Chapter One: The Seventh-to-Last Second

The umbrella moved closer without footsteps. Shen Yao tore open the recorder. A subway ticket was hidden in the battery compartment. Its destination read EBBTIDE. The exit gate stood across the platform, beyond the figure. "Four." Shen Yao hurled the recorder into the station mirror. The glass cracked, but her reflection did not move with her. The other Shen Yao wore a red raincoat—the one Shen Yao remembered only from photographs taken before she nearly drowned at seven. The reflection placed a finger to her lips, then wrote on the fogged glass: PIER SEVEN. "Three." "Who are you?" Shen Yao asked. The reflection pointed behind her.