And instead of a phone number, there’s just a garbled string of symbols.
Your heart leaps into your throat. What the heck? Have you been hacked!?
No Name:stupid human
No Name:watch your back. This guy is dangerous
You stare down at your phone, debating about if you should text back.
Does this hacker know about your date?
Are they…watching you right now? You glance over your shoulder, but there’s no one there. No one suspicious, anyway. Just a scattering of probably-rich couples enjoying the ambient jazz in the low chatter of the room.
Maybe you shouldn’t, but you’re too curious to let it go. So you type out a quick message and hit ‘send’.
You:Who is this?
The next message appears nearly instantly, before you’ve even had a chance to glance back at your date.
No Name:It’s me.
You almost laugh. This has to be some sort of prank.
But before you can click off your phone screen, a photo flashes into your messages. And you can’t help but stare.
It’shim. It’s Mysterious Hot Dude.
Somehow he’s hacked into your phone and sent you a photo of himself. And he’s not in your apartment.
He’s not anywhere.
That’s the weird part.
There’s no background to this photo. It’s just Hot Dude lying there in his white t-shirt and black pants, just staring up into the camera.
In space?
There’s nothing but darkness all around him.
Is he messaging you frominsidethe book?
That’s…not possible, right?
He doesn’t even have a phone to take a picture with! It makes no sense.
Then again, none of this should be possible in the first place.
Your head spins, temples throbbing. Maybe you need a drink after all.
As if on cue, movement flickers at the corner of your eye. It’s the server. She’s back with the bottle of wine and two glasses.
And when you look up, your date is staring at you with an expression so predatory, it makes you shiver.
He lookshungry.
And not for the wine.
10
