CHAPTER 2 — THE MAN INSIDE MY WALLS
The police arrived within minutes.
I expected them to find someone hiding inside the ventilation system.
Instead...
They found nothing.
No footprints.
No fingerprints.
No broken panels.
Nothing.
One officer smiled politely.
"Probably your imagination after seeing shadows."
I wanted to believe him.
But Rick wouldn't stop growling.
Not once.
The next morning I climbed back into the attic.
This time in daylight.
The