Chapter 15: Don’t Open It
The door handle rattled again.
A soft metallic click echoed through the apartment as whoever stood outside tested it for the third time.
Not forcing it.
Not trying to break in.
Just checking.
The deadbolt held.
Kai sat frozen in front of his desk, every muscle locked so tightly it hurt. His lungs worked, technically, but breathing had become something his body seemed to be doing without his permission.
The apartment suddenly felt smaller than it had ten minutes ago.
The pale blue glow of his monitors washed over the walls. Computer fans hummed quietly beneath the roar of blood rushing through his ears. Rainwater clung to the window glass, turning the city lights outside into smeared streaks of color.
Everything felt fragile.
The room.
The door.
Him.
The chat certainly wasn’t helping.
Boobykiller_051:
BROOOOOOO
Peepee_666:
CALL THE POLICE RIGHT NOW
WetHamster_420:
WHY ARE WE STILL STREAMING
Jacksonvill3_89:
I HAVE NEVER BEEN THIS STRESSED OVER A STRANGER
Kai agreed with every single one of them.
Unfortunately, agreeing and functioning turned out to be completely different skills.
The handle stopped moving.
Silence settled over the apartment.
Kai immediately hated it.
Noise meant information. Noise meant he knew where the threat was.
Silence meant his imagination could start filling in the blanks.
And his imagination had become extremely creative tonight.
His phone buzzed.
The sudden vibration nearly made him jump.
Another text.
Another unknown number.
Kai stared at the notification for several seconds. Every message he’d opened tonight had somehow made the situation worse. Logically, ignoring it was the correct choice.
Naturally, he opened it.
The message contained four words.
don’t answer the door
Kai blinked.
"...What?"
Another text appeared almost immediately.
Different number.
answer the door
For a few seconds he simply stared at both messages.
Then he slowly looked up at the ceiling.
"God."
He paused.
"Can one of my stalkers at least pick a theme?"
The chat exploded.
TaxFraudEnjoyer:
THEY ARE HAVING A CIVIL WAR
Peepee_666:
STALKER 1 VS STALKER 2
WetHamster_420:
BRO GOT FACTIONS
Against all logic, a laugh escaped him.
It wasn’t a healthy laugh. It wasn’t even a particularly sane laugh. It was the kind that happened when stress reached critical levels and the brain started pulling random emergency levers.
Still, it was real.
Luna heard it immediately.
"You okay?"
"No."
"Fair."
The answer came so fast Kai almost laughed again.
For a moment neither of them spoke.
Then Luna quietly added, "...I’m glad you’re still joking."
Something about that landed harder than it should have.
Not because it was sad.
Because it was sincere.
That was the problem with Luna.
Everything she said sounded sincere.
The concern in her voice never felt forced. Never felt manipulative. It felt real, every single time.
His brain kept trying to sort her into categories.
Dangerous.
Supportive.
Obsessive.
Caring.
Every label fit.
None of them explained her.
"Kai."
Her voice cut through his thoughts.
"Yeah?"
"Move farther away from the entrance."
He glanced toward the door.
"I already am."
"Farther."
The word made him pause.
Not because of what she said.
Because of how she said it.
The softness was still there.
But beneath it lurked something else.
Urgency.
Kai slowly backed toward his desk until his rolling chair bumped into the back of his leg.
His monitors filled his vision again.
One hundred and twenty-seven thousand viewers.
The biggest audience he’d ever had.
His career had somehow transformed into a hostage situation.
Fantastic.
A notification appeared in the corner of his screen.
Discord.
Private message.
Not from Luna.
A brand-new account.
Created today.
No profile picture.
No username.
Just a string of random numbers.
A single image waited inside the message.
Kai clicked it.
Instantly regretted it.
The image showed his room.
His desk.
His setup.
His face staring toward the monitor.
At first glance it looked like a screenshot from the livestream.
Then he noticed the caption beneath it.
turn around :)
Every trace of humor vanished from his body.
His blood turned to ice.
The chat immediately noticed his expression.
Boobykiller_051:
NOPE
Peepee_666:
WHAT
Jacksonvill3_89:
BRO WHAT DID HE SEE
Kai didn’t answer.
Couldn’t answer.
His eyes slowly lifted toward the dark reflection in the apartment window.
Nothing.
Just himself.
His monitors.
The city lights outside.
No figure standing behind him.
No movement.
No sign that anyone else was in the room.
His heartbeat didn’t care.
"Kai."
Luna’s voice had changed.
Focused.
Sharp.
"What happened?"
He swallowed.
Hard.
"I got a screenshot."
"A screenshot of what?"
"My stream."
Silence.
Then another silence.
And suddenly Luna no longer sounded calm.
She sounded concentrated.
Like puzzle pieces were clicking together in her head.
"Send it to me."
Kai forwarded the image through Discord.
The typing indicator appeared.
Disappeared.
Appeared again.
Ten seconds passed.
It felt like ten years.
Finally, her reply arrived.
That’s not from your stream.
Kai frowned.
"What?"
The word came out louder than he intended.
The chat exploded immediately.
WetHamster_420:
SHE KNOWS SOMETHING
TaxFraudEnjoyer:
BRO THE LORE
Kai ignored them.
His eyes remained fixed on Discord.
Another message appeared.
Look at your webcam preview.
He did.
Then froze.
Because she was right.
The image wasn’t identical.
The difference was subtle.
Tiny.
Easy to miss.
But once he saw it, he couldn’t unsee it.
The angle was wrong.
His webcam sat directly above his monitor.
The photo had been taken from somewhere slightly higher.
Slightly farther back.
Like whoever took it had been standing—
His stomach dropped.
"No."
The word escaped before he could stop it.
His brain rejected the idea immediately.
Impossible.
There was nobody in the apartment.
Nobody.
Right?
Slowly, Kai turned his head.
The room looked exactly the same.
Desk.
Kitchen.
Couch.
Dark hallway stretching deeper into the apartment.
Nothing unusual.
Nothing moving.
Nothing breathing.
Then Luna whispered his name.
"Kai."
His pulse spiked.
"What?"
A long pause followed.
Long enough to become terrifying.
Then she finally spoke.
"How sure are you that you’re alone?"
Every muscle in his body locked.
The hallway looked different now.
Not physically.
Mentally.
The darkness seemed thicker.
Heavier.
Like something could be standing just beyond the edge of the monitor light.
Watching.
Waiting.
His mind immediately fought back.
Don’t be stupid.
Nobody’s there.
Nobody could be there.
You would’ve noticed.
Wouldn’t you?
A donation alert interrupted the spiral.
The familiar sound echoed through the room.
For a moment nobody moved.
Then the message appeared.
RealDerekVoss donated $200,000
The chat exploded.
Kai barely noticed.
Because Derek’s message contained only six words.
Get out of the apartment. Right now.
For the first time all night, Derek wasn’t mocking him.
He wasn’t provoking him.
He wasn’t playing devil’s advocate.
The message felt different.
Urgent.
Terrified.
Then something else happened.
Not a donation.
Not a text.
Not Discord.
Across the room, the smart TV mounted on the wall suddenly turned on by itself.
Static exploded across the screen.
A wall of white noise filled the apartment.
Bright.
Loud.
Violent.
Kai jumped so hard he nearly fell backward.
The room flashed with flickering light.
Static hissed through the speakers.
And in the reflection of the television—
for less than a second—
he thought he saw someone standing in the hallway behind him.
