Chapter 9 – Inside Already
The message seared across the screen like a knife.
Emily’s scream caught in her throat, strangled before it could break free. The phone nearly slipped from her slick palm, but she clutched it tighter, as if the cold metal and glowing screen were the only anchor keeping her tethered to reality.
Her eyes snapped to the door. It was still locked.
Her gaze shifted to the living room, Empty. Shadows stretched across the couch and coffee table, warped by the single lamp she had left on. The kitchen counters, bare and lifeless. Her throat tightened as she turned toward the dark hallway that led to her bedroom.
Her blood turned to ice.
He is here.
Every instinct in her screamed at her to run and to get out immediately.
She stumbled backward, her heel catching the edge of the rug. Her shoulder slammed into the coat rack, sending it toppling. It crashed against the hardwood with a splintering crack, echoing through the tiny apartment.
Silence.
Then a sound. A shuffle. Soft. From the back of the apartment.
Emily’s heart stopped.
“Oh God,” she whispered, breathless, barely shaping the words.
Her hands flew to the locks, trembling so violently she could not make them work. Sweat slicked her palms, the key slipping through her shaking fingers. Once. Twice. Three tries before the door finally opened and let her free.
Her phone buzzed in her hand. She almost did not look but fear dragged her eyes downward.
Unknown Number: Running would not help. I love it better that way.
Emily’s chest seized. Her pulse thundered, her throat closing around the scream building inside her. She yanked the door closed and bolted into the hall, barefoot and shaking so hard her knees nearly buckled beneath her.
The corridor stretched long and dim, lined with peeling wallpaper and doors that looked suddenly menacing. The fluorescent light above flickered in stuttering bursts, buzzing like a dying insect.
Her lungs burned as she sprinted for the stairwell.
Her foot hit the top step just as the door below creaked open.
Emily froze, clutching the bannisterr so hard her knuckles blanched white. The metal felt icy beneath her skin. Her breath caught in her throat.
Someone was coming up.
From her vantage, she could see only a shadow, growing larger with each slow step. It stretched unnaturally long across the wall, an inky silhouette climbing steadily upward.
Her mind spun. Back inside?.... Hide in the hallway? But her thoughts clashed against the words from the message that the intruder was already inside her apartment.
Her chest rose and fell in quick, shallow bursts. Panic clawed at her lungs, threatening to suffocate her.
The shadow grew taller and Closer.
Emily spun, wild with terror, and raced toward the elevator. Her hand slapped the button again and again and again, the plastic crackling beneath her frantic jabs. “Come on, come on, come on,” she hissed under her breath, the words tumbling out like a prayer.
Her phone buzzed again.
She did not want to look. God, she did not want to but her eyes betrayed her.
Unknown Number: The elevator’s too slow, Emily.
A choked scream tore free before she could stop it. She slammed her fists against the steel doors, jabbing the button until the light glared red, a mocking warning siren.
Below, the stairwell door groaned open. Heavy footsteps hit the landing. The sound ricocheted through the silence, steady, deliberate.
Emily’s vision blurred. She spun and sprinted back down the hallway, her bare feet slapping the cold linoleum. The sound carried, echoing like gunfire, impossible to disguise.
The fire exit loomed ahead. A metal door painted dull red, the glow of the EXIT sign above it casting sickly light across the floor. Hope surged in her chest.
Her phone buzzed.
Unknown Number: You are not going to make it.
Hot tears stung her eyes. “Shut up,” she rasped, her voice breaking. “Shut up! Leave me alone.”
She shoved the bar. The door burst open with a metallic screech, the hinges protesting. Emily stumbled into the icy night air of the alley.
The door slammed behind her, the sound ringing out like the closing of a tomb.
Emily doubled over, gasping, clutching her stomach as if she was trying to hold herself together. Her chest ached, lungs tearing with every gulp of air. The city’s hum floated faintly— distant sirens, the growl of an engine blocks away, the low thunder of a subway.
But here... here in the narrow alley boxed in by brick walls the silence pressed against her.
Emily wrapped her arms around herself, shivering violently as the night air bit into her sweat-damp skin. She staggered forward, scanning the alley, searching for escape. For movement. For anyone.
Her gaze snagged on the hulking shape of a dumpster. For a moment, nothing. And then....
A whisper of motion. A shadow slipped just behind it.
Her heart lurched so hard it hurt.
She stumbled backwards, shaking her head. “No, no, no…”
The phone vibrated again, buzzing so fiercely in her hand that she almost dropped it. With trembling fingers, she lifted it.
Unknown Number: Peek-a-boo.
Emily’s vision blurred with terror. Her knees threatened to give way beneath her. She forced herself to turn her head toward the dumpster.
Her breath came in shallow bursts.
Then metal scraped against pavement slowly.
Emily’s body reacted before her mind did. She spun, bolting deeper into the alley, feet slapping the wet asphalt. The walls closed in on either side, brick towering high, blotting out the sky. Ahead, she could just make out the faint glow of the street beyond.
Hope clawed through her panic. If she could just reach it...
Her phone buzzed.
Unknown Number: Almost there. I can hear you breathing.
Emily’s scream ripped from her chest, raw and desperate, as she pushed herself faster.
The streetlight grew closer. She could almost feel its warmth, hear the faint rumble of traffic. Freedom was only steps away.
And then... something moved in her peripheral vision.
From the darkness at the mouth of the alley, a figure stepped forward.
Tall.... Still.... Waiting.
Emily skidded to a halt, her chest heaving, her body trapped between the shadow behind and the one ahead.
Her phone buzzed one last time.
Unknown Number: Caught you.