Late that night, out of boredom, I opened a newly downloaded AI fortune-telling app and typed, [When will I get rich?]

But my finger slipped, and what got sent instead was. [When will I die a violent death?]

Before I could even fix the typo, the AI replied instantly, [At 2 a.m., death by bear.]

I froze. Then laughed out loud.

A bear? In the middle of the city?

I lived on the 23rd floor. What was the bear going to do? Ride the elevator up?

I was just about to delete the app when my phone rang.

It was my best friend, her voice frantic. "Zariah Gordon! Something’s wrong! The new bear at the zoo has escaped!"

"The tracker says it’s near your building! Run!"

——

At 1:30 a.m., I stumbled upon an AI fortune-telling app in the store.

The comments were glowing.

[Holy crap, so accurate! I bought a ticket home that night and dodged a disaster!]

[I offended a major client and asked if my boss would fire me. The AI said no, and sure enough, I wasn’t. Unreal.]

Curious, I downloaded it and typed it into the input box. [When will I get rich?]

But my hand slipped, and I accidentally typed, [When will I die a violent death?]

I cursed softly and quickly tried to delete the unlucky typo. Still, before I could, the AI replied instantly, [Calculation complete. Today at 2 a.m., death by bear. Countdown: 28 minutes, 17 seconds.]

I froze, then laughed.

What a joke.

This was downtown. The nearest wildlife park was over a hundred kilometers away.

And besides, I lived on the 23rd floor. What was the bear going to do, grow wings?

I rolled my eyes. “What a garbage app. Just wasting my time.”

I was about to uninstall it when my phone suddenly vibrated nonstop, making my heart jolt.

It was Tatiana Holmes, my best friend.

She always went to bed early. Why would she be calling me now?

A strange unease twisted in my chest, but I still answered.

Before I could speak, Tatiana’s voice came through, thick with panic and tears.

“Zariah Gordon, something’s happened! That bear we just got at the zoo, the one you saw the other day, escaped!”

I froze, dread sinking into my bones. A sick premonition swept over me.

“What? Wasn’t the cage locked? What about the security?”

Tatiana’s voice trembled uncontrollably through the line.

“I don’t know! The surveillance system went down! The tracker shows it’s in your neighborhood and it’s still moving!”

“But I remember you said you were working late tonight. Maybe just stay at the office for the night, okay?”

“Don’t come home. That bear... there’s something really wrong with it…”

I froze, my breath catching in my throat.

I was supposed to work late, but the shift got canceled at the last minute.

If I had known something like this would happen, I would’ve never come back.

When I didn’t respond, Tatiana went silent for a moment. Then, her voice dropped to a whisper, filled with dread.

“Don’t tell me… you’re already home?”

She stumbled through her next words, trying to sound calm.

“The rescue team’s already on the way. My younger brother, Samuel, is a firefighter; he went with them.”

“Don’t be scared, okay? Just lock the door, stay quiet, don’t turn on the lights… You’ll be fine…”

I answered her numbly, but my hands and feet were ice cold. Everything else she said faded into a blur.

In my panic, one thing flashed through my mind: the AI fortune-telling prediction.

2 a.m. Death by bear.

The scene from a few days ago at the zoo rushed back in vivid detail.

That newly arrived bear had been massive, unnervingly massive.

It had sat silently in the corner of its cage, its eyes fixed on me with an eerie stillness.

The thick iron bars between us had seemed pitifully thin under its gaze.

I shivered, unable to stop myself from snapping at Tatiana.

“Are the cages in your zoo even secure? That bear’s huge; it looked like it could bend the bars just by pushing.”

“And when it stood up with its back to me… from a distance, its silhouette, seriously, it looked like a person standing there. Scared the hell out of me!”

Back then, Tatiana had only laughed, brushing off my fear as paranoia.

“The cage is made of special alloy. Super sturdy. And besides, it’s always been pretty quiet.”

“Looks like a person? You’ve definitely watched too many horror movies…”

Now, remembering that moment, I swallowed hard, my heart hammering in my chest.

I was just about to ask her, how intelligent was that bear, really? Could it use an elevator?

If it was only wandering around the landscaped areas near the building, maybe I didn’t need to panic.

But before I could say a word, a sudden knock echoed through the room.

The hair on the back of my neck bristled. I nearly dropped my phone.

That sound, so sharp, so unnatural, cut through the silence of the night like a blade.

Even Tatiana heard it from the other end of the line.

She asked, her voice tight with anxiety, “Zariah, what was that? What’s going on over there?”

I froze, clamping a hand over my mouth, not daring to breathe.

But the survival instinct quickly overpowered the fear.

I pressed my back to the wall, inching slowly toward the door. On tiptoe, I brought one eye to the peephole.

Under the dim light outside, a large figure stood motionless, broad shoulders nearly filling the entire frame.

He wore a yellow-and-blue delivery uniform, the helmet pulled low over his face, obscuring his features.

And then it hit me, a foul, heavy stench seeping through the doorframe. Thick, wild… animal.

