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. ### 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!” ###
But when I looked, there was nothing there. Just a video of the staircase. How could this be? Liam comforted me, then went to call the police, while I sat on the bed, my mind a complete mess. I saw it clearly. How could it just vanish? “You’re just tired. Get some rest. I’ll warm up some milk for you.” I barely heard him, completely lost in my own world, until I heard the sound of the lock clicking. My head snapped up, the door already ajar. I shrieked, “Don’t open it!” But it was too late. The door burst open. A dark shadow darted out, dragging him into the darkness. “Ahhhhh!” A bloodcurdling scream, followed by tearing and gnashing sounds from outside the room, and Liam’s weakening voice telling me to run. Fear, guilt, and terror enveloped and crushed me. The sounds grew fainter, then disappeared. The scent of blood filled the air. I was frozen in place, terrified. I watched, horrified, as something dark squirmed and slowly moved towards me. The room’s light illuminated its form. Blood stained its mouth, and it was still chewing something. It spoke in Liam’s voice: “One more.” As it lunged, I snapped back to reality, slamming the door shut and locking it with incredible speed. The door was struck with a massive *thud*. With the danger contained, I collapsed onto the floor, my body limp. Thinking of my dead husband, I was heartbroken. I couldn’t understand how things had come to this! The footsteps outside were chaotic and rapid, as if pacing back and forth. I was still alive; it wouldn’t give up. I silently prayed for the police to arrive quickly. But the next second, a crisp clicking sound of a lock echoed in the room. To my horror, the lock was being manipulated by an invisible force, twisting and turning. I watched, frozen, as the doorknob turned. I was like a statue, staring blankly. The door opened, revealing that terrifying, grotesque face. My neck was bitten through, blood splattering onto the ceiling. In my last moments, I saw its mouth full of sharp teeth, tearing and devouring my flesh. It was 11:40 PM. I gasped, shooting upright in bed. My hand flew to my neck. The skin was smooth, no trace of a severed throat, yet the agonizing pain of being bitten and torn still lingered in my body. What happened? Wasn’t I dead? Was everything that just happened a dream? “I’m going to take a shower. Are your things packed? Our flight’s first thing in the morning, don’t want to be scrambling then.” I stared blankly at Liam, standing perfectly fine before me. The image of him dying, telling me to run, flashed in my mind, and my eyes welled up. I rushed forward, hugging him tightly. “Liam, thank goodness you’re alive!” “What nonsense are you talking about? Am I supposed to be dead?” He hugged me back, teasing. I quickly covered his mouth. “Ptooey, ptooey! Don’t even say ‘dead’!” “Alright, alright, whatever you say. I know you can’t live without me, but I just got home from work, all sweaty. My dearest wife, can you please let me take a shower first?” I gave him an annoyed look, telling him to go. Looking at my perfectly fine husband, I could only believe that everything that had just happened was a dream. I smoothed my frantically beating heart, trying to calm it, and pulled out my phone to scroll through some TikToks and relax. My gaze suddenly landed on the time displayed: 11:50 PM. But I distinctly remembered it being midnight! I’d been so caught up in my relief, I hadn’t noticed the time was off. If it had been a dream, I should have woken up *after* midnight. And my conversation with Liam just now had happened *before* 11:50 PM, but in the dream, Liam was *already showering*. That means his words wouldn’t have been said at this time! I touched my neck again. The pain felt too real. ###
It wasn’t a dream! Time had moved forward! That monster was real, it just hadn’t appeared yet! The realization sent a wave of extreme panic through me! I didn’t want to experience that pain again; I didn’t want Liam to die. I had to find where it got into the house before it came! But where? It was already 11:55 PM. Not much time left! As I was still pondering, the sound of water from the bathroom interrupted me, reminding me that the main doors and windows were all locked. How had that monster gotten in? Just as I was racking my brain, I suddenly remembered! Since we’d just moved in, there was a small, semi-enclosed balcony outside the kitchen. For aesthetic reasons, the kitchen door was a decorative wooden one with a traditional latch lock, not a modern security door like the main entrance. But for extra safety, I had also installed a metal security gate inside the kitchen door. However, I’d never actually locked that gate; it would be easy to pry open! With this thought, I quickly threw off the covers and got out of bed, opening the bedroom door and flicking on the stairwell light. The warm-toned lights illuminated the stairs, but I still didn’t have the courage to go down. I turned and closed the door, then walked to the bathroom and knocked. “Liam, I’m going downstairs for a minute.” “Okay.” I turned and stepped onto the stairs. My heart, which had just calmed, began to pound violently again. An inexplicable tension gripped me. It wasn’t in yet at this time. I silently urged myself on, rushing downstairs. I quickly reached the ground floor, turned on the living room lights, then headed into the kitchen. I locked the metal gate securely, and finally, my racing heart settled. Just then, the clock struck midnight. My phone buzzed on cue, but seeing the message, I felt like I’d been plunged into an icy abyss. “I’m in.” Suddenly, I