Chapter 7
The rest of the day unfolded in perfect harmony. Every moment was fine-tuned to perfection—every joke landed, every stumble erased, and every minor mistake corrected before it could even happen. Conversations flowed effortlessly, as if scripted for maximum effect. Teachers called on him at just the right moments, allowing him to impress the class with answers he already knew. Every quiz came back with a perfect score. Every game played in gym was won with ridiculous ease.
And the best part? Everyone noticed.
It was subtle at first—a few more smiles, a couple of curious glances. But by lunchtime, the shift was undeniable. People who once barely acknowledged him now turned their heads when he walked by. His name was spoken more often, murmured in conversations he wasn't even a part of. It felt as though he had moved from the background to the center of attention in the span of a single day.
And all it had taken was a few well-placed changes.
That evening, Liam went about his routine like any other night. He chatted with his mom, half-listening as she recounted something about her day. His mind was elsewhere—on the possibilities.
By the time he settled into bed, the excitement of the day still hummed in his chest. He picked up his phone and flicked through his notifications, a smirk playing at his lips.
The difference was staggering. His social media had never been this active—new follows, messages, reactions to things he hadn't even thought twice about posting. The simple act of existing in the world had made waves, and the proof was right there, flashing in little red circles on his screen.
He let out a long, satisfied sigh, placing the phone down on the nightstand.
"This is just the beginning."
His thoughts ran wild with possibilities. I could win the lottery tomorrow. Get everything I've ever wanted. Maybe I'll go back and fix things I didn't even know needed fixing. Maybe—
His thoughts blurred as sleep crept in, his body sinking deeper into the mattress. His eyelids grew heavy.
His mind drifted.
Darkness.
A quiet hum of silence.
A dreamless void.
And then—
DING.
Liam's eyes twitched.
For a moment, he was still half-asleep, lost between waking and dreaming. The notification sound barely registered, floating somewhere in the depths of his mind. He shifted slightly, groggy, his body reluctant to pull itself from the warmth of sleep.
The world around him was still.
Dark.
His phone screen, however, was glowing—a pale rectangle of light against the nightstand.
Liam swallowed, rolling onto his side. His limbs felt heavier than usual, like they were weighed down.
How long had he been asleep?
His fingers brushed the phone. He blinked hard, his vision adjusting to the sharp contrast of the screen. His notifications blurred together, but at the top—
A message.
A single, unread message from an unknown number.
Look outside.
Liam's breath caught in his throat.
His mind, still sluggish, tried to make sense of the words.
Look outside?
A joke. A spam message. Something random. That had to be it.
He blinked again, the weight of exhaustion pressing down on him. His eyes flicked toward the window. The curtains were drawn shut. A thick, unmoving barrier between him and whatever lay beyond.
A shiver crawled up the back of his neck.
His thoughts fought against the slow, creeping unease taking root in his chest. It's nothing. Just some prank. Wrong number. Coincidence.
And yet—
DING.
Another message.
Liam's pulse jumped.
His fingers trembled slightly as he swiped at the screen, forcing his eyes to focus.
Calm down.
His breath hitched.
It took him a second to register that his hands had gone cold.
He could hear his own heartbeat now, loud in the silence of his room. His fingers curled around the phone, knuckles stiff.
This wasn't funny.
He swallowed against the dryness in his throat. His thoughts scrambled for explanations.
And then—
A third message.
No DING this time. Just the silent glow of a new notification.
1451 Elm St?
A slow, twisting dread curled its way into Liam's stomach. That was his address.
A bead of sweat slid down his temple.
His fingers hovered over the screen, his breathing suddenly shallow.
This wasn't a joke.
This wasn't random.
This was intentional.
His gaze flickered back to the window.
The curtains.
Still closed.
Still unmoving.
The world beyond them was a mystery—a black void he wasn't sure he wanted to see into.
Another message appeared.
Come outside, or I'll come in.
Liam's entire body locked up.
The silence in the room suddenly felt suffocating.
The darkness around him pressed in, thick and unmoving. He couldn't hear anything outside—no footsteps, no rustling. Nothing.
And yet, he wasn't alone.
His fingers tightened around his phone, heart hammering so hard he could feel it in his throat.
I need to think. I need to move. I need to—
DING.
His breath came out in a shaky exhale.
He couldn't look away from the screen.
His mind screamed at him to do something, anything—
And then—
The floorboard outside his bedroom creaked.
Liam's blood ran cold.
Someone was in the house.
Liam froze.
His breath, which had been shallow before, stopped entirely.
His ears strained against the silence, desperate to pick up anything—any sign that this was just his imagination. But the air in his room felt heavier now, thick with something unseen.
Then—
Another sound.
Quieter this time. A shift of weight. A presence just beyond his door.
A hand clamped around his phone, gripping it so tightly his fingers ached. His mind raced, screaming at him to move, to act, to do something—
DING.
Liam's body jerked at the sound, and his thumb, acting on sheer instinct, swiped across the screen.
A new message.
Too slow.
A cold wave of terror shot through him.
The doorknob turned.
Liam's stomach lurched.
The air in the room shifted.
Something was wrong.
The door, which had been latched shut, was now unlocked.
His heart pounded so hard it drowned out every other noise.
The door eased open with an unbearable slowness, the hinge letting out the faintest, most delicate creak. It was worse than if it had been slammed open—it was deliberate.
And beyond the widening crack of the door—
Darkness.
No shape, no face, no sound—just a void spilling into the safety of his room.
Liam scrambled upright, his breath ragged, his body screaming to run. But as his foot hit the floor—
A shadow moved.
It surged forward, closing the distance too fast, too smoothly, as if it had been waiting.
A gloved hand shot out from the darkness.
Liam barely had time to gasp before something cold and solid slammed against the side of his head.
The room spun.
Pain.
White-hot, blinding pain erupted in his skull, sending shockwaves down his spine. His body crumpled, his legs giving out beneath him as his vision shattered into broken fragments of light and color.
The phone slipped from his fingers, hitting the floor with a dull thud.
His thoughts blurred. His body no longer felt like his own.
He tried to fight—his limbs flailed, weak, disoriented—but a crushing weight pressed down on him, something pinning him, something tightening around his arms.
A shape loomed over him, massive, faceless.
A sharp scent filled his nostrils—something chemical, something strong.
His chest heaved.
His body twitched.
And then—
Darkness.
A vast, endless void.