Page 151 of Silent Shadows

Outside, the forest disappears into mist.

Inside, it feels strangely suspended.

Like the whole world narrowed down to one couch.

Then my phone buzzes and I glance down. My stomach drops before I even unlock the screen.

Marissa was supposed to post the first teaser this morning. I knew that when I went to bed last night, and somewhere around midnight my anxiety got loud enough that I deleted every social app. If I couldn't obsess over the comments, maybe they couldn't hurt me.

My phone buzzes. Then again. And again. The vibration doesn't stop.

Notifications stack over one another faster than I can read them, swallowing my lock screen until there isn't a single patch of wallpaper left. I swipe Marissa’s message open.

Marissa

UM??????

Your clip is doing NUMBERS

I sit up.

“What?” Miles straightens immediately. “What happened?”

I turn the screen toward him. My heart is pounding out of my chest and I feel like I could throw up from nerves. “Numbers” doesn’t necessarily mean good numbers.

I open Instagram on my laptop’s browser and go to the teaser clip she posted this morning before the first episode goes live today at noon.

My voice over grainy forest footage.

What if belief isn’t foolish? What if it’s brave?

In the millions of views.

Comments stacking fast.

Shares climbing.

People tagging friends. Speculating. Arguing. Obsessing.

An actress I interviewed reposted it. My stomach flips, but it may just be the cold medicine.

“No way.” Miles leans closer as the sound of rain hitting the RV roof comes back into focus and the ringing in my ears fades.

Close enough that his shoulder presses mine. Close enough I feel warmth through the blanket. His sleepy expression shifts into something brighter. Proud.

“Well, there you go,” he says, smiling.

For a second, neither of us says anything. We just stare at my laptop.

“This has to be a glitch,” I say.

Miles squints at the screen through crooked glasses. “That’s a lot of comments for a glitch.”

I scroll.

One comment reads:

THIS IS THE FIRST BIGFOOT CONTENT THAT DOESN’T FEEL LIKE A JOKE??