The message didn't look dangerous.
It looked… beautiful.
"Dear Anna, I am in love with an unknown person. Whenever I hear her name, my heart becomes heavy. Whenever I hear her talk, I shiver… and when I hear her laugh, I would willingly give her my life. I want to be a part of her life."
Anna read it aloud softly, her voice steady but something in her chest tightened.
Behind the glass, Mr. Thompson leaned forward, eyes glowing with excitement.
"That's the one," he said. "We're calling him."
Anna hesitated. "You don't think it's… too intense?"
Thompson shook his head. "It's perfect. We need something like this right now."
Jenkins was gone.
The studio felt emptier… quieter.
And maybe that silence was pushing everyone to fill it with something anything.
"Alright," Anna said, adjusting her mic. "Let's hear him."
Ethan stared at his phone as it rang.
Once.
Twice.
A slow smile spread across his face.
"I've been waiting for this moment…"
He sent the message following the advice of jerkins
He answered.
"Hello, you're live on Find Looooove!!!," Anna said warmly. "Tell me… how did you fall in love with someone you've never seen?"
There was a pause.
Then
"Oh Anna…" his voice came, smooth, almost playful. "So this is all it took."
Anna frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"
"A pinch of salt to make it tasty… a little sugar to make it sweet," he continued calmly. "Mix both, and you get something unforgettable. But have you ever wondered what happens when it becomes too much?"
The studio went still.
"My story," he added softly, "won't be sweet… and it won't be sour. But you'll want more. Even if it hurts to taste it."
Anna exchanged a quick glance with Thompson.
"Okay…" she said carefully. "Tell me about her."
A soft chuckle came through the line.
"She was my best friend."
Anna blinked. "So you do know her?"
"No," Ethan replied calmly. "I only know her voice."
A pause.
"Then… how did you get her number?"
"It was a beautiful mistake," he said. "Let me tell you a story."
Flashback: The War That Never Ended
Gunshots.
Not one.
Not two.
A storm of them.
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT
Screams tore through the night.
Not distant.
Not fading.
Close.
Too close.
"MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!"
Ethan ran but the ground felt like it was swallowing him whole. Mud clung to his boots like hands dragging him back into the earth.
A soldier beside him dropped.
Just like that.
One second alive.
Next second
Gone.
Ethan didn't stop.
He couldn't.
Because stopping meant dying.
And dying meant silence.
And silence…
was worse than the screams.
The air burned.
Gunpowder.
Blood.
Fear.
"WE'VE BEEN SET UP!"
The voice came from behind him but when Ethan turned
There was no one there.
Just smoke.
Just bodies.
Just pieces of people who had names minutes ago.
His breathing broke.
Not heavy.
Not fast.
Broken.
Like something inside him had snapped and didn't know how to fix itself.
Hours later…
Or maybe minutes.
Time didn't exist anymore.
Ethan sat against a broken wall, his hands shaking not from cold…
…but from memory happening in real time.
A soldier crawled toward him.
Half his body missing.
Eyes wide.
Still alive.
Still feeling everything.
"Help… me…"
Ethan stared.
Not because he didn't care.
But because something inside him had already started shutting down.
If he helped
He'd remember.
If he remembered
He'd feel.
And feeling…
was death that didn't kill you.
Gunfire echoed again.
Closer.
Louder.
Final.
Ethan grabbed his weapon.
Pulled the trigger.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Until the gun clicked empty.
And still…
he kept pulling it.
Silence.
At last.
But not peace.
Never peace.
That was the first moment Ethan realized something terrifying:
He wasn't scared anymore.
And that was worse than fear.
The Betrayal
Back at camp, the survivors gathered.
Or what was left of them.
"They knew," one soldier whispered.
"They sent us in anyway."
Ethan looked up slowly.
"What?"
"They knew it was a trap," another voice said. "Command knew."
"We are scapegoats, no one cares if we die, we all doomed no one is coming for us"
Silence fell again.
Heavy.
Crushing.
Unforgiving.
Ethan laughed.
Soft at first.
Then sharper.
Then empty.
"Say that again."
"They sacrificed us."
Something shifted.
Not outside.
Inside.
Deep.
Permanent.
That night, Ethan sat alone.
No gunfire.
No screams.
Just quiet.
But his hands still trembled like the war was still happening.
Because it was.
Inside him.
On repeat.
Endless.
Unstoppable.
"I did everything right…"
His voice cracked.
"I followed orders. The told me to lead them"
A pause.
Long.
Cold.
"...and they left us to die."
That was the moment Ethan changed.
Not into a monster.
Not yet.
But into something more dangerous
Someone who no longer believed in rules.
