Chapter 1

I got a SnapChat from my husband, asking me to open the door.

But he was just in the bedroom, taking a shower, right?

His phone was under the covers. So who sent that message?

*Thud!* I heard something heavy hit the floor downstairs.

Then, another video came through.

My hands trembled as I tapped to open it, and a chill went down my spine.

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It was precisely midnight when I got a text from my husband:

"Maya, can you open the door for me?"

I glanced at Liam, who was showering in the bathroom. He always loved playing these twisted games to scare me. Last time, he hid outside the door, knocking just enough to make me almost call 911. The time before that, he hid under the bed, pretending he wasn't coming home, only to deliberately touch my hand when I reached for the floor in my sleep. My heart nearly burst out of my chest, and I almost grabbed a knife to defend myself before he crawled out from under the bed with a smug, "Gotcha!" These kinds of antics were endless.

So, this time, I just assumed he was at it again. "Crawl in yourself!" I snapped back.

The "typing" bubble appeared, then vanished.

Just then, I heard a phone ringing. Not mine. Following the sound, I pulled back the covers and found Liam's phone.

The caller ID showed "Boss."

Right at that moment, Liam called from the bathroom, "Maya, who's calling?"

A terrifying question hit me. If Liam's phone was here, then who sent me that message, pretending to be him?

"Maya? Why aren't you answering?"

Another message popped up.

"I'm in."

My hairs stood on end.

In? How did they get in?

*Thud!* I heard something heavy hit the floor downstairs.

Then, another video came through.

My hands trembled as I tapped to open it, and my blood ran cold. The video was a recording of our living room downstairs.

I'm a doctor and my husband's a corporate executive. We're pretty comfortable, living in a nice two-story detached house in a new development. It’s still pretty quiet with not many houses occupied yet.

But I never imagined we'd be targeted by a burglar right after moving in!

The video was still shaky, clearly showing someone moving downstairs. Soon, they reached the staircase leading to the second floor. Through the reflection in a glass pane, I saw a pale hand, smeared with dirt.

They stood there, perfectly still, not moving up.

In the dead silence, the chirping of crickets outside sounded unnervingly loud.

Suddenly, the figure bent their body at an impossible 90-degree angle, their torso contorting in a sickening way. The phone instantly flipped, recording the stairs, and allowing me to see their face.

A face covered in blood, a mouth ripped open to the ears, slowly crawling up the stairs in an utterly grotesque manner.

I screamed, throwing my phone, and scrambled out of bed to lock the front door.

Then I rushed back to grab my phone and dial 911. My hands were shaking so badly I messed up the passcode several times. Just as the call connected, I heard heavy footsteps outside my bedroom door.

The sound stopped right outside. A voice, identical to Liam's, echoed from the other side.

"Maya, open the door for me."

I clapped a hand over my mouth, terrified to make a sound. But of course, Liam chose that exact moment to turn on the shower, the water blasting loudly.

The person outside heard it.

Suddenly, they flew into a rage, kicking the door with thunderous *bangs*.

The shower went silent. Liam, hearing the commotion, threw on his robe and stepped out, only to find me crumpled on the floor, my face ghostly pale.

"Why are you on the floor?"

"Don't say anything!"

I tried to stop him, but it was too late. The door shuddered precariously under violent kicks, accompanied by a torrent of curses.

"Bitch! Bitch! I came for you, why won't you open the door?!"

Liam heard it too. His voice was sharp with warning as he told the person to leave or he'd call the police.

The outside suddenly went quiet.

"Don't worry, it's probably just some lunatic."

"No, it's not. It's not human! Look at this video! Its face is covered in blood, crawling up the stairs, and its voice is exactly like yours!"

My hands shaking, I showed him the video. But after watching it, his expression turned strange.

"This is just a video of the living room downstairs? Have you been too stressed lately? Are you seeing things?"

"What? No! Look closely! The reflection in the glass!"

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