THE MESSAGE AT 3:17 AM

At exactly 3:17 a.m., Daniel’s phone vibrated.

He opened his eyes and stared at the screen.

Unknown Number:
Don’t go to school tomorrow.

Daniel frowned.

He had no idea who had sent it.

He typed back:

Who is this?

Three dots appeared.

Then disappeared.

His phone vibrated again.

Unknown Number:
You have exactly 24 hours.

Daniel sat up in bed.

“Very funny,” he whispered.

He blocked the number and went back to sleep.

The next morning, everything seemed normal.

His mother made breakfast. His little sister complained about school. The sun was shining through the kitchen window.

Daniel almost forgot about the message.

Almost.

Then, while walking to school, he noticed something strange.

A black car was parked across the street.

It had been following him for the last ten minutes.

Daniel stopped.

The car stopped.

He started walking.

The car moved again.

His heart began beating faster.

When he finally reached school, he looked behind him.

The car was gone.

For the rest of the morning, Daniel tried to convince himself that he was imagining things.

At 3:17 p.m., his phone vibrated.

Another message.

Unknown Number:
You should have listened.

Daniel’s blood ran cold.

Then a photograph appeared.

It was a picture of him.

Standing in front of his school.

Taken only seconds earlier.

Daniel looked around.

Hundreds of students were leaving the building.

Nobody seemed to be watching him.

Then his phone vibrated one last time.

Unknown Number:
Look behind you.

Daniel slowly turned around.

And froze.

Standing among the crowd was a man wearing a black jacket.

Daniel had never seen him before.

But the man was holding something Daniel recognized immediately.

A photograph.

A photograph of Daniel.

Taken exactly ten years ago.

And suddenly, Daniel understood something terrifying.

The messages weren't warning him about tomorrow.

They were warning him about his past.