The Mystery Persists
You shiver at how ominous everything feels, not just the vacation, but the mysterious texter themself.
This is a collaborative choose your own adventure story. Click here for the chapter guide. Go back to chapter 1 by Linden Schneider here. Return to the previous chapter here.
The unknown messenger warns you that the vacation organizers will kill you. But they don’t have a shred of evidence to prove this.
For a moment, you want to give them an ultimatum: either give you evidence or get out. But you force yourself to calm down. Instead, you say:
Okay. Assuming that you’re telling the truth, what do we do now? I can’t just call off the vacation and expect no consequences, can I?
There is a curious hesitation before they respond.
You can call off the vacation. I can’t guarantee that they won’t try to chase you down, as they can be tenacious. But at least you won’t be inside their spiderweb, where they can easily murder you and your partner. You’ll be at a safer distance away from them if you cancel the trip.
You frown deeply, and gaze down at your partner. They toss and turn in their sleep, mumbling something about cookies. It makes you smile a bit, then you text:
I’ll need some time to think about it. But what else can you tell me about the vacation? I don’t mean the death parts, but is there anything else you can give me, so I’m not running on no information at all?
To your surprise, their answer is swift:
On the surface, it feels like a regular vacation, with beaches, hikes, trips to fun markets, and all that. But things start getting weird. Again, we should have seen it coming, but we didn’t.
You sigh and tap out:
That’s not a lot of information.
Their reply:
I know. I’m sorry. So what will you do?
With foreboding, you rub your hands over your temples.
I’m not sure. I really need more time to think. Will you still be available if I have more questions?
Your messenger pauses for a long while, before they say:
No. I need to erase my tracks ASAP. Please wrap up your questions, as I’ll need to delete my number in about a minute.
You curse and reply rapidly:
Jesus Christ, that’s a hard ship you’re asking me to steer. You seriously can’t give me any more clues about this vacation? Help me out here!
They reply:
I’ve already helped you all I could. Sorry. I’m deleting my number now. Farewell and I hope you and your partner will be safe, no matter what you choose.
In the next instant, your phone gets a pop-up message that this number no longer exists, and all the texts you exchanged vanish in the blink of an eye. It’s as though this was all a bad dream. You shiver at how ominous everything feels, not just the vacation, but the mysterious texter themself.
You wonder who this texter could be. What do they look like? What do they do? You have no idea about their age or gender, either, not that those should matter.
