The Apartment Above

The building was old, its bricks stained by decades of rain and soot. Most of the tenants kept to themselves, doors locked, curtains drawn. But the apartment above Daniel’s had been empty for months, its windows dark, its silence heavy.

Until last week.

He had heard footsteps late at night, slow and deliberate, pacing across the ceiling. At first, he thought someone had finally moved in. But there had been no truck, no furniture carried up the stairs, no landlord’s notice. Just footsteps.

On the third night, he heard something else. A dragging sound, like heavy fabric pulled across the floor. Then a whisper.

“Daniel…”

He froze in bed, heart pounding. No one should know his name.

The next morning, he confronted the landlord, Mrs. Kline, a frail woman with sharp eyes. “Who’s living upstairs?” he asked.

She frowned. “No one. That apartment is sealed. Has been for years.”

Daniel’s stomach dropped. “But I hear footsteps. Voices.”

Mrs. Kline shook her head. “You must be mistaken.”

That night, the footsteps returned. Louder. Closer.

Daniel grabbed a broom and banged on the ceiling. “Cut it out!” he shouted.

The footsteps stopped. Silence stretched. Then, faintly, a laugh.

The following evening, Daniel invited his friend Mia over. She was skeptical, but curious.

“Haunted apartment?” she teased. “You’ve been watching too many horror movies.”

“Just listen,” Daniel insisted.

They sat in his living room, lights off, waiting.

At midnight, the footsteps began. Slow, deliberate, pacing.

Mia’s smile faded. “Okay… that’s real.”

Then came the dragging sound. And the whisper.

“Daniel…”

Mia’s eyes widened. “It said your name.”

Daniel nodded, his throat dry. “I told you.”

The ceiling creaked. Dust drifted down.

Mia whispered, “We should go up there.”

Daniel hesitated. “Mrs. Kline said it’s sealed.”

“Then let’s see for ourselves.”

The stairwell was dim, the bulbs flickering. The door to the upstairs apartment was covered in chains, a heavy padlock securing them.

Mia tugged at the lock. “Definitely sealed.”

Daniel leaned closer. The wood was scratched, gouges running across it like claw marks.

Suddenly, from inside, came a thud. Then another.

Mia jumped back. “Something’s in there.”

Daniel whispered, “But how?”

The padlock rattled. The chains shifted.

They fled down the stairs, hearts racing.

That night, Daniel couldn’t sleep. The footsteps were louder than ever, pounding across the ceiling. The dragging sound scraped endlessly.

At 3 a.m., his phone buzzed. A text.

From an unknown number.

“Come upstairs.”

Daniel’s blood ran cold. He dropped the phone, staring at it as though it might bite.

The whisper followed, drifting down from the ceiling.

“Daniel…”

The next day, Mia returned, determined. “We need to know what’s in there.”

Daniel shook his head. “It doesn’t want us to know. It wants me.”

Mia crossed her arms. “Then we’ll face it together.”

They bought bolt cutters. That night, they climbed the stairs, hearts pounding.

The chains snapped one by one. The padlock fell with a heavy clang.

Daniel pushed the door open.

Inside, the apartment was dark, the air thick with dust. Furniture lay covered in sheets, shapes looming like ghosts.

The footsteps stopped. Silence pressed in.

Mia whispered, “Hello?”

No answer.

They stepped inside. The floor creaked beneath them.

Daniel’s flashlight beam swept across the room. On the wall, words were scrawled in black.

STAY.

Mia’s voice shook. “What the hell…”

From the bedroom came a sound. A creak. A sway.

They moved closer, the door half open.

Inside, a rocking chair moved slowly, though no one sat in it.

Daniel whispered, “Do you see that?”

Mia nodded, pale. “Yeah.”

The chair stopped.

Then, from the shadows, a figure emerged.

It was tall, thin, its face obscured by darkness. Its eyes glowed faintly, hollow and yellow.

It spoke, voice low and distorted.

“Daniel…”

Daniel staggered back. “What do you want?”

The figure tilted its head. “You.”

Mia shouted, “Leave him alone!”

The figure laughed, a hollow sound. “He belongs to us.”

Daniel’s heart pounded. “Why me?”

The figure stepped closer. “Because you listened. Because you answered.”

Mia pulled Daniel toward the door. “We’re leaving!”

But the door slammed shut, trapping them inside.

The figure’s voice echoed. “Stay… stay… stay…”

The sheets covering the furniture began to move, shapes shifting beneath them. Hands pressed against the fabric, clawing, tearing.

Figures emerged, pale and hollow-eyed, their mouths whispering in unison.

“Stay… stay… stay…”

Mia screamed, swinging the bolt cutters at one of them. The figure dissolved into smoke, but the others pressed closer.

Daniel shouted, “Stop! What do you want from me?”

The figure in the rocking chair smiled. “Forever.”

It held out a ticket, old and yellowed. Daniel’s name was printed on it.

Mia grabbed his arm. “Don’t take it!”

But the ticket floated toward him, glowing faintly.

Daniel’s hand moved on its own, reaching.

Mia slapped it away. “Fight it!”

The figures hissed, their whispers rising. “Stay… stay… stay…”

The walls shook. The floor split open, darkness yawning beneath them.

Mia pulled Daniel back, but the shadows wrapped around his legs, dragging him toward the pit.

He screamed, clawing at the floor. “Help me!”

Mia grabbed his arms, pulling with all her strength. “I won’t let go!”

The figure laughed. “He is ours.”

Daniel’s grip slipped. The shadows pulled harder.

Mia shouted, tears streaming. “No!”

With a final wrench, the darkness swallowed him.

The pit closed. The room was silent.

Mia collapsed, sobbing.

The rocking chair creaked once, then stilled.

She fled the apartment, chains dragging behind her. Downstairs, she burst into Daniel’s home, gasping for breath.

His phone lay on the table, screen glowing.

A new message.

“Come upstairs.”

Mia’s blood ran cold.

From above, faintly, came the footsteps. Slow. Deliberate.

And a whisper.

“Jenna…”

Her name.