DAYMARE 21: United Clues part 2

“What?!” they both blurted out.

“This app and story—I started reading it a few days before I started studying here. It was just out of boredom and curiosity when I saw my sister had this app on her phone. I scrolled into it and saw the story with the same title Hestral was reading.” I clenched my fist, grabbing my pants.

“At first, I noticed the author only had one vote, one comment, and one follower. That’s what caught my eye. The story stopped at chapter 10 for a while, then the author updated a few more chapters. Like Riegel said, Hestral told him the same thing. The events in the story started happening to me too, like I’m the main character of that story.”

Jethro’s eyes widened.

“From chapter 11 to the current one, the story lines up with what’s going on in my life. I thought it was just a coincidence, but I can’t get it out of my mind what Hestral discovered.”

It took as minutes of silence to absorb my revelation.

“What happened to you after you read it?” Riegel questioned.

“Well, quite a lot. I recall experiencing some paranormal activities in the Metro City. But I experience it frequently here.”

“Share with us in detail your haunted experiences.”

I gulped, trying to recall all of it. As I recall those stuff I was trying to forget, I can’t help but be scared.

“These are really messed up. I don’t even know where to start... There’s this creepy Barbie doll under my bed, but neither I nor my little sister owns it. Then, I found this old digital camera, my digicam. There’s a picture on it of some bloody guy, but I swear I never took that photo. I don’t even remember being taken pictures like that.

But that’s not even the worst part. I’ve seen eyeballs melting and bleeding. There were these hands crawling, like they were alive, scratching at my window at night.

On my first day at Torinay, I saw the teacher with a bloody with melting eyeballs, like they’d been torn apart. Then, when I put in my earphones, I heard this creepy demonic laugh, and a voice whispered, "I’m next."

After that, everything started spiraling out of control. It felt like someone was hunting me but simultaneously warning me that I was going to be killed by them. It’s like this nightmare I can’t wake up from.?

“What are those? Keep going.” Jethro let me tell you more of my stories.

“My mother and I were in the car. She was behind the steering wheel, but on the spur of the moment, I saw her without eyeballs. She was driving unconsciously that we almost died falling in a steep slope. I thought we were done for. Ah! The Rubik’s Cube. I was playing with it in the classroom when it solved by itself, and there were bloody words on it ‘CRY, LAY, DIE’. I keep on seeing a pair of eyes staring at me. There’s this girl who keeps crying and begging me for help, the same voice of the girl who whispers in my ear, and her hair brushes against my face. More strange stuff where there are times, I can’t connect a text or call to other people, but the device should be working just fine.”

Silence filled the air. I hope my statement makes sense and will help us to get closer to the truth we’ve been seeking.

“She was right after all. No wonder I witnessed Hestral acting strangely because she encountered these puzzling occurrences.” Riegel murmured. “The story she’s reading is happening to her in real life like the writer of the story was writing Hestral’s story. This explains why Hestral behaved strangely ever since she moved into the province.”

I nodded. That makes sense.

“Wouldn’t reading the story beforehand mean you could stop the events from happening to you?” Jethro pondered.

“That’s not how it works. It happens to me first before my experiences get posted online.”

I thought I could read my future by reading this story too.

“If chapters 1 to 10 contain Hestral’s real life, and your story starts at chapter 11, then-” Riegel stopped when Jethro cut in.

“What chapter are you on now?” Jethro asked me.

“Um, chapter 19”

“Sh*t!” Jethro slammed his fist on the old wooden table.

“Wait, what? Why are you freaking out?” I got confused by his reaction.

Even Riegel’s face is horrified. They fix their eyes on me giving me a grave warning.

“The phantom is coming for you next. After Hestral.” Riegel stated.

My skin crawled—not from the cold or their looks, but from those words.

I-I’m the next one to die…?

The thought barely sank in, but the terror came into my body on time.

“Hestral wrote chapters 1 to 10. You, Lewin, is the author of chapters 11 to 19. In every ten chapters, the protagonist’s story ends, and they die. And a new character takes over in the next chapters. If I’m correct, chapter 20’s is when the phantom will attempt to kill you.” Riegel revealed to us.

“Enough, this is crazy,” Jethro said, rubbing his forehead and sitting back.

“If you were going through a nightmare like that, would you still doubt Hestral?” Riegel asked.

“It’s not like that! If Hestral were here, none of this would be happening. If only she was here with me… I wouldn’t feel so lost.” Jethro mumbled.

“How much do you know Hestral?” Riegel asked Jethro.

“She’s tough, mentally strong and determined. Might come off a snob at first, but once you know her, she’s loyal, smart, sweet, and never gives up.”

“If she hadn’t given up, she’d be fighting death right now. I know Hestral too. Even if she’s losing, she’d keep fighting.” Riegel said. “Check out her account on the app. Maybe we’ll find something.”

Without hesitation, I grabbed my phone again and pulled up Hestral’s comments on the story. Her username was bloodyreader. That was probably her, since there was only one commenter, voter, and follower. Her account in bookfiend.com has no profile picture, and she only reads Curiosity Kills. But what really caught my eye was the description under her profile.

To whoever’s reading this right now, maybe you’re some random stalker who’s bored because who would be interested in my boring profile, or you’re someone who’s its next victim digging through my profile on this app to seek the truth.

If you’re the latter, then congratulations, because you’re in the right place but at the wrong time. Right place because I will share the truth with you. Wrong time because you can’t undo what you’ve done.

If you’re seeing this, then I’m already gone. I know you’re caught up in some wild, daymare stuff, the sole reason you’re here. Listen to me and check out what I left behind below. Maybe, ‘just maybe’, you’ll find the answers you’re desperate for.