I live alone in a small apartment. Nothing fancy, just a one bedroom on the second floor. The building is old, the kind where you can hear pipes in the walls and people walking upstairs at night. I never liked that, but rent is cheap so I deal with it.
A few weeks ago I started noticing small things missing. At first it was food. I thought I was just forgetting what I ate. Then my TV remote disappeared for two days and showed up on the kitchen counter. I live alone, so that freaked me out a little, but I convinced myself I probably moved it and forgot.
Then the noises started.
Almost every night around 2 or 3 AM I would hear something in the hallway. Not loud, just like a soft step or the floor creaking. I thought it was my neighbor upstairs, but the sound felt too close, like it was inside my apartment.
One night I woke up because I heard my kitchen cabinet close. Not slam. Close.
I stayed in bed and didn’t move. My heart was beating so hard I could hear it in my ears. I kept telling myself it’s just the building, just the building, just the building.
After maybe 10 minutes I got up and checked.
Nothing.
Everything looked normal.
The next day I decided to set my phone on video before going to sleep. I put it on the dresser facing my bedroom door. I felt stupid doing it, but I wanted proof that I was imagining things.
That night I woke up again around 3 AM, but I didn’t hear anything this time. I went back to sleep.
In the morning I almost forgot about the video.
I opened my phone while drinking coffee and started watching.
For the first few hours nothing happens. Just me sleeping. Then at 2:47 AM the bedroom door slowly opens.
Not wide. Just enough for someone to look in.
I stopped the video right there because I felt sick.
I live alone.
I watched it again, forcing myself not to look away.
The door opens, and you can see part of a face in the dark. I couldn’t see the whole thing, just one eye and part of a forehead. The person stood there for almost a minute, just watching me sleep.
Then the door slowly closes.
I ran to check the locks. Everything was locked from the inside.
I don’t know what scared me more…
that someone was inside my apartment
or that they knew how to get out without unlocking the door.
I stayed at my brother’s place that night.
When I came back the next day, my closet door was open.
I never opened it before I left.
I’m writing this from my car right now because I don’t want to go back inside.
I swear I can see my bedroom light on through the window, and I know I turned it off before I left.
And the worst part…
I live on the second floor.