The group chat exploded instantly.
Rayhan:
> WHAT???
Tisha:
> arian what the hell
Nira:
> tell me this is fake
No response from Arian.
The silence lasted too long.
Five seconds.
Ten.
Fifteen.
The tiny “online” mark beside his name disappeared.
Then returned.
Then disappeared again.
Finally—
Arian:
> i didn’t upload anything.
Rayhan:
> sure bro
Tisha:
> sami can metadata be faked??
Sami:
> not this precisely.
Nira stared at Arian’s profile picture.
Same calm smile he always used.
Same controlled personality.
But suddenly every old memory felt slightly different.
Too rehearsed.
Too clean.
Too calm.
Another message from Arian appeared.
Arian:
> someone might be routing files through my network.
Rayhan:
> at 3 in the morning??
Arian:
> yes.
Rayhan:
> convenient.
Three dots appeared under Tisha’s name.
Stopped.
Appeared again.
Tisha:
> guys…
Tisha:
> why is lina’s spotify active?
Everyone went silent again.
Then screenshots flooded the chat.
Tisha uploaded one first.
Lina’s Account — Currently Listening:
“Where Did You Sleep Last Night”
Nira felt her chest tighten.
That song.
Lina used to play it constantly during late-night drives.
Especially after arguments.
Especially after crying.
A new message appeared from seen.
> she always played that song after you lied to her.
Nira immediately looked at Arian’s name.
He saw the message too.
But didn’t respond.
That scared her more.
Then—
A file appeared in the group.
Voice_003.mp3
No sender.
No notification sound.
It simply appeared.
Like it had always been there.
Nobody opened it.
Thirty seconds passed.
Then a full minute.
Finally Rayhan typed:
Rayhan:
> don’t play that shit
Tisha:
> agreed
Sami:
> i’m checking for malware
Arian:
> don’t open unknown audio files.
Nira stared at the play button.
Her finger hovered above it.
She remembered Lina’s voice perfectly.
Warm.
Soft.
Calm even when angry.
The thought hit her suddenly:
What if this was really her?
Before she could stop herself…
she pressed play.
Static filled the speaker first.
Loud.
Sharp.
Then wind.
Heavy wind.
Like a storm near water.
No one spoke in the recording for several seconds.
Only breathing.
Then footsteps.
Crunching wet gravel.
Nira’s heart started pounding harder.
Then a voice whispered:
“don’t let them see me.”
Lina.
It sounded exactly like Lina.
Not similar.
Not close.
Exactly.
Nira covered her mouth instantly.
More footsteps.
Then another voice entered the recording.
Male.
Panicked.
“You need to calm down.”
Arian.
The recording glitched violently.
Static screamed through the speaker.
Then Lina again.
This time crying.
“You said nobody would get hurt…”
Nira’s blood ran cold.
The group chat started moving rapidly.
Rayhan:
> WHAT THE FUCK
Tisha:
> that’s arian’s voice
Arian:
> no it isn’t
Sami:
> yes it is.
The audio continued.
Splashing water now.
Someone breathing harder.
Then Lina screamed.
Not loud.
Not cinematic.
Real.
Terrified.
The kind of scream that comes from someone realizing something irreversible is happening.
Nira nearly dropped the phone again.
Then the recording cut abruptly.
Silence.
Three seconds of nothing.
Then one final sound.
A whisper directly into the microphone.
“she’s behind you.”
The audio ended.
Nira’s room felt freezing cold.
Her eyes slowly lifted from the screen.
Toward the dark hallway outside her bedroom.
Nothing there.
But her phone suddenly vibrated again.
Private message.
From Lina.
One image.
Black background.
White text.
> i remember what arian did.
Then another message appeared immediately after.
> but i remember what YOU did too, nira.
Nira’s stomach dropped.
Her fingers trembled over the keyboard.
Because deep down…
there was something she never told the others.
Something about that night.
Something worse than lying.
Before she could type—
The group chat updated again.
Sami:
> everyone stop talking right now.
Rayhan:
> why??
A photo uploaded.
Taken from outside a window.
Rain-covered glass.
Dark room inside.
A girl sitting on a bed holding a glowing phone.
Nira realized after two horrifying seconds—
the girl was her.
And the photo had just been taken.
