rsation, the smell of the coffee, all the comforts of reality after her strange morning in the woods, hit

pt in," Jenna quipped, her tone light and teasi

he looked around. The warmth of the diner was a relief and warm compared to the cold f

ebrow, clearly inte

ng wasn't right, though. "I met this guy in the woods

dened a bit. "Cr

woods being unpredictable. I don't know, it just felt stran

breakfast orders. They tried to push out thoughts that were disturbing as they chattered on ab

uzzed. She had a text message. She glanced down at it br

n underlying sense of urgency. She turned to Jenna, who was in

as distracted because she leaned fo

eird message," Elena sa

furrowed. "Weird,

re reading the messag

Ew, that is so creepy. Do

stomach twisted because she h

Elena's phone buzzed yet again. There was the same nu

her. The free space of the diner suddenly seemed strange and cl

but nodded. "Okay, let me just wrap some

onest with herself. She dropped a few bucks on the table and stood f

na strode with a purpose, her mind filling now with more questions: who could have written these messages? What did they kn

t the forest path. She couldn't shake the sensation she was being followed. Every noise, the

shook her more than she wanted to admit, and she just wanted to get inside and lock the door

d something on the floor-an envelope placed at the foot of her door. It was just an empty pla

y a certain sense of foreboding. She hesitated awhile but then tore it open.

the next message w

ng; her stomach churned from fear. She glanced around her empty house,

brain to score out some sense of what she had just read. Who could have sent her this mess

n; same strange number

ons of it all. First, there was the man in the forest, then the strange warnings, and

but at what price? Messages weighing heavy in the air, anticipatin