At midnight, Sofia sat at her desk, fingers tapping away at the keyboard. The only source of light in her apartment was the faint glow of her computer screen. She had just finished the latest update for her serialized novel, stretching her sore shoulders before reaching for her teaâonly to find it had gone cold.
Outside, a dim streetlamp cast a yellowish glow over the empty road. The night was eerily quiet. Even the stray cats that usually roamed the neighborhood were nowhere to be seen.
Just as she stood up to make herself a fresh cup of tea, her phone buzzed on the desk.
BzzzâBzzzâBzzzâ
The vibration shattered the silence, making her jump. She frowned at the unknown number flashing on the screen.
Who the hell calls at this hour?
She hesitated for a moment before answering.
"Hello?"
There was silence on the other end. Then, a low, raspy voice spoke.
"Do you like being watched?"
A chill ran down Sofia's spine. She instinctively glanced around her dimly lit apartment.
"Who is this?" she demanded.
The caller let out a dry chuckle, the sound barely above a whisper. "Look outside."
Sofia's grip on her phone tightened as she turned to the window. The street below was as empty as before. Nothing out of the ordinary.
"If this is some kind of joke, it's not funny," she snapped.
The voice on the phone remained eerily calm. "Sofia⌠In your third novel, Chapter Four, you wrote: 'The scariest thing isn't the darkness itself, but knowing that something in the darkness is staring right at you.'"
Sofia froze.
That line was from her book. But her third novel hadn't even been published yetâonly her editor and the publishing house had access to the manuscript.
Her pulse quickened. "Who the hell are you?"
The voice hummed as if amused. "Why don't you take a guess?"
Every hair on Sofia's body stood on end. Her instincts screamed at her to move, to check the locks, to do something. She yanked the curtains shut, bolted the door, and tried to steady her breathing.
"What do you want?" she asked, her voice sharper now.
The caller chuckled again, softer this time. "Relax. We'll meet soon."
Then the call ended.
Sofia stared at her phone in disbelief, her fingers shaking as she checked the call log. But there was no record of the number. It was as if the call had never happened.
A single notification popped up on her screen.
New Message from Unknown Number
She hesitated, then opened it.
"Do you really think closing the curtains will stop me from watching?"
A wave of cold dread washed over her.
Her room felt smaller, suffocating. Like someone else was there.
Watching.