2:17 a.m. Buzz

Every night at exactly 2:17 a.m., Noah’s phone buzzed. No notification. No message.

Just a single vibration—bzzzt—like someone tapping his shoulder in the dark. At first,

he thought it was a glitch. He turned off Wi-Fi. Then Bluetooth. Then powered the

phone completely down. At 2:17 a.m., it buzzed anyway. The screen stayed

black. On the fourth night, Noah whispered, “Okay. What do you want?”

The phone lit up. A message appeared from a contact with no name—just a blinking cursor,

like it was thinking. I want you to check the closet. Noah laughed, a little too loudly.

“Nice try,” he said, tossing the phone onto his desk. His closet door was already open.