By the time the clock neared midnight, Mariella had already given up trying to stay awake. The season finale of American Horror Story’s Season 9 was still playing in the background, but her eyes had grown heavy. The glow from the TV flickered across the small living room as she gathered her trash and turned off the lights one by one.
The apartment fell silent, except for the faint hum of the refrigerator and the occasional rumble of a tricycle outside.
She yawned and murmured, “Okay, bedtime.”
Then came the knock.
A loud, solid bang-bang-bang on the metal gate outside.
Mariella froze in place.
Her heart leapt straight into her throat. Her brain instantly replayed every horror scene she had just watched. Murderer? Ghost? Axe-wielding psychopath? Her pulse started hammering as she grab
