Part 3The Replacement Rule

"Aunt Helen! My phone is bugging out. Look at this spam," Tyler said, waving his phone in front of my face. "It's hilarious."

My stomach dropped. Tyler got it too?

If Tyler got it, maybe it wasn't a virus. Maybe it was a family prank. I looked at Dad. He loves pulling pranks. He’s been really serious lately, but maybe he’s back on his bullshit?

I grabbed Tyler's phone. It was the exact same message.

I was about to laugh and tell him I got it too, when Mom’s expression changed.

She didn't just frown. She looked terrifying.

She grabbed Tyler's phone and smashed it onto the floor. Crash.

"Tyler," she said, her voice dropping to sub-zero. "Are you human?"

Tyler blinked, thinking it was a joke. He laughed, slapping my shoulder. "Aunt Sarah, what are you talking about? If I'm not human, am I a Mimic like the text says?"

He was giggling. He didn't see Aunt Helen—his own mother—stand up.

Crack.

Aunt Helen cracked her neck. It sounded like a gunshot.

The air in the room grew heavy. Suffocating.

"Tyler," Aunt Helen asked softly. "Tell mom. How much is the hot dog combo at Costco?"

Tyler scratched his head. He sensed the vibe was off, but the text was still fresh in his mind. He tried to recall the "rules" but got confused by the tension.

"Mom? You hungry? It's... uh... inflation, right? Like $3.50 now? Maybe $5?"

Aunt Helen smiled. The tension vanished.

"Right. Exactly right."

She placed a hand lovingly on Tyler's shoulder. "Tyler..."

SQUELCH.

Blood sprayed across the dinner table.

Aunt Helen had driven a steak knife into Tyler's neck.

Tyler's head hit the floor with a wet thud. His eyes were bulging, staring directly at me.

I stumbled back, knocking over my chair.

Mom and Dad sat there, stone-faced. Aunt Helen looked at her son's severed head with pure disgust and stomped on it.

"I didn't expect Tyler to be replaced," she spat. "Filthy Mimic."

I stared at the corpse, my brain screaming.

Aunt Helen just killed him. Just like that.

Where were the police? Why was nobody screaming?

And... why did Tyler die when he answered the wrong price? The text said $1.50. He guessed higher.

Wait.

If the text was a guide for Mimics... and the text told the truth ($1.50)... then a Mimic would know the answer.

A human might know. But a panicked human who doesn't go to Costco might guess inflation.

Tyler guessed wrong. So he was human? Or...