felt a pair of malicious eyes staring at me from the darkness, like a wolf tracking its prey. My breathing became heavy, and I slowly backed away, retreating out of the kitchen. I had to escape! I couldn’t stay here. I slowly backed up to the edge of the kitchen, with the brightly lit living room behind me. If I could just get back to the bedroom! But before I could step out, a video message arrived. The video showed a door being opened. The living room lights came on right after the door was closed. The phone’s owner retreated behind the door, still recording. I watched myself close the door, pause in the kitchen to check my phone, then slowly and fearfully back out. For a moment, my breathing stopped. My eyes stiffly shifted to the door on my left. A dark shadow was clearly hiding behind the frosted glass door. My legs turned to jelly. My survival instincts screamed at me, and I spun around, accelerating up the stairs. In that same instant, I heard the door being pushed open, and heavy footsteps thudded behind me, getting closer and closer! Tears streamed down my face. I was practically tumbling up the stairs. The sound of sinister laughter closed in behind me. I’d just rounded the first flight of stairs, heading for the second, when it grabbed my hair, yanking me around to face it. Its sharp teeth once again sank into my neck, blood gushing out. Its eyes reflected my terrified face. In the last second before my voice died, I heard Liam’s pained, furious scream. I woke up again, and it was eight in the morning. My hand was on the doorknob, ready for work. I checked my phone; the date was still today. No matter how many times it looped, that monster would still come for me tonight. Liam and I would still die horribly! But at least today, time had been set back by over ten hours. This was my chance. If we just found somewhere to hide, it wouldn’t find us! Excited by this possibility, I eagerly opened my phone and told Liam everything that would happen tonight, and about the previous two loops. Predictably, he didn’t believe me. He just thought I was too stressed. ###
“I have a meeting soon. I might be home a little late tonight. Just get your things packed. We’re flying to the Netherlands tomorrow morning. You’ve just been working too hard, you’re talking nonsense.” Looking at the disconnected call, I felt helpless. Based on the previous two times, he would still come home. I couldn’t leave him alone and hide by myself. Frustrated, I thought about calling the police. But as I was about to dial, a SnapChat message popped up. It was from our neighborhood group chat. “Heard someone around here got robbed, and both people died!” “No, they didn’t die. Heard the burglar just got in when the husband found him. The burglar had a knife and stabbed him several times. The commotion drew the wife downstairs, and she got stabbed too. Both are seriously injured and are still in the ICU.” “That family just moved in. The houses around them are mostly empty, only one other family lives nearby, but they’re far, so they only heard faint sounds and didn’t pay much attention.” Home invasion, two people. I inexplicably thought of Liam and me. Knowing it couldn’t be us, I still asked in the group: “When was this home invasion?” Someone replied immediately. “About a week ago. You probably hadn’t moved in yet.” A week ago. Then it had nothing to do with me. I felt a pang of pity for the people in the ICU. You never know what tomorrow or an accident will bring first. But now, I didn’t have time for sorrow, because in a little over ten hours, I would also face death. This time, I didn’t know if I’d get another chance. I didn’t call the police. The reason was, how would I even explain? “I’ve died twice, someone’s trying to kill me, send help at midnight?” No sane person would believe that. I decided to wait until tonight to call 911. My immediate priority was to check the house inside and out, locking all windows and doors. For lunch, I ordered DoorDash. It was from a place I frequently ordered from, and I knew their delivery driver well. But strangely, today’s driver was wearing a mask and sunglasses, completely covered. “Your order.” His voice was a bit hoarse. Since I knew him, I asked, concerned: “What’s wrong with your voice?” “Caught a cold recently.” As he handed me the food, I distinctly felt him staring at me for several seconds, until I closed the door. Normally, I wasn’t a meticulous person, but after the last two incidents, I was clearly more alert. I deliberately stood by the door, trying to listen for his retreating footsteps, but heard nothing. Just silence. That eerie feeling crept up on me again, and my skin crawled. Just as I was about to give in and call the police, I finally heard footsteps fading into the distance. I sighed in relief. After the tension, I had no appetite, so I just placed the DoorDash on the dining table, intending to scroll through some TikToks to distract myself. However, about ten minutes later, DoorDash called me. “Hello, your delivery has arrived. It’s at your door, please come out and get it.” I was confused. “I didn’t order anything? Are you sure you have the right address?” “No, the address is correct. You ordered from Zhou’s Wonton, right?” That single sentence froze me completely. My gaze fell upon the food box on the table. If my DoorDash was only just arriving now, then who delivered the food earlier? “I hung your order on the door. Remember to grab it.” Suddenly, I didn’t dare to look inside that DoorDash box. Nor did I dare to open the door. *Ding-dong.* A SnapChat message popped up. It was from Liam. “Your fruit delivery arrived. Remember to eat it.”
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