Only this time, we knew better.

Near midnight, after Sophie had fallen asleep, her phone lit up again on the coffee table. I glanced over. This time the message wasn’t from Lena. It was from Dr. Patel, and the preview made my breath catch before I could look away.

Sophie, the lab repeated the test. The markers match the archived sample from three years ago. Please bring Ethan if you decide to tell him.

I stared at the glowing screen, unable to move.

[The source material ends here. What follows is a continuation written to resolve the story into a standalone whole.]

I didn’t read the rest. I turned the phone face-down on the coffee table, the way you cover something you’re afraid will look back at you, and I sat in the dark for a long time.