3 Months Later. Washington D.C. FBI Evidence Locker.
The book was in a glass case.
Leather. No title. 9 different handwritings on page 1:
We were hungry. Thank you for remembering.
Claire had assigned 4 new consultants to watch it. Because nothing normal happened around her anymore.
Umi - 22, 1.69m. White short hair, cold eyes, blue. Sat in the corner with a cat in her lap. She didn’t trust people. Only animals. And she was serious about both.
Miri - 20, 1.67m. Pink hair, soft smile. Terrible at fighting but she’d try to defend you anyway. Too kind for this job.
Alex - 23, 1.70m. Brown hair, green eyes. Played guitar at a bar every night. Talented. Lazy. And way too sneaky for Claire’s liking he ıs a man
Fritz - 1.70m, age 19 Medium mullet, eyes that never sparkled. Always in oversized clothes, always with headphones. Energy drink in one hand, ironic insult on his tongue. Hated coffee. Loved bats. Acted popular, wasn’t. Got surprised instead of scared.
Tonight was their first night on rotation.
"So this is the cursed book," Fritz said, popping another energy drink. "Looks mid."
"Don’t touch it," Umi said without looking up from the cat.
"I wasn’t going to," Alex muttered, tuning his guitar. "I’m off the clock."
Miri was taking notes. "No activity for 90 days. Maybe it’s really over?"
click
The glass case cracked.
All 4 of them looked up.
The book was open.
To page 2.
New handwriting. Shaky.
_My name is Elias.
I am hungry._
Umi stood up. The cat hissed.
"That wasn’t there yesterday," she said. Flat. Cold.
Fritz leaned in, surprised instead of scared. "Bro. It’s writing itself. That’s so unhinged."
Page 3.
_My name is Rosa.
I am hungry._
Page 4.
_My name is Ben.
I am hungry._
Miri’s hand started shaking. "Guys..."
Alex stopped tuning his guitar. "Yo. That’s my handwriting."
They all looked at him.
On page 7, in messy, familiar scrawl: Alex.
"That’s not possible," Alex said. He dropped the pick. "I didn’t write that."
Umi pulled her phone out. No signal.
The temperature dropped.
The lights flickered.
Fritz actually looked impressed. "Okay. New fear unlocked."
Claire and Daniel burst in.
"What’s happening?" Claire demanded.
Daniel saw the book. His face went pale.
"It’s not just the 9 anymore. It found new people."
Claire flipped the pages. 10 names. 20. 50.
All strangers. All saying I am hungry.
And at the bottom of page 50, in wet ink:
Umi. Miri. Alex. Fritz.
The 4 of them.
From the hallway: click
A plate being set down.
The book snapped shut by itself. Then opened to the last page.
Words wrote themselves as they watched.
_The table is empty.
The book is full.
We don’t need chairs anymore._
Under that, an address appeared:
1427 Pine Street, Baltimore. 3:00 AM. Tonight.
And below the address, one more line in shaky pink ink:
Please don’t forget us. - M
Miri covered her mouth. "That’s... that’s how I write my M."
Umi picked up the cat and the book. "We go."
Fritz cracked his energy drink. "Road trip to a haunted house? Iconic."
Alex grabbed his guitar case. "If we die, I’m blaming Fritz."
Claire looked at all 4 of them. "You don’t have to do this."
Umi met her eyes. Blue on blue. "We already did. The book chose us."
As they left, the evidence locker door locked itself.
From the inside.
From inside the book bag, 50 voices whispered:
"Thank you for remembering."