I gagged on the spot.

Just then, a robotic voice crackled from outside the door. “Your delivery has arrived. Please open the door…”

Could it be that Isaiah Dixon had ordered food for me?

But through the peephole, I saw it clearly, that burly delivery man wasn’t holding anything at all.

Right then, Tatiana’s voice returned, low and urgent. “Zariah, don’t open the door! That’s definitely the bear!”

“It’s terrifyingly smart, it can mimic human speech! Back away, now! Get away from the door!”

A sharp gasp escaped me.

My knees gave out, and I nearly collapsed. I scrambled back into the bedroom, limbs shaking.

Could that bear, the one the AI fortune-telling app said would kill me at 2 a.m., really be right outside my door?

It was almost 2 a.m.

Clutching my phone, my voice trembled so much it no longer sounded like mine.

“Tatiana, what do I do? It’s knocking on the door… and it can talk…”

“When will the rescue team get here? What if it breaks through…”

Tatiana’s voice wavered with tears, but she tried her best to stay composed.

“Samuel’s team is close to your place; they should be there any minute, ten minutes at most!”

“Listen to me, Zariah. That bear might be smart and strong, but it shouldn’t be able to break through a reinforced security door. As long as you don’t open it, it can’t get in!”

“Find a sturdy corner and hide. Samuel’s team brought tranquilizer guns. They’ll take care of it!”

But I still didn’t feel reassured.

Just then, the knocking stopped.

The peephole had gone pitch-black, and I couldn’t see anything at all.

What was it doing now? Was it trying to find another way in?

I couldn’t just sit here and wait for death, hoping an old door and a rescue team would save me.

Then, that eerie AI fortune-telling app flashed through my mind again.

A wild thought suddenly surfaced.

If it could predict the time of my death, could it also reveal if there was still a sliver of hope?

I remembered someone in the reviews had mentioned that this app once helped them avoid a disaster.

Whatever. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

Even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, I had to try.

With that thought, I reopened the app and quickly typed in a new question. [There’s a bear outside my door! How do I survive?! Tell me, quick!]

The AI responded instantly.

[Self-rescue plan generated.]

[Plan A: Create a loud noise to alert neighbors and provoke group intervention.]

[Plan B: Attempt to climb across to the neighboring balcony via the window.]

[Plan C: Use flammable items in the home to make a simple Molotov cocktail and throw it to drive the bear away.]

Make noise to alert the neighbors?

It was the middle of the night, and most of them worked 9 to 5 and were fast asleep by now.

And even if someone did wake up, who would dare confront a beast that could walk upright and mimic human speech?

What if the noise provoked it and it went berserk?

Climb to the neighboring balcony through the window?

This was the 23rd floor. It was pitch-black outside and raining.

Just glancing down made my head spin. Climbing out would be no different than jumping to my death.

As for a Molotov cocktail, sure, I had half a bottle of vodka and a few cans of hairspray.

But even if I managed to make one, how was I supposed to throw it through a reinforced security door?

And what if I failed to scare it off and ended up setting the whole apartment on fire?

This wasn’t a rescue plan; it was a death sentence!

The AI app wasn’t saving me; it was pushing me straight into danger.

Just as panic began to spiral, a loud BANG exploded from outside the door.

It wasn’t a knock, it was an impact.

That bear had started ramming the door.

The force behind it was terrifying. The already rusted security door shook violently; it wouldn’t last much longer.

I couldn’t hold it in. A scream tore from my throat.

Tatiana’s voice rang out, panicked through the phone, “Zariah, what happened?!”

Tears filled my eyes as I choked out, “It… It’s hitting the door…”

“Tatiana, where’s Samuel? That bear, it’s about to break in…”

Tatiana tried to stay calm, forcing her voice steady. “They’re almost there! My brother said they’re already downstairs in your building! Zariah, you have to hold on…”

Before she could finish, my phone beeped, a low-battery warning.

Then the call cut off.

The terrifying crashing outside stopped as well.

Everything plunged into a deathly silence.

And then, slow, heavy footsteps. Something was walking away from my door.

A flicker of hope lit up in my chest. Maybe the rescue team had subdued the bear?

But the silence didn’t last long.

A muffled grunt, like someone being choked, slipped in through the crack beneath the door.

Right after that, a thick, metallic scent filled the air.

Blood.

Had Samuel and his team taken the bear down?

I gathered what courage I had left and crept toward the door, whispering, “Samuel? Is that you?”

No response. Just suffocating silence.

Then a bone-chilling sound pierced the stillness. The sound of flesh being torn apart. Chewed.

Something warm and wet began to seep in under the door.

My stomach lurched. I clamped a hand over my mouth, my entire body trembling uncontrollably.

Cold sweat drenched my pajamas.

Samuel, the firefighter who had followed me around since we were kids, always calling me “Sister Zariah,” had he been eaten by the bear?

My legs buckled, and I sank to the floor, my back sliding helplessly down the wall.

Despair and terror surged over me like a tidal wave, ready to drown me whole.