❤️🔥Apartment 304 🥵:chapter 4
496 Words
The Thing Outside the Door
“Ava…”
The voice outside my apartment sounded identical to mine.
Same tone.
Same nervous softness.
Same breathing.
I stumbled backward from the door so quickly I nearly fell over the couch.
“No,” I whispered shakily.
Another scratch dragged slowly across the wood.
“Ava… open the door.”
My chest tightened painfully.
This wasn’t possible.
Ethan’s voice came sharply through the phone again.
“Do not answer it.”
“I wasn’t going to!”
The thing outside laughed softly.
My laugh.
Perfectly copied.
Then silence returned.
I pressed the phone harder against my ear.
“What is that?”
Ethan didn’t answer immediately.
In the background, I heard movement.
Heavy footsteps.
Metal clanging.
Like he was searching for something.
Finally, he spoke quietly.
“It shouldn’t have seen you.”
A cold chill spread through my body.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you were never supposed to enter Apartment 304.”
Before I could respond—
A loud bang slammed against my front door.
I screamed.
The entire frame shook violently.
Another bang followed immediately.
Harder this time.
Dust drifted from the ceiling.
“It’s trying to get in,” I whispered in horror.
Ethan’s voice darkened instantly.
“Get away from the door. Now.”
I rushed backward toward the kitchen.
Another violent slam hit the apartment.
The lights flickered wildly overhead.
Then—
Everything went silent again.
No scratching.
No voice.
Nothing.
My pulse hammered painfully inside my ears.
“Did it leave?” I whispered.
Ethan didn’t answer.
Instead, he asked quietly,
“Do you have any mirrors in your apartment?”
I blinked in confusion.
“What?”
“Mirrors, Ava.”
I glanced nervously toward the tiny hallway beside my bedroom.
“One in the bathroom.”
“Don’t look into it.”
A horrible feeling settled in my stomach.
“Why?”
Another pause.
Then quietly—
“Because sometimes it looks back.”
Every ounce of fear inside me multiplied instantly.
“You’re insane,” I whispered.
“Maybe.”
His breathing sounded heavier now.
“But I’m still right.”
Before I could respond—
The bathroom light suddenly turned on by itself.
I stared toward the hallway.
Frozen.
The apartment had gone completely silent again.
Too silent.
Then slowly…
very slowly…
a shadow moved across the bathroom wall.
My breathing stopped.
Someone was standing inside my bathroom.
I backed away instinctively.
“Ethan…”
“I know.”
“How do you know?!”
“Because it’s not outside your door anymore.”
My blood ran cold.
The bathroom door creaked open slightly.
And from inside the darkness…
I saw myself standing there.
Same oversized hoodie.
Same face.
Same terrified eyes.
Except this version of me was smiling.
Too wide.
Too unnatural.
Its head tilted slowly.
Then it whispered—
“He can’t protect you forever.”
The phone line suddenly went dead.
- Writer
