CHAPTER FIVE — THE CAMERA
786 Words
By morning, Mira had barely slept. Every creak of the building, every shift in the air made her jump. She finally threw on a hoodie, tied her hair back, and sat at the small kitchen table with a notebook.
She needed answers—not fear.
So she started writing down everything she’d noticed since moving in:
• The tapping inside the walls
• The warning note
• Mr. Alden disappearing overnight
• Mrs. Lewis’s strange warnings
• The missing-person flyer
• The figure in the hallway
Seeing it all listed made her feel worse. It didn’t look random anymore. It looked connected.
And deliberate.
Her pen shook slightly as she underlined the last note:
Someone—or something—is watching.
She snapped the notebook shut.
Fine. If something wanted to watch her, she would watch it back.
She dug through one of her boxes and pulled out the small security camera she’d used in her old apartment. It wasn’t fancy—just a simple motion-activated device that recorded footage to her phone—but it made her feel like she had at least a little control.
She set it up on top of the bookshelf facing the front door. If someone came near it, she would know.
By afternoon, her nerves had calmed a bit. Enough to try and figure out more about Mr. Alden. She knocked on a few doors, hoping someone else would answer.
Apartment 4D didn’t respond.
Apartment 4E had music playing inside, but no one opened.
Finally, she tried Apartment 3C on the floor below. A tall man with messy curls cracked the door open. He looked tired, like he’d been awake for days.
“Yes?” he asked.
“Sorry to bother you,” Mira said. “I live upstairs. I’m just trying to figure out what happened to Mr. Alden from 4B.”
The man’s expression tightened. “Why?”
“I’m worried. I think something strange is happening in the building.”
He laughed, but it wasn’t a friendly sound. “Strange things happen here all the time.”
“Like what?”
He glanced behind him, then stepped closer. “This building hears things,” he whispered. “You shouldn’t talk too loudly.”
Mira felt her stomach twist. “You sound like Mrs. Lewis.”
“She’s still here?” he muttered, more to himself than to her.
“Listen. I’m not trying to scare you. But if you hear anything in the walls—don’t answer it.”
The door shut before she could ask another question.
She stood there, stunned.
Someone had told her not to open the door at night.
Now someone else told her not to answer the walls.
She hurried back upstairs.
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That evening, she checked the camera app on her phone. Nothing unusual. Just the front door, the bookshelf, the quiet room.
She put her phone down and started cooking noodles.
The tapping started again.
Tick…tick…tick…
She froze.
The sound wasn’t in the walls anymore.
It was in the ceiling.
Her neck prickled as she slowly looked up. The ceiling light swayed gently, as if someone above her was walking very slowly… very carefully.
There isn’t a fifth floor, she thought.
Not above her.
The tapping stopped.
Then—quietly, so softly she almost thought she imagined it—something whispered from above:
“Where… is… he…”
Mira stumbled backward so fast she almost fell.
“No,” she breathed, shaking. “No, no, no—”
Her phone buzzed.
A notification.
Motion detected: Living Room Camera.
Her heart stopped.
She grabbed the phone with trembling fingers and clicked the alert.
The footage loaded.
At first, everything looked normal—the bookshelf, the door, the quiet apartment.
Then someone stepped into view.
A figure.
Inside her apartment.
Standing just a few feet from the camera.
Tall. Still. Facing the door with its back turned to the camera.
Mira’s breath caught in her throat.
The figure tilted its head slowly, listening for something.
Then it reached out—one long, pale hand—and touched the inside of her door, fingertips trailing down the wood like it was feeling for something.
Mira’s hand flew to her mouth to stop herself from screaming.
The figure leaned closer, pressing its ear against her door from the inside.
Listening.
Then it whispered the same words she’d heard from the ceiling:
“Where… is… he…”
The footage cut.
No ending.
No exit.
The camera had simply shut off.
Mira looked up from the phone, panic rising in her chest.
Her apartment was silent now.
But she knew the truth.
The figure hadn’t left.
It was still somewhere inside.
Watching her.
Listening.
Waiting.
- Writer
