My Family Died, Then Came Home

Over Memorial Day weekend, my parents took my younger brother Max Blair on a hiking trip. I wasn't in the mood to go, so I stayed home and spent the day on the couch. By the time night fell, I still hadn't heard from them. None of them answered their phones, and a growing sense of dread settled over me. Around midnight, an emergency alert from a local news station flashed across my screen. [A landslide struck the Mount Highmoor area earlier this evening. Search and rescue crews have confirmed that three hikers were killed. Authorities are still working to verify their identities.] The victims shown in the report were my parents and Max. I was still trying to process the news when someone suddenly knocked on the front door. "Adam, open the door! We're back from our hike!" Chapter 1 My hand froze halfway through wiping away my tears. Cold sweat broke out across my back. I knew that voice better than anyone. It was Dad. I forced down my fear and slowly turned toward the window. Instead of the nightmare I had been expecting, I found Mom and Dad outside in raincoats, looking as kind and affectionate as ever. But deep in their eyes, I caught a faint, unnatural flash of blue. The news had just reported that my parents were dead, yet there they were outside my window, alive and asking me to let them in. None of it made sense. They were supposed to be... Dad seemed to notice my hesitation and said gently, "The family on the news wasn't us. We took shelter in a cave when the landslide hit, and it kept us safe." Mom stood beside him with my brother, Max Blair, in her arms. All three of them looked exhausted. "Open the door, Adam. Max is burning up." The concern on her face looked completely genuine. Max's eyes were squeezed shut, his brow creased with pain, and beads of cold sweat covered his forehead. I hesitated for only a second before unlocking the door. Mom and Dad had never lied to me. The moment the door opened, Mom rushed inside and gently laid Max on the bed. I turned to find some fever medicine. "We never should've gone hiking. Look how sick he is now," Mom said. "The important thing is that we made it home safely. There's no use dwelling on it now," Dad replied softly. Listening to them talk the way they always did, I finally started to relax. "Did we scare you?" Mom asked gently as she reached out to smooth my hair. "A little," I admitted. Before long, Max's fever started to go down. After washing up, we all went to bed. When I woke the next morning, Dad was sitting on the couch watching the news, just as he had done every morning for years. The landslide was still all over the news. The anchor was now apologizing for mistakenly showing photos of the wrong victims the night before. "Due to an error by a member of our production staff, incorrect information was aired yesterday. We sincerely apologize to our viewers." At last, the last of my doubts faded. Ghosts weren't real. I was only scaring myself. It was the second day of the holiday weekend, and Dad suggested we go out for lunch. After we sat down and ordered, I realized I had no appetite. I didn't even touch the steak I usually loved. Mom noticed and placed a piece on my plate before taking one for herself. "This is delicious. You have to try it." She popped the piece of steak into her mouth as soon as she finished speaking. Meat juices glistened at the corner of her lips, and she ate as though it were the best thing she had ever tasted. It should've looked completely normal, but something about it filled me with dread. Chapter 2 Mom had been a vegetarian for 20 years. Whenever we ate out, she always ordered something meatless and never touched anything else. Now, though, she was tearing into the steak like she couldn't get enough of it. Dad noticed me staring and reached over to put some food on my plate. "What's wrong? Are you feeling sick?" Then I noticed something that made my blood run even colder. Dad had been left-handed his entire life, yet he was using his right hand with effortless familiarity. A chill crept over me as I watched my parents. Max, meanwhile, sat beside them without the slightest sign that anything was wrong. If these people weren't really my parents, then Max and I were in serious danger. After dinner, "Mom" and "Dad" suddenly suggested going to a family entertainment center and renting a private party suite. I was about to refuse, but Max immediately agreed. With no other choice, I went with them. Inside the private party room, colored lights flickered across their faces, making them look even more eerie and unnatural. When my parents finally seemed to relax, I lightly nudged Max, who was busy eating from the fruit platter, intending to slip away with him. Right then, I saw him stuffing handfuls of mango into his mouth. Max was severely allergic to mangoes. The last time he accidentally ate a single bite, he nearly ended up in the ICU. "What is it, Adam?" He looked up at me, his eyes shining with a feverish excitement no eight-year-old should have had. My hands trembled beneath the table, but I forced myself to stay calm. "Nothing. It's a little stuffy in here. I'm going outside for some air." The moment the words left my mouth, I hurried out of the room and braced myself against the hallway wall, my heart pounding against my ribs. This was too strange. Something was seriously wrong. With shaking hands, I pulled out my phone. It took me several tries before I managed to call my best friend, Gabriel Tucker. He answered before the third ring, sounding as casual as ever. "Hey. To what do I owe the pleasure?" He sounded exactly like himself, with no trace of anything unusual. "Gabriel, listen to me." I took a deep breath and lowered my voice. "What I'm about to tell you is going to sound completely insane, and you probably won't believe me. But you have to. I'm telling you the truth." The seriousness in my voice startled him into silence. I swallowed hard and told him everything, from the way my parents had acted after coming home to Max eating mangoes despite his allergy. "Are you sure you're remembering everything correctly?" Gabriel asked cautiously. "Maybe your mom just decided to start eating meat again." "That's impossible," I cut in, my voice shaking. Gabriel finally realized I wasn't joking. His casual tone disappeared. "Find somewhere safe and hide. Don't go back into that room. I'm coming to get you. Stay alert and protect yourself." After we hung up, some of the tension left my body, and I let out a long breath. At least I could still trust