The Vibrating Truth

The next two days passed in a blur.

Mykal spent hours testing the phone's capabilities—pulling objects from the screen, experimenting with the strange phone, even trying to find loopholes in how it worked. But no matter how much he explored, his mind kept drifting back to Kyne.

Kyne barely left the bed now. His body was deteriorating fast. He could barely stand without his legs giving out, and his cough had worsened to the point that every breath sounded like a struggle. It was as if the closer he got to 6 PM, the more his body was shutting down.

And now, the day had come.

Kyne lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. His phone sat on his chest, the screen glowing faintly. 6:00 PM. That was the moment his battery would hit 0%.

He let out a weak chuckle. "It's funny… knowing the exact second you're going to die."

Mykal, sitting across from him, gritted his teeth. "Don't say that."

Kyne glanced at him, amused. "What? You still think there's a chance I'll survive?"

"We don't know that for sure. Maybe… maybe it's all a lie. A sick joke. Maybe it'll just reset to 100%."

Kyne shook his head. "No. You saw what happened when I jumped from the window. The phone wouldn't let me die because I still had time left. But now? This is it."

A heavy silence settled between them.

The hours ticked by agonizingly fast.

4:00 PM.

Kyne struggled to keep his eyes open. He tried to stay awake, talking to Mykal about random things—old memories, regrets, stupid things he wished he could do one last time. But his voice kept getting weaker.

5:00 PM.

Kyne sat up with difficulty, staring at the phone in his hand. The battery read 1%. The final hour had begun.

"I can't believe I wasted so much time," he muttered. "I should've done more… I should've—" He broke off, coughing violently. Blood dripped from his lips.

Mykal clenched his fists. "Shut up. Just shut up. You didn't waste anything. You fought. You survived longer than anyone else would have."

Kyne smiled faintly. "That's nice of you to say. But you're wrong."

5:30 PM.

The air felt suffocating. The weight of time pressed down on them.

Kyne leaned back against the bed, closing his eyes. "Hey, Mykal."

"What?"

"Thanks."

"…For what?"

"For letting me stay here. For not treating me like some dead man before I was even gone." He exhaled, his breath shaky. "I think… if I had met you earlier, maybe things would've been different."

Mykal's chest tightened. "Don't talk like that."

5:50 PM.

Ten minutes left.

The apartment was dead silent. Neither of them spoke. Mykal's eyes were glued to the screen of Kyne's phone. 1%. The number didn't change. Not yet. But it would.

5:55 PM.

Kyne's breathing became ragged. His body trembled. He gripped his phone tightly, staring at the screen. "…It's almost time."

Mykal couldn't take it anymore. "No. This isn't right. This isn't how it should end."

Kyne chuckled weakly. "It's not about how it should end, Mykal. It's just how it does."

5:59 PM.

The final minute.

Kyne gritted his teeth as his body convulsed. He gasped, his entire body shaking violently. His phone flickered. The battery indicator blinked.

Then, at exactly 6:00 PM—

The screen went black.

Kyne's body stilled. His phone slipped from his hand, hitting the floor with a soft thud.

Mykal's breath caught in his throat. "Kyne…?"

No response.

He rushed forward, shaking him. "Kyne! Wake up!"

Nothing.

He pressed his fingers against Kyne's neck. No pulse. No breath. Just empty silence.

Kyne was gone.

For the first time since getting the phone, Mykal felt true, overwhelming fear.

The room was eerily silent.

Mykal stood frozen, staring at Kyne's lifeless body. His mind refused to process it. He's really dead.

Then—

A low hum filled the air.

At first, Mykal barely noticed it, lost in the shock of Kyne's death. But then the sound grew—louder, deeper, vibrating through the walls. Something was wrong.

His eyes snapped to Kyne's phone, lying face-down on the floor. It was shaking.

No—not just shaking. It was vibrating so violently that it started to float.

Mykal stumbled back, his heart hammering in his chest. What the hell is happening?!

The phone hovered mid-air, spinning rapidly as if pulled by an unseen force. Then, as if guided by an invisible hand, it turned—facing Kyne's lifeless body.

Mykal's stomach twisted.

No. No, no, no—

A sudden force exploded outward, knocking Mykal off his feet. The air grew thick, heavy, suffocating. It felt like the entire apartment had been sucked into a void.

Then—Kyne's body began to move.

No, not move. It was being pulled.

The phone—it was sucking him in.

Kyne's limbs twitched unnaturally as his body started rising from the bed. His arms dangled, his head lolled to the side, lifeless—yet he was moving.

Mykal's breath hitched as a terrifying realization struck him.

It was like a black hole.

Kyne's body contorted as the force intensified, his form distorting as if being stretched. The darkness from the phone expanded, swallowing him inch by inch.

His legs disappeared. Then his torso. Then his arms.

Kyne's face—his lifeless, peaceful face—was the last thing to go.

For a split second, Mykal swore he saw something flicker in Kyne's expression. A hint of awareness. A final moment of realization.

Then, with a silent shhhhp, he was gone.

The phone dropped to the floor with a dull thud. The room fell still.

Mykal couldn't move. He couldn't think. What… the hell…just happened?

He swallowed hard, his throat dry. His entire body trembled. His eyes locked onto the phone, which now lay still on the floor.

He didn't want to touch it.

Didn't want to go near it.

Didn't want to believe what he had just seen.

But then—

The screen lit up.

The screen lit up.

A faint glow illuminated the dark room, casting eerie shadows on the walls.

For a second, Mykal hesitated to look. He didn't want to see what it would show him.

But curiosity—or maybe fear—forced him to.

There, on the screen, was Kyne's picture.

He was smiling.

Not a forced grin. Not a bitter smirk. But a genuine, warm smile—like he was at peace.

Mykal's hands trembled as he picked up the phone. It felt… different. He couldn't explain it, but it was as if the phone was heavier, denser—as if Kyne was still inside.

His chest tightened. This was all that was left of him.

A device.

A cursed object.

The only thing that served as a memoir of Kyne.

Then—

The door creaked open.

Not a knock. Not a hesitant push.

Someone just casually walked in.

Mykal's blood ran cold.

He turned sharply, heart pounding. "Who t—"

His breath stopped.

A man stood in the doorway.

Tall. Lean. Dressed in dark clothing. His face was partially shadowed, but what Mykal could see sent a chill down his spine.

The man's eyes locked onto the phone in Mykal's hand.

Then he grinned.

"Finally."

Mykal's grip on the phone tightened.

Something was very, very wrong.