When reclusive filmmaker Vincent Crowe died, his estate was sold off in a hurried auction. Among the boxes of old equipment, journalist Sarah Chen bought a collection of unmarked VHS tapes. The first five were blank. The sixth had a single word scrawled on its label: "DON'T."
Sarah dismissed it as a sick prank until she recognized the location—a diner she planned to visit the next day. She brought the tape to tech expert Marcus Lee, who confirmed the disturbing truth: the time code wasn't faked. The footage was genuinely recorded 24 hours in the future.
That night, Marcus called Sarah in a panic. "I watched more," he whispered. "It shows my apartment... and me dying tonight at 3:17 AM." The line went dead. Police found Marcus' body the next morning—his death matched the tape exactly.
Research revealed Vincent Crowe had been investigating a local legend—Channel 99, a phantom TV station that allegedly broadcasted future deaths. His notes described finding an abandoned transmitter in the woods, where he recorded "test footage" that later came true.
Sarah visited the location and found the rusted equipment still running. A monitor displayed static... until it resolved into an image of her standing there at that exact moment. The on-screen Sarah turned and screamed as something entered the frame behind her.
Sarah destroyed the tape, burning it in her bathtub. For weeks, nothing happened. Then one night, her TV turned on by itself. Channel 99 appeared—showing footage of Sarah sleeping in her bed. The camera slowly panned up to reveal a figure standing over her.
The last police report noted Sarah's apartment was empty except for a still-warm TV and a single VHS tape on the coffee table. When played, it showed static... until a hand reached out from inside the screen.