She Was Never Here
sci-fi◐ TeenBefore Mara touches anything, footsteps thump down the basement stairs. It's Eli, alive, holding a flashlight. 'I heard the humming again,' he says. He stares at the chair and the screen and the threads of light. 'Mara. What is this thing? And why does it have my name on it?'
Eli doesn't believe a word of it. He laughs and reaches for the glowing threads to prove they're fake. 'Don't touch that!' Mara yells, but it's too late. His fingers brush Saturday's strand and it snaps. The basement goes white. When it clears, the chair is empty, and so is the spot where Eli was standing. Mara grabs the screen and finds his thread, frayed but still there. With shaking hands she ties the loose end back down. The white light flares again, and then Eli is sitting on the basement floor, blinking, asking what just happened. She doesn't let go of him for a long time.