

Twenty minutes.

Nothing.

Then Lena noticed movement.

"Stop."

Ethan paused.

A shadow stood near the trees.

He enlarged the image.

The quality was terrible.

But there was definitely someone there.

The figure stood completely still.

Watching the lodge.

Ethan rewound the footage again.

The person had appeared almost an hour before they noticed the light.

"How long have they been there?" Lena whispered.

"At least forty minutes."

"Why didn't they approach?"

"Maybe they were waiting."

"For what?"

Ethan didn't answer.

He continued watching.

Then the figure suddenly looked directly toward the camera.

Lena's stomach dropped.

"Can they see the camera?"

"Possibly."

The figure raised one hand.

Something reflected in the darkness.

A ring.

Three lines crossing a circle.

Then the footage went black.

Ethan immediately checked the system.

"Someone cut the signal."

"From outside?"

"Yes."

Lena stood.

"We have to leave."

Ethan shook his head.

"No."

She stared at him.

"Why?"

"Because whoever sent that message wants us frightened."

He closed the laptop.

"And I don't like being told what to do."

Despite the fear in her chest, Lena almost smiled.

That was Ethan.

Even when the world ended, he had hated being controlled.

She looked toward the basement.

"What about the supplies?"

"We begin tomorrow."

"And the land?"

"I'll buy it."

"The generator?"

"Two."

"Water?"

"Three storage systems."

"Food?"

"Enough for a year."

Lena blinked.

"A year?"

"For now."

She stared at him.

"You really believe me."

Ethan's expression became serious.

"I believe that something is coming."

He paused.

"And I believe you know more than you're telling me."

Lena looked away.

There were still things she couldn't explain.

The mysterious voice.

The silver light.

The visions.

And now the message.

She didn't know whether telling Ethan everything would protect him or put him in greater danger.

"I'll tell you," she said quietly.

"When?"

"When I understand it."

Ethan nodded.

He didn't push.

That surprised her.

In her first life, Ethan had always demanded answers.

But this Ethan was different.

He was learning to trust her.

A strange sound suddenly came from the basement.

A metallic click.

Both turned.

Ethan grabbed the flashlight.

"Stay behind me."

They descended the stairs.

The basement was dark.

Ethan swept the beam across the walls.

Nothing.

Then Lena saw it.

A small red light blinking beneath the stairs.

She walked closer.

"That's not yours."

"No."

Ethan crouched.

It was another device.

Smaller than the one attached to the generator.

He pulled it free.

The screen on the device displayed a single number.

03:00:00

Lena stared.

"What does that mean?"

The number changed.

02:59:59

Ethan's expression hardened.

"A countdown."

"To what?"

"I don't know."

The number continued falling.

02:59:42

Lena felt a cold sensation run through her body.

Then the silver light appeared again.

This time, it didn't stay in her palm.

It traveled up her wrist.

A sudden image filled her mind.

The lodge.

Burning?

No.

Not burning.

Empty.

Then Ethan.

Standing alone.

Then the Brooklyn Bridge.

Then darkness.

Lena gasped.

Ethan caught her before she fell.

"What did you see?"

She looked at him.

"You."

"Where?"

"I don't know."

"Tell me."

"You were alone."

His face changed.

"What else?"

"The bridge."

He went silent.

Lena realized something.

The future wasn't showing her random things.

It was showing possibilities.

Warnings.

Events that could happen if they failed.

The countdown continued.

02:58:11

Ethan looked at the device.

"We have less than three hours."

"For what?"

"I don't know."

Lena suddenly remembered something.

In her first life, exactly three years before the apocalypse, there had been an unexplained emergency alert.

She had ignored it.

Almost everyone had.

The message had disappeared after several minutes.

But later, survivors discovered that the alert had been connected to a series of infrastructure failures.

Lena looked at the clock.

"Turn on the radio."

Ethan did.

Static filled the room.

Then a voice appeared.

"...unusual seismic activity has been detected across several regions..."

Lena froze.

That wasn't supposed to happen yet.

The voice continued.

"...officials are advising residents to remain calm..."

Ethan looked at her.

"This wasn't in your memories."

"No."

The radio crackled.

Then the voice disappeared.

A new sound replaced it.

A repeating emergency tone.

Lena's palm flashed silver.

The countdown on the device suddenly changed.

02:57:00

Then a message appeared beneath it.

FIRST CHANGE DETECTED.

Lena stared.

Ethan read it too.

Neither spoke.

The apocalypse was still three years away.

But the future they remembered was already disappearing.

And somewhere in the darkness beyond the lodge, someone had just started the clock.

To be continued....