The Seventh Message

Evelyn did not believe in things that could not be explained.

She believed that everything, no matter how strange it seemed, must have a reason.

A sound in the middle of the night? A water pipe.

A shadow moving behind the window? A tree.

Footsteps on the upper floor even though the upper floor was empty? Old wood expanding in the cold.

Even the dreams she woke from feeling as though someone had been watching her, she considered just dreams.

But she found no explanation for the message that reached her on Thursday.

Because the message was written in her own handwriting.

---

It had arrived in the gray envelope with no sender name.

It had been placed on the threshold of her bedroom door when she returned in the afternoon.

Evelyn picked it up and turned it over in her hand.

No address.

No stamp.

No seal.

Not even her name on the envelope.

Only a single sentence written in the middle:

Do not open it before 11:11.

She laughed when she read it.

"Funny."

She placed the envelope on her desk.

Then she left the room.

She did not think about it again until 10:50.

She was sitting on the sofa in the living room when she happened to glance at the clock hanging on the wall.

10:50.

She stared at it.

Then she looked at her phone.

10:50.

After that her eyes returned to the gray envelope.

She did not know why she suddenly felt she had to open it.

It was not just curiosity.

It was a strange feeling that she was late.

As if someone had been waiting for her for a long time.

At 11:07, she picked up the gray envelope.

At 11:09, she sat at the desk.

At 11:10, she began to hear the sound of the clock.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Then the beats grew slower.

Tick...

...

Tick...

And at the moment it turned 11:11...

It stopped.

Completely.

Evelyn drew a slow breath.

She opened the envelope.

Inside was a single sheet of paper.

Nothing else.

And written on it was:

"If you are reading this, it means I couldn't stop them."

Her fingers froze.

She read the line a second time.

Then she went on.

"Do not look for me.

Do not ask who I am.

And most importantly...

If you hear someone call your name three times, do not answer."

Evelyn raised her head.

The room was quiet.

She continued reading.

"There are seven messages.

This is the first.

When the second reaches you, there will be something different in your room.

When the third reaches you, you will know that someone else can see it.

At the fourth, do not trust any clock.

At the fifth, do not look behind you when you hear your name.

At the sixth, you will begin to remember something that never happened to you.

As for the seventh...

do not read it."

She stopped.

She turned the paper over.

Its back was blank.

She said to herself:

"Who does stuff like this?"

Then she noticed something.

At the bottom of the message there was a date.

Tomorrow's date.

Not today's date.

Friday.

She stared at it.

"How?"

She turned the paper over again.

Nothing had changed.

And suddenly...

There came a knocking on the door.

One knock.

Evelyn did not move.

A second knock.

Then a third.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

She remembered the sentence immediately.

If you hear someone call your name three times, do not answer.

No one had said her name.

So there was no problem.

But after a few seconds...

A voice came from behind the door.

A girl's voice.

Very quiet.

"Evelyn?"

She did not move.

The voice a second time:

"Evelyn?"

She put her hand over her mouth.

Then came the third.

"Evelyn."

Everything went silent.

She did not answer.

Ten seconds passed.

Then a minute.

Nothing happened.

Evelyn laughed nervously.

"Clearly someone's just messing with me."

But when she got up from her place, she saw something that wiped the laugh from her face.

The clock on the wall...

It was still pointing to 11:11.

She raised her phone.

11:18.

She looked at the clock again.

11:11.

She stepped closer to it.

The hands were still.

She tried to move them.

They did not move.

Then she heard a very faint sound from inside the clock.

Tick.

She stepped back.

Another knock came.

Tick.

Then a third.

Tick.

And after that...

the clock began to strike.

But it was not striking every minute.

It struck seven times.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

Then it stopped.

The lights went out.

The place sank into darkness.

Evelyn gasped and reached for her phone.

The screen lit up.

11:19.

She held the phone up in front of her.

The light from the screen was faint, but it revealed part of the room.

The sofa.

The desk.

The chair.

The clock.

And the door.

Her breath caught.

The door was open.

She was sure she had closed it.

She approached it slowly.

Behind it the corridor was dark.

Then something appeared on the floor.

An envelope.

Gray.

Exactly like the first one.

But this time it had her name on it.

EVELYN

She reached out and took it.

She opened the envelope.

There was a sheet of paper inside.

She read the first line.

Then she felt a coldness run through her body.

"Well done.

You didn't answer."

She stopped.

The next line:

"But don't be happy.

I never said that not answering would keep her from coming in."

She stepped back.

And at that same moment...

she heard the sound of the front door opening.

Her mother's voice.

"Evelyn?"

She turned toward the corridor.

"Mama?"

Then she remembered.

The message.

Don't answer.

But her mother's voice came again:

"Evelyn? I'm back."

Then a third time.

"Evelyn!"

She closed her eyes.

Something was standing in the darkness.

Something she couldn't see.

Then she heard footsteps.

One step.

Then a step.

Then the footsteps stopped in front of her bedroom door.

Evelyn stayed where she was.

She barely breathed.

And the voice came from behind the door.

But this time it wasn't her mother's voice.

It was her own voice.

The same tone.

The same way of speaking.

And it said:

"I know you're in there."

The envelope fell from her hand.

Then the voice came again, quieter:

"But I have one question."

It fell silent for a moment.

Then it said:

"Why are you still alive... and I'm dead?"

Evelyn opened her eyes.

And at that same moment, the clock hanging on the wall began to move.

The long hand moved backward.

From 11:19...

To 11:18.

Then 11:17.

Then 11:16.

Then faster.

11:10.

11:00.

10:00.

Then it stopped suddenly.

And it was pointing to a time Evelyn had never seen before.

00:00

And from inside the clock...

She heard someone laughing.

Then her bedroom door slowly opened.

But the corridor behind it was gone.

There was another place instead.

And dark.

And at its end stood a girl who looked exactly like Evelyn.

Except the girl was wearing clothes Evelyn had never seen before.

And in her hand...

She was holding the second message.

The girl raised the paper in front of her face.

And its first line was clear even from a distance:

"Tomorrow, Evelyn will forget that tonight ever happened."