"Sir, we need to ran It's not safe anymore and they are coming"
Back to Present
"Ethan?" Anna's voice cut in gently. "Are you okay?"
His breathing came through the line heavy… uneven.
Then suddenly
calm.
"Yes, dear Anna," he said softly. "Tell me… can someone live without oxygen? Can a human live without a heart?"
Anna frowned. "No…"
"That's what she is to me."
The studio fell quiet.
"But how can you love someone you've never seen?" Anna asked.
Ethan laughed quietly.
"Love isn't about seeing. People who love for reasons… don't love the person. They love the reason."
A pause.
"My love?" he whispered. "It started the moment I heard her voice. And I knew…"
His tone dropped.
"I had to make her mine."
Anna's grip tightened slightly on the desk.
"So… does she know how you feel?"
"I thought she did," Ethan replied. "But it seems… she forgot."
Something about that word lingered.
Forgot.
Anna shook it off. "This story isn't adding up. You said she was your best friend, but you've never seen her. Does she even know you exist?"
A soft laugh.
"Oh Anna… she knows I exist."
"How?"
"We've been talking… for years."
Anna blinked. "Talking… but never met?"
"We were supposed to meet," Ethan said quietly. "But I never made it."
"You left her waiting?"
A pause.
Then
"Do you remember now… dear Anna?"
Anna frowned. "Remember what?"
Silence.
Then a soft chuckle.
"Oh nothing… let's save the rest for tomorrow. If I tell you everything today… how will I hear your voice again?"
The line went dead.
After the Show;
"That wasn't normal," Anna said immediately.
Mr. Thompson shook his head, smiling. "That was perfect."
"Perfect?" Anna asked
"Do you know how many people tuned in? They're asking for him again."
Anna looked uneasy. "Something about him feels"
"Interesting," Thompson cut in. "That's what people want. We're bringing him back."
Ethan stared at the silent phone.
His expression changed.
"How could you forget me…?" he whispered.
Then louder
"How?!"
The smile returned.
But this time
it was colder.
The next day, the studio called
Ethan watched the phone ring.
And didn't answer.
Again.
And again.
And again.
He leaned back in his chair, gently rocking, smiling to himself.
"Now…" he whispered. "Let's hunt."
Days later, he called back.
Anna answered immediately.
"Where have you been?" she asked.
"Looking for an opportunity…" Ethan said calmly. "…to get closer to my existence."
Anna stiffened slightly. "Did you find one?"
"We'll find out soon."
A pause.
"Now… where were we?"
"You said you never made it to meet her."
"Yes…" Ethan said slowly. "Because someone got in the way."
Flashback
"I'm almost there… you said you're wearing white, right? Just turn around, I am..."
Back to Present
"I was so close," Ethan whispered. "But they ruined it."
"Who ruined it?" Anna asked
"Don't worry about them I also ruined them"
Anna's voice tightened. "What do you mean?"
A pause.
Then
"They left the house… the street… this world." Ethan said with a soft laugh
Silence crashed into the studio.
"What are you saying?" Anna asked carefully.
"Exactly what you're thinking."
Her heart skipped.
"You… killed them?"
Ethan's tone snapped instantly.
"How dare you?" he said sharply. "Accuse me without proof? I was telling you my love story!"
"I...I'm sorry"
Click.
The call ended.
"I'm done," Anna said after the show. "He's not coming back on."
Thompson frowned. "You don't mean that."
"Yes, I do." Anna said with authority
One Week Later
The phone rang again.
Anna answered cautiously.
"Hello, welcome to….."
"You always quit on me." Ethan shouted
Her body froze.
That voice.
"Cut the call," she whispered.
But it rang again.
Thompson connected it.
"If you hang up again," Ethan said quietly, "someone close to you will pay for it."
Anna ended the call anyway.
The next day
Screeching tires.
A crash.
A staff member from the station lay on the ground, shaken but alive.
A masked man stepped out of the car.
Calm.
Controlled.
Untouchable.
"I'm sorry, its all her fault" he said softly. "Tell Anna… to answer my calls."
A pause.
"Or next time… someone dies."
He left.
Like nothing happened.
When Anna heard, her hands trembled.
"I told you," she whispered. "He's dangerous."
Mr. Thompson didn't argue this time.
"Call the police."
They traced the number.
A roadside landline.
No name.
No face.
Nothing
Somewhere in the Dark
Ethan sat quietly, listening to Anna's voice replay on a loop.
His eyes closed.
A soft smile forming again.
"You'll answer me," he whispered.
"Even if I have to take everything from you…"
A pause. Then
"That's what love is… right?" He said with a creepy loud laugh