My friend sent me a video and now I think something is seriously wrong with me

A few nights ago I saw a video that I can’t stop thinking about.

It all started last Friday around midnight.

I couldn’t think of anything to watch, so I was just laying in bed scrolling on my phone. I was waiting until I got tired enough to sleep when suddenly, my doomscroll got interrupted by a message.

I’m a pretty private person, so it’s not normal for someone to reach out that late. My first thought was something bad had happened. Family emergency. Someone died. Something like that.

Instead it was Noah.

Noah’s been one of my closest friends since middle school. We had the kind of friendship that probably looked exhausting from the outside. One week we’d be out until 2 AM getting drunk together like nothing could ever come between us, the next we wouldn’t talk for a month over something stupid. We were too similar in a lot of ways, which I think is why we got along so well and fought so much. 

This was one of those times we weren’t talking.
Seeing his name pop up on my phone was certainly surprising, but at the same time, a relief. At least I knew my family was safe and this probably wasn’t anything serious. 

The text said:
“Yo check this out, creepy right?”

Under it was a video attachment:

Nothing about it seemed strange. Noah always sent random stuff like this.

So I opened it.

The video looked like it was filmed from inside a car parked in the desert at night. The camera was fixed on the dashboard or windshield, slightly tilted.

At first it was just headlights cutting into darkness.
Engine idling.

Wind.

Then, near the edge of the light, there was a figure.

A man.

Too far away to make out clearly.

He walked into frame carrying a shovel.

Not rushed. Not dramatic. Just slow. Like he’d been out there a long time.

The whole thing felt wrong in a way I can’t really explain. Not cinematic. More like something I wasn’t supposed to be watching.

The audio was distorted too. Warped, almost backwards in places.

But underneath it there was breathing.

And something else.

A faint metallic rattling sound that came and went whenever he moved.

At first I thought it was something in the car.

But when he stepped closer into the headlights, I realized it was coming from him.

The shovel. His grip.

There was a slight shaking in his hand.

He started digging just outside the center of the headlights.

You never really saw the hole. Just dirt flying into frame.

I remember texting Noah while watching it.

“Where did you find this?”

He replied almost instantly.

“No clue lol, some forum”

Then:

“watch til the end”

So I did.

After another minute, he stopped digging.

Just stood there in the headlights.

Then turned toward the car.

Something about the way he moved made my stomach drop. Like I’d seen it before somewhere, even though I knew I hadn’t.

He started walking toward the car.

Slowly.

The headlights flickered as he got closer.

Every time they cut out, he seemed closer than he should’ve been.

When he reached the front of the car, his face was still impossible to see.

But I remember noticing his hand again.

Still slightly shaking at his side.

He leaned toward the windshield-

-and the video cut to black.

That was it.

I sat there for a while after. Not scared exactly. Just unsettled in a way I couldn’t shake.

I texted Noah:

“Dude, that’s actually creepy. Why did you send that to me?”

He replied:

“Lol, just thought it was a crazy video. Don’t freak out”

I was still kind of baffled why he thought it was a good idea to send it, especially when we weren’t really talking and it was so late.

Still, I tried to just shake it off and went to sleep.
That night I had a dream about it.

Not really a nightmare. Just extremely vivid.
I was sitting in the passenger seat of that car, watching the figure dig in the distance.

I remember trying to look away and not being able to.

Then he stopped digging and looked straight at me.

I woke up immediately.

What stuck with me more was what happened after.
I got up to get water and looked out my apartment window.

And for a second, I swear I saw someone standing under a streetlight across the road.

Same posture.

Still.

Then a car passed and the light shifted and he was gone.

I didn’t sleep much after that.

The next day I called Noah while driving to work because I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

He picked up after a bit.

He laughed at first.

Not mocking. Just uneasy.

“Dude, it’s just a video. I sent it to other people and they didn’t react this way”

We talked a bit more as he tried to reassure me, but something still felt off.

Over the next couple days I kept thinking about the video. And kept getting no sleep. Something about it just bugged me.

Then yesterday everything changed.

I called Noah again.

By that point the video had gotten so deep into my head that I wasn’t even trying to sound casual anymore.

The second he answered I said:

“I know something’s wrong. You seriously need to explain why you sent me that video.”

There was silence on the other end.

Not static. Not bad reception.

Just silence.

Long enough that I checked to make sure the call was still connected.

Then Noah finally said:

“…What video?”

I actually laughed a little when he said it. Not because it was funny. More because I genuinely thought he was messing with me.

“The video we’ve been talking about for the past two days,” I said.

Another pause.

This one longer.

When he spoke again, his voice sounded different somehow. Quieter. Careful.

“Jordan… I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I remember sitting up straighter in my chair at that point.

“What?”

Then he said:

“Are you still mad about what happened before? Because I haven’t talked to you since then.”

I felt this sudden pressure in my chest.

“Since what happened?”

Noah didn’t answer.

For a second all I could hear was this faint crackling sound on the line. Breathing maybe. Or wind.

Then the call abruptly cut out.

Before even calling him back I decided to check my phone for the messages.

Something was off.

Noah now had no profile picture.

I found the messages, but somehow, his responses were missing. Even weirder, there was no indicator that anything was read.

I scrolled through them for a long time, trying to convince myself I was missing something.

I wasn’t.

Then I noticed something else.

The video file was gone.

Not deleted.

Just… gone.

Like it had never been there.

I called him back twice. No answer either time.

That’s when the panic really set in. 

I ended up calling our mutual friend Eric because the whole thing was starting to get under my skin.

The second he answered, I could tell something was wrong.

He sounded exhausted. Quiet.

Before I could even say anything, he asked:

“You heard about Noah, right?”

My stomach tightened a little.

“Heard what?”

There was a pause.

Then Eric said:

“Wait… you seriously haven’t heard?”

I remember sitting up a little in bed at that point.

“Haven’t heard what?”

Another pause.
Then:

“They found him yesterday.”

I didn’t understand what he meant at first.

“Found him where?”

Eric went quiet for a second.

Then he said:
“Outside Phoenix. Dead.”

I actually interrupted him.

“What are you talking about? I literally talked to him two days ago.”

Silence.

Then:
“Jordan… Noah’s been missing for almost three weeks.”

Then everything suddenly went kind of blurry. I don’t remember ending the conversation or even putting my phone down. The next thing I really remember is barely being conscious in my bed, completely drained. 

I immediately thought about the video again.I needed to prove to myself it was real.

Out of some weird desperation, I called Noah again.

It rang.

Once.

Twice.

Then-
A faint vibration.

Not from my phone.

Somewhere in the room.

I froze. My hand started trembling.

Called again.

The buzzing came again, clearer this time.

It was coming from under my bed.

And somehow I already knew what it was before I even looked.

Noah’s phone.

My call still lighting up the screen.

Missed Call- Jordan.

I just stared at it for a while before I finally picked it up.

Then I saw the notifications.

Dozens of them.

Texts. Calls. Voicemails.

Every attempt I’d made to reach him over the past couple days.

Unread.

What really got to me though was the gallery.

There was only one video saved on the entire phone.  I can’t get my hand to stop shaking.
I haven’t opened it.

Every time I think about pressing play, I remember that figure standing in the headlights.

The shovel.

I still don’t understand how Noah’s phone ended up in my apartment. Or how long it’s been there.

I know I should probably bring it to the police.
But I haven’t.

Because if that video is actually on the phone, then Noah didn’t pull it from some random forum.

He filmed it himself.

And if the video isn’t there…
then I honestly don’t know what that says about me.