In the Darkness+18

A fine drizzle, chilling to the bone, fell on the narrow streets of one of the city's oldest apartment buildings, with moss-covered walls and windows surrounded by rusty iron bars. While everyone in the building was fast asleep, the light in apartment 12 on the third floor was still on. Elif was bent over her desk, finishing the last pages of the research paper she had been working on for days. But in the back of her mind, the eerie whisper she had heard in the hallway for two nights echoed. “Can you hear me?” The first night she heard it, she thought it came from a neighbor's television. The second night, she thought it was a trick of her imagination. The same faint voice, as if right next to her ear... As she played with the pen in her hand, wondering what she would do if the voice came a third time tonight, at exactly 3:07 a.m., the computer suddenly shut down. The power hadn't gone out; the room light was still on. Only the computer... had turned into a pitch-black screen. At that very moment, the voice rang out much more clearly, directly inside her ears: “Find the key.” Elif's chair slid back with a loud noise. She swallowed, but her throat was parched; her heart was beating so hard it felt like it would break her rib cage. As she opened the door to go out into the hallway, she noticed something lying at her feet. A small, rusty key. A number was engraved on it: 12. The number of her own apartment. As Elif picked up the key with trembling hands, she felt for a moment as if the entire building had held its breath. Not a single sound came from the floor above or below. It was as if everyone in the building had vanished into thin air. Despite the horror filling her, she stepped out into the hallway. Looking into the stairwell, she made out the silhouette of a shadow fleeing upward in the darkness. “Who's there?” she called out, her voice cracking. There was no answer. Only the sound of a door slamming shut and then a deep silence... When Elif turned around, she saw that the door to her own apartment was wide open. She had closed it just a moment ago. An icy wind was blowing from inside. The notebook she had left on the table was open. In the middle of the page, written in handwriting she had never seen before, was a single sentence: “This is only the beginning.” The moment she read the sentence, sirens began to wail outside. Police cars, ambulances... Elif ran to the window in curiosity. The corner of the street was cordoned off with yellow tape, and a crowd had gathered, staring at a spot. The red and blue lights of the sirens pierced the night. Squinting, Elif saw a body covered with a white sheet lying in the middle of the crowd. A police officer leaned over to another and shouted: “Fell from number 12!” Elif's throat tightened. Because number 12... was her apartment.