Chapter 2

Even though my body clock was urging me to sleep, I was just too scared to close my eyes.

Late at night, Ethan suddenly broke the silence with a weird question.

He asked, "Babe, who do you trust more, me or Melissa?"

I instantly got on guard and swallowed nervously.

I said, "What's that supposed to mean? You and Melissa are both super important to me. Of course, I trust you both."

Ethan let out a sigh and said in a low, somber voice, "If I told you your best friend isn't someone you should trust, that she's actually trouble, would you believe me?"

Laura and I go way back to middle school. We had been best friends for twelve years now.

I knew her inside out.

If she hadn't called me from the future, reaching out across time, I probably would've already been knocked out, played right into Ethan's hands.

But I decided not to argue back, trying to see what Ethan was playing at.

I acted all shocked and kept the questions coming.

I asked, "What? No way. Why would you say that?"

Ethan looked like he wanted to say something, but hesitated, swallowing his words. After a long, tense pause, he finally spoke up, "Anyway, she's definitely going to find a way to get you alone tonight.

"I'm telling you, don't go. It's not safe."

Right after Ethan said that, someone knocked on the door.

Melissa called out, "Laura, it's me. The power's out. Can you come with me to the bathroom? I'm scared to go alone."

I blurted out, "Coming."

But Ethan gripped my arm. Suddenly, a flash of lightning from outside lit up his face.

His usually refined features were twisted, and his eyes were downright sinister.

I kicked him with everything I had and scrambled out of bed.

Strangely enough, when I opened the door and saw Melissa, Ethan snapped right back to his usual self.

He'd just been dead set against me being alone with Melissa, but now he suddenly agreed without a second thought.

He even flashed that gentle smile of his.

He said, "Yeah, the power's out. You girls should stick together. Laura, make sure you come back soon. I'll be waiting for you."

Could Ethan actually be afraid of Melissa?

Melissa might have had some training, but Ethan was ex-military. The idea of him being afraid of her just didn't make sense.

Before I could even wrap my head around what was off about all this, Melissa yanked me away.

She made sure Ethan wasn't coming after us, then carefully closed the bathroom door.

Melissa asked, "Laura, I thought I heard you guys talking out there. Why are you two still up chatting this late?"

Her tone was pretty agitated, and in this tense atmosphere, it just made me even more nervous.

Since it kind of felt like we were badmouthing her, I just instinctively lied.

I said, "No, nothing special. Just talking."

Melissa pressed, "Oh, so you didn't mention anything important? Like, about today or something?"

I shook my head and said, "Nope."

Melissa looked a little disappointed, but after just a few seconds, her expression returned to normal.

I couldn't help but feel creeped out inside.

The way Melissa was acting just now got me suspicious.

In that call from the future, the so-called Melissa said she was calling from the next day. If something really happened to me, the cops were supposed to just find my body.

The cops never shared all the details they dug up during an investigation.

So how did Melissa know about Ethan's secret WhatsApp account and the girl he was seeing on the side?

Unless Melissa had known all along.

But that would be crazy: she was my best friend. Why would she keep something like that from me?

I nervously rubbed my fingers together, testing the waters as I hesitantly asked, "Melissa, do you think Ethan might ever cheat on me?"