Chapter 2The Car Full of the Dead

I leaned against the side of the car, sucking hard on a cigarette.

My mind was a chaotic mess of static. My legs felt like wet cement.

Anna rolled down the back window, her sweet, high-pitched voice piercing the cold wind. "Daddy, why aren't we moving?"

My mom stared at me with deep concern. "Harry, what is going on? Who was on the phone? You're acting like a lunatic."

I looked at them. They were so vibrant, so incredibly alive. Then my mind flashed back to the blood-soaked corpses on my screen.

I grabbed my phone, ready to dial 911.

It had to be fake. Joshua was losing his mind. We grew up together, but over the years, my tech firm took off while he drowned in gambling debts. He was broke. His wife took the kids and left him. Just before the holidays, he begged me for fifty grand.

I said no. He was probably doing this to punish me. Using some cheap AI generator to mess with my head.

But right as my thumb hovered over the keypad, an incoming call took over the screen. It was the local police precinct.

"Is this Harry?" a gravelly voice asked. "I'm incredibly sorry to inform you, but we've found the bodies of your parents, your wife, and your daughter at your residence. We need you to return immediately for questioning."

I stood frozen, gripping the phone, unable to force a single syllable past my throat.

Joshua might play a twisted joke, but the police wouldn't.

Were my family members actually dead? Then who were the people sitting inside my car?

Pure, unadulterated terror hijacked my brain.

Before I could spiral further, Kitty slammed her door open and marched up to me.

"Harry, you were driving perfectly fine. Why are you having a meltdown? Talk to me right now."

The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"You're dead. You're all dead... There was so much blood."

"You son of a..."

Kitty slapped me across the cheek, her face flushed with rage. "The holidays literally just ended and you're wishing death on me? I am standing right in front of you, breathing, and you're telling me I'm dead?"

My mom got out next, smacking the back of my head again. "Stop spouting this nonsense!"

I waved my hands frantically. "I'm not making it up! Mom, Joshua sent me a video. He said Kitty is dead. He said you, Dad, and Anna are dead too. I swear to God..."

This time, it was my dad. He shoved me so hard I stumbled back into the guardrail.

"Are you hallucinating? So our whole family gets wiped out, and you're the sole survivor? Is that the fantasy here?"

"Yes!" I clutched my stomach, nodding desperately. I reached out to grab them, to drag them to the screen so they could see it for themselves.

But Kitty had already stormed over to the driver's seat.

"Mom, Dad, get in. We're leaving. Let the 'sole survivor' freeze out here until he gets his head screwed on straight."

Before I could utter another word, Kitty slammed the door, gunned the engine, and merged back onto the highway.

Leaving me completely alone in the biting winter wind.