A Figment of my Imagination

or was it...?

It's just been a month since I moved into this apartment. Four weeks of silence, with no bothersome neighbors, no family, or friends, just me, my thoughts, my remote job,

And the door...
I've never opened the red door at the end of the hall. I was told not to. The landlord had been clear when I signed the lease.

"It's off-limits," he said, pushing the keys into my hand.
When I had asked to see it as I would be living there anyway, I noticed how his eyes darted toward the door, how he shook his head with his lips, and how his voice dropped to a whisper. “Just don’t… don’t open it.”

That had been fine by me still. I had no problem ignoring it when I considered this was the only apartment I could afford right now and moving out wasn't an option. It had been fine until two weeks after I moved in, until the knocking began.

It was subtle at first. I'd hear a faint tap behind the door late at night, almost like a heartbeat. I’d sit in bed, straining to hear, wondering if it was my imagination. The sound was always too quiet to be certain.

By the end of the third week, it grew a little louder. The taps had turned into knocks - slow, deliberate, like someone on the other side wanted out. I tried to ignore it but the knocking never stopped.

However, at the fourth week, I found myself in front of the red door, right hand outstretched and ready to uncover whatever mystery was behind it with a bat in my other hand. A cold sweat broke out on my forehead as I reached for the knob, fingers brushing the worn brass, and finally turned it. The door opened easily, with a soft creak.

Behind the door... was nothing. My breath caught in my throat as my eyes darted across the space. Just a wall - plain, blank, and cold. I let out a nervous laugh, but it sounded hollow, like a fragile thing that could break at any moment. I stayed there, staring, waiting for something, anything, to happen. Silence. I scoffed as I realized it was only a wall, and I had been driving myself mad for weeks over a door that led to nowhere.

I guess my neighbors had been bothersome after all, disturbing my peace as though it was a fun game to them. A hiss found its way out of my mouth in irritation.
"Tomorrow morning, I'd deal with them."

No sooner had those words left my mouth did my open bedroom door, just a few meters away, suddenly slammed shut. I turned to stare at my closed door before returning my gaze to the closet-like space, freezing up.

I could have sworn I saw a silhouette in the space, a silhouette that disappeared the second I blinked... or...
I turned around almost immediately without giving it another thought and headed into my bathroom opposite my bedroom.
It's unreal, it's very much unreal. Audrey, you didn't seen anything. I kept chanting the words to myself in an attempt to calm my mind which had become filled with chaos.

Letting out a shaky breath, I quickly turned the tap on and leaned over the bathroom sink, spraying as much water as I could on my face. I paused for a second, watching the water go down the drain before finally turning off the tap.

I'm alright, I had just been imagining all that has happened since I got here. I nodded and exhaled slowly before standing straight and staring at my reflection in the mirror above the sink.

My brows furrowed, matching the confusion I felt inside my head as I stared at my head tilting to the side. I didn't feel like I was making any movement, but it certainly looked like it. My brows furrowed a bit more as I made the conscious effort to tilt my head to the side, now matching my reflection in the mirror.

I could have sworn my reflection tilted my head before I did... or have I undergone too much stress these days? I thought as I slowly lifted my left hand. I felt my breath seize as I froze up, a chill running down my spine as my eyes widened like saucers.

My hand was still hanging in the air as far as I could tell, but in the mirror, both of my hands were still by my side. I sucked in a small breath to get in oxygen but my eyes remained glued to the mirror. It wasn't stress or even a trick of the light, it was me.

or was it?

Slowly, my reflection's face twisted - lips curling into a cold, joyless smile that didn’t reach its wide, unblinking eyes. It was an expression that I’d never seen on myself before - unnatural, as if my own face had been stretched by something else. I turned away, my heart pounding as I rushed out of the bathroom.

I paused in my tracks as the light went out and the apartment became darker than it should have been. Slowly, I made my way into the living room where moonlight streamed in through the open curtains I had drawn earlier. My heart pounded in my chest as the moonlight shone on the walls and furniture that now looked twisted, and distorted, like a dream I couldn’t wake from.

My eyes drifted slowly to the dark corner of the living room where the moonlight didn't reach. I blinked, unsure if my mind was playing tricks on me. A human form that was barely visible, unmoving. I stepped forward, then froze. The figure shifted just slightly as though it had been watching me the entire time. My breath hitched. I didn’t blink again.

"Audrey..." I heard the barely audible whisper from behind.

Taking my eyes off the figure slightly, I turned as slowly as I could to look behind me. My eyes widened. For a split second, I froze once again, my breath caught in my chest.

Then, without hesitation, a scream ripped from my throat.

---

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CeeJhay