Gabriel. Just as I started to think I was safe for the moment, a cold chill crawled up my back. I turned around and found "Mom", "Dad", and Max standing side by side at the far end of the hallway, staring directly at me. Their faces were deathly pale, and their bodies were stiff and unnaturally still. One of them spoke in a cold, flat voice. "Who were you talking to?" Chapter 3 I forced a smile and tried to sound casual. "Gabriel just called. His girlfriend's threatening to break up with him, and he wants me to grab a few drinks with him." Even as I spoke, my teeth wouldn't stop chattering. They stood there staring at me, neither of them saying a word. As the silence stretched on, I began to wonder if I would make it out of that hallway alive. Then "Mom" finally spoke. "Go ahead. Just make sure you're home early." Her lips pulled into a cold, mechanical smile. I froze. Were they really going to let me leave that easily? I didn't have time to question it. All that mattered was getting out alive. The next second, I bolted out of the entertainment center. I was running so fast, even an Olympic sprinter would've struggled to catch me. I hadn't made it far when I nearly collided with Gabriel coming the other way. The moment he saw the panic on my face, concern flooded his expression. "Are you okay? Did they do anything to you?" I shook my head, struggling to catch my breath. "Let's get out of here first." I grabbed his arm and pulled him into a cab waiting at the curb. "You look like you're about to pass out. Drink some water." He handed me a bottle, and I took it, draining more than half of it in a few gulps. Once I had caught my breath, I told him everything that had happened. "Try to calm down." He rested a hand on my shoulder. "You can stay at my place for the next few days while we figure this out. I have a feeling there's more to this than we realize." I nodded, and some of the tension finally left my body. By the time we reached Gabriel's place, I was exhausted. Whether it was from everything that had happened or from being on edge all day, I stretched out on the couch and fell asleep almost immediately. When I woke up, Gabriel had already made dinner. "Go wash your hands. Dinner's ready." I sat up and glanced at the food on the table. Leave it to Gabriel. Not a single dish looked edible. "You're lucky I cooked for you at all, and you're still judging me?" he said while rolling his eyes. I grinned. "Anything you make has to be good. Just watch me clean every plate tonight." "Go ahead. I'm sitting right here until you finish every bite. Waste any of it, and you're dead." We laughed and joked around throughout dinner. Afterward, I washed the dishes while Gabriel took a shower. Just then, I heard a phone buzz. Gabriel's voice carried from the bathroom over the sound of running water. "Adam, see if that's Diana texting me again!" Diana Keller was his girlfriend, and they were constantly fighting. I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I got it." After drying my hands, I picked up Gabriel's phone from the table. A text message from an unknown number stood out on the screen. [Do it tonight.] Chapter 4 My eyes widened, and the plate slipped from my hand and shattered on the floor. Hearing the crash, Gabriel called from the bathroom, "What happened? What did she say that made you break one of my plates?" I forced down my fear and tried to sound casual. "Nothing. Whatever's going on between you two is your problem. I'm not reading your messages." "Fine. Don't help me, then!" Pretending everything was normal, I quickly untied my apron and slipped out of the apartment while he was still in the shower. Before I left, I took a picture of the unknown number. The streets were deserted. It was already late. I had no idea what was happening to me, or why the strange events kept piling up. I couldn't go home, and I definitely couldn't go back to Gabriel's place. As I stood there, trying to decide what to do, my phone suddenly rang. I pulled it out and saw the same unknown number that had texted Gabriel. My hand began to shake. I hesitated for a long moment before finally gathering the courage to answer. I stayed silent, waiting for the caller to speak first. But it was as though they knew exactly what I was thinking, because they didn't say a word either. After a long while, all I could hear was steady breathing and a strange tapping sound. Some taps came in quick bursts, while others were spaced farther apart, forming an odd rhythm as though the caller were trying to send me a message. Then, the call ended. I looked around and finally decided to go to the police station. Not to file a report. No one would believe a story this insane. They would assume I was having some kind of breakdown. I just figured no one would try anything while I was inside a police station. I spent the night stretched out on a bench in the hallway and woke up with my back and hips aching. I left early the next morning. When I passed a convenience store, I bought a baseball cap and a face mask. I was in danger, and I didn't want anyone watching me to get a clear look at my face. After that, I headed straight to a wireless carrier store. I needed to find out who the unknown number belonged to. I needed to know who had gone to so much trouble to torment me. Of course, there was no way an employee would simply hand over that information. I pulled off my mask and approached the woman behind the counter. "Hi. My mom passed away recently, and I'm trying to close a prepaid line she was using. I think it may have been set up under my name. Could you check whether there's any credit left on the account?" I handed her my ID and did my best to look heartbroken. The employee's expression softened. After verifying my information, she agreed to look into it. She entered the phone number and typed for a moment before glancing up at me. "This line isn't under your mother's name. You're listed as the account owner." My brows pulled together. "What do you mean?" Noticing my confusion, she angled the monitor slightly so I could see the account information. The unknown number was registered in my name. But I had never opened that account. Someone would have needed enough of my personal information to pass the carrier's identity checks, which meant... I couldn't let myself finish the thought. I was afraid I would completely lose it. As I frantically tried to make sense of it all, a text from the unknown number appeared on my phone. [I know what you're thinking. You went to the carrier store, didn't you?]