THE GIRL WHO RECEIVED A TEXT FROM HER FUTURE SELF CHAPTER THREE

Elaris couldn't move.She stood in the middle of her bedroom, staring at the photograph on her phone.The school hallway.The dark figure at the end.The black hoodie.And those three words:DON'T TRUST HIM.Her mind kept returning to one person.Daniel.But she didn't want to believe it.Daniel was her closest friend. He knew almost everything about her.Why would her future self warn her about him?Elaris zoomed in on the photograph.The figure was too far away to see clearly, but the hoodie looked exactly like the one Daniel had worn the previous day.Then she noticed something else.At the bottom corner of the photograph was a date.September 14th.Elaris frowned.That date was six days away.“How can a picture from the future already exist?”Her phone vibrated.UNKNOWN NUMBER“You're looking at the wrong person.”Elaris's heart raced.She quickly typed:“Then who should I be looking at?”The reply came seconds later.“Look at what's behind him.”Elaris opened the photograph again.She zoomed in on the area behind the mysterious figure.There was a small sign on a building.BLACKWOOD ARCHIVES.Elaris had never heard of it.She searched the name online.Nothing.No address.No website.No information.It was as though the place didn't exist.Then she remembered the photograph from the night before—the one showing her older self standing beside Daniel.She opened it.This time, she studied the background carefully.There it was.The same symbol.A circle with a line through the middle.Elaris stared at it.She had seen that symbol before.On Daniel's notebook.Her stomach tightened.She grabbed the notebook from her bag and opened it.The symbol was there.Exactly the same.“Daniel…”Her phone vibrated again.“Do not ask Daniel about the symbol.”Elaris stared at the message.Then another appeared.“He doesn't know you're being watched.”Her blood ran cold.“Who's watching me?”The typing bubble appeared.It stayed there.Then disappeared.No answer.Elaris waited.Nothing.She looked at the photograph one more time.Something about it bothered her.Her older self wasn't looking at Daniel.She wasn't looking at the building either.She was looking directly at the camera.As if she knew someone would eventually find the photograph.Elaris whispered,“What happened to you?”Her phone suddenly rang.Daniel.She froze.After everything she'd just discovered, seeing his name on her screen felt completely different.The phone kept ringing.Elaris didn't answer.It stopped.Then a message from Daniel appeared.“Why aren't you answering me?”Before Elaris could respond, another message arrived.Not from Daniel.UNKNOWN NUMBER“Good.”Then:“Whatever happens next, don't tell Daniel about Blackwood Archives.”Elaris stared at the screen.She slowly walked toward the window.Outside, across the street, someone was standing beneath a tree.Watching her house.Elaris couldn't see their face.But she could see what they were wearing.A black hoodie.Her phone vibrated one last time.“He's already here.”Elaris looked back outside.The stranger was gone.TO BE CONTINUED…

Other insights from Aishat Lukman

Referral Earning

Points-to-Coupons