The knocking continued.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Arif stood frozen in the middle of the room. His heart was beating so loudly he could hear it in his ears.
His phone screen suddenly lit up again.
Incoming Call -- ARIF
He stared at it in shock.
How could someone call him… from his own number?
The knocking at the door stopped.
Silence filled the apartment.
Then his phone spoke again in that whisper.
"Arif… I'm already upstairs."
Arif slowly turned toward the door.
There was a small gap under it. From that gap, a faint blue light was glowing… the same color as a phone screen.
His breathing became heavier.
Then another message appeared on his phone.
"Look through the peephole."
Arif didn't want to.
Every instinct in his body screamed Don't .
But curiosity… and fear… pushed him forward.
Slowly… step by step… he reached the door.
His hand trembled as he leaned closer to the peephole.
He looked outside.
The hallway was empty.
Arif let out a shaky breath.
Then his phone vibrated again.
"Wrong side."
Arif froze.
Slowly… very slowly… he turned around.
Behind him… standing in the middle of his room…
Was the same tall shadow he had seen below.
Its body was dark and dripping like wet smoke.
Where its face should be… there was only a bright glowing screen.
And on that screen were the words:
"CALL CONNECTED."
Arif's phone fell from his hand.
The creature tilted its head.
Then it spoke… but this time the voice didn't come from the phone.
It came from everywhere in the room.
"Now you know why I called from below."
The glowing screen changed again.
A new message appeared.
"Your turn to call the next one."
Suddenly Arif's phone started dialing a random number by itself.
The shadow slowly stepped closer.
The last thing Arif heard before the lights went out was a faint whisper:
"Don't worry…
someone else will answer next."
And somewhere in the city…
Another phone began to ring at 3:17 AM.