CHAPTER TWO
Sidney stared at her phone in disbelief as the line went dead. Sasha had said she opened the book and then…
It wasn’t like her sister to play stupid games. Sasha was a prankster, but she never played pranks onher.And never like this. Never when it involved believing someone could be hurt. Whatever this was, whatever was happening, it was real.
Tears streamed down Sidney’s cheeks. She quickly dialed Sasha back, but it went straight to voicemail. Wherever Sasha was, she didn’t have a signal. But that wasn’tpossible.She had been at work—she was on Wi-Fi!!
She texted her sister.
Sash, call me! RIGHT NOW.
Her hands were shaking so badly she almost dropped her own phone. Backing up, she leaned against the dresser underneath the television in her hotel room, and tried not to panic. What was she supposed to do? What washappening?Should she call the cops?
She didn’t have a phone number for any of Sasha’s roommates. She cursed herself for not having them.Damn it.Her sister was sucha fucking hermit. No friends she knew of that were local. All her sister’s friends were online and lived scattered all over the world. That didn’t help her in the slightest.
Screw it, she was calling the police. Flipping over to the browser on her phone, she started searching for the Somerville, Massachusetts police phone number. They’d send someone over to break the door in and?—
Movement out of the corner of her eye snapped her attention upwards.
The freaky-ass book on her bed had moved.
It wasopen.
Like a deer in the headlights, she froze in place, staring at it, wondering if it was about to murder her like whatever had happened to Sasha.But she didn’t have time to worry about that.
There was writing on the page. Big and black. Large enough that she could read it from across the room.
You can save your sister.
This had to be some kind of elaborate trick, right? Magnets? Special effects? She swallowed the rock in her throat. “This can’t be real.”
The page turned right before her eyes. Moaning in fear, she shook her head frantically. But it didn’t stop what she saw.
This is very real.
Another page turned.
We can save her, together. She’s in danger.
“Shit. Shit, shit,shit!”Pressing her hands over her eyes, she wailed. This wasn’t fair! She wasn’t cut out for this. Whatever this was! When she lowered her hands, the page had turned.
She doesn’t have much time. Hurry!
“H—how?” She was talking to a book. The book was answering her, somehow. Maybe it was a projector mounted in the ceiling? Whatever crazy production company was pulling this off was incredible. She was going to sue the shit out of whoever was behind this when it was all over and they revealed whatever TV show this was being filmed for.
The page turned.
Come closer.
“Is it…are you going to hurt me?”
A page.
No.
With a whimper, she stepped closer slowly, edging inch by inch across the carpet toward the bed. The book didn’t move. She half expected it to sprout teeth and launch through the air to attach to her face like those monsters from theAlienmovies that Sasha made her watch.
“You promise…?” She winced, waiting for it to start laughing, go “psych!”and eat her kidney or something.
