Chapter two shadow in the frame
498 Words
Chapter Two: Shadows in the Frame
Daniel locked the apartment door and checked it three times before pulling the curtains shut. The storm outside had intensified, rain pounding against the windows like impatient fists.
His laptop glowed in the darkness.
The photograph filled the screen.
He zoomed in again.
The victim lay motionless on the warehouse floor. The man in the black suit stood over the body, his polished silver cane reflecting the camera flash. But it wasn’t the killer that made Daniel’s blood run cold.
Near the far wall was a reflection in a cracked window.
A woman.
She wore a long white coat and stared directly at the camera.
Daniel’s breath caught.
He knew that face.
Dr. Evelyn Grant.
She had been declared dead in a car accident three years earlier. Daniel himself had photographed her funeral for a local newspaper.
“That’s impossible,” he whispered.
His phone rang.
Unknown Number.
After a long hesitation, he answered.
Silence.
Then a calm, measured voice spoke.
“You’ve looked too closely.”
The line went dead.
Before Daniel could react, every light in the apartment flickered and went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Only the laptop screen remained lit.
A new image suddenly appeared on the display.
It was a photograph of Daniel sleeping in his own bed.
The timestamp read 2:14 a.m.—earlier that morning.
Someone had been inside his apartment while he slept.
A loud knock echoed through the room.
Three slow knocks.
Daniel froze.
Another three.
He picked up the heavy tripod leaning against the desk and moved quietly toward the door.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Detective Ada Williams,” a woman’s voice answered. “Open the door, Daniel. We need to talk.”
Relief washed over him.
He unlocked the door.
Detective Ada stepped inside, rain dripping from her dark coat.
“I came as soon as I got your message.”
Daniel frowned.
“I never sent you a message.”
The detective’s expression changed.
“What?”
She pulled out her phone.
A text from Daniel’s number appeared on the screen.
HELP ME. THEY’RE INSIDE MY APARTMENT. HURRY.
Neither of them had sent it.
The apartment suddenly echoed with a sharp clicking sound.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Daniel slowly turned.
His DSLR camera, resting on the table, had begun taking photographs by itself.
The flash exploded across the room.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The camera stopped.
Hands trembling, Daniel removed the memory card and opened the latest image.
His heart nearly stopped.
The photograph showed him and Detective Ada standing in the apartment.
Behind them, reflected in the hallway mirror, stood the man in the black suit.
Neither of them had seen him.
But the camera had.
As Daniel spun toward the hallway, he heard the apartment door creak open.
Someone had just walked inside.
Yet the hallway was empty.
Only the faint tap…
Tap…
Tap…
…of a silver cane faded into the darkness.
End of Chapter Two
- Writer
