I threw the phone into my closet and shut the door.
Didn’t help.
Because the messages didn’t stay in the closet.
They started appearing on everything.
My TV.
My microwave display.
Even the digital clock on my wall.
All showing the same thing:
00:12:09
And then…
The power went out.
Complete silence.
No lights. No hum. Nothing.
Just darkness.
Except for one thing.
A glow coming from inside the closet.
I didn’t want to open it.
Every instinct I had told me not to.
But the timer…
00:09:31
I opened the door.
The phone was on the floor.
Screen brighter than it should be.
And for the first time…
It wasn’t showing text.
It was showing video.
It was my room.
Live.
From inside the closet.
I was standing in the frame.
Holding the door open.
Looking directly at myself.
But something was off.
The version of me on the screen… wasn’t matching my movements.
It was slower.
Delayed.
Smiling.
I wasn’t smiling.
The messages came back over the video:
“Synchronization failed.”
“Retrying…”
I stepped back.
The version of me on the phone didn’t.
It stayed there.
Watching.
00:05:00
Then it spoke.
Not through the speaker.
Not out loud.
But I heard it anyway.
Clear as anything.
“Give it back.”
Same voice as mine.
Just… wrong.
Like it hadn’t been used in a long time.
I grabbed the phone and tried to smash it.
It wouldn’t break.
I slammed it against the wall, the floor—nothing.
Not even a scratch.
00:02:14
The screen changed again.
No more video.
Just text.
“Final step.”
“Replace.”
I didn’t understand.
Until the camera turned on again.
This time…
It wasn’t my room.
It was somewhere dark.
Concrete walls.
A single light.
And a person sitting in the corner.
Me.
Not a reflection.
Not a delay.
A different version of me.
Bruised.
Tired.
Looking straight into the camera.
And then he spoke.
“You have to destroy it before it finishes.”
The screen glitched.
The messages came back instantly:
“DO NOT LISTEN.”
“HE FAILED.”
“YOU WON’T.”
00:00:47
I didn’t know what to believe.
But I knew one thing—
If that thing on the phone was trying this hard to stop me…
I shouldn’t listen to it.
So I ran.
Grabbed my keys, the phone, and drove.
Didn’t think. Just moved.
There’s a bridge about 10 minutes from my place.
Old. Barely used.
Deep water underneath.
00:00:12
The phone started vibrating violently.
The screen cracked for the first time—
From the inside.
Like something was pushing out.
“TOO LATE.”
“STAY.”
“STAY.”
“STAY.”
I threw it.
As hard as I could.
It hit the water.
And everything went silent.
No vibration.
No messages.
No timer.
I stood there for a long time.
Waiting.
Nothing happened.
That was two days ago.
I thought it was over.
I really did.
Until this morning.
When I woke up…
And saw the time on my wall clock.
2:13
And underneath it—
Carved into the plastic.
Not written.
Not displayed.
Carved.
“You didn’t replace him.”
I don’t think throwing it away ended anything.
I think…
It just reset it.
And now I’m starting to forget things.
Small things.
Like what I did yesterday.
What I ate.
What I said in my last post.
So if you’re reading this—
And I stop responding again—
Or start saying things that don’t make sense…
Don’t trust me.
Edit:
I just checked the mirror.
I was smiling.