Chapter 23 AM.

The moment the realization hit me, I moved as fast as humanly possible. I locked the bathroom door as quietly as I could and drafted an emergency text to 911.

Making sure I included my exact address and a brief description of the situation, I hit send.

After doing that, I leaned back against the bathroom wall.

I had never been in a situation like this before, and my legs felt like jelly.

Thank God for the modern emergency dispatch system. The nearest precinct had officers on duty 24/7.

Once a text-to-911 is received, police are usually dispatched and on the scene within ten minutes.

I had actually just seen a public service announcement about texting 911 a couple of days ago.

I never expected I'd have to use it so soon.

I looked down at my phone. The [Delivered] status under my text message finally gave me a slight sense of relief.

It was the dead of night. The vast majority of the building's residents were fast asleep.

Everything around me was terrifyingly quiet.

I bit my lip hard, forcing myself to stay calm.

The only sound I could hear was my own trembling, shallow breathing.

The thought that an intruder was standing right outside, separated from me by only a single wooden door...

My adrenaline spiked violently, and my mouth went completely dry.

I swallowed hard.

Suppressing the violent pounding of my heart, I pressed my ear flat against the frosted glass of the bathroom door.

Several minutes passed.

There wasn't a single sound coming from outside.

It seemed like nothing was happening.

I checked my phone again.

3:05 AM.

It had been exactly five minutes since I woke up.

I started analyzing everything that had just happened in my head.

And a few alternative theories started to form.

Could it be that I had accidentally rolled over onto my phone in my sleep and triggered the lock screen myself?

I nodded silently to myself.

—It was definitely a possibility.

I was a very restless sleeper. Every morning, I woke up in a completely different position than how I fell asleep.

It wasn't entirely impossible that I had unconsciously mashed the screen in my sleep and triggered the lockout feature.

But regardless.

As a woman living alone, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Especially since the police hadn't replied with a solid confirmation yet.

I gripped my phone tightly, not daring to breathe loudly, keeping my ear pressed to the door.

But right at that moment, a soft rustling sound came from behind me.

My breath hitched violently in my throat.

At the same time, the faint, flickering glow of a streetlamp cast a shifting shadow against the bathroom wall!

A wave of pure ice shot up from the soles of my feet.

It looked exactly like...

Someone was standing right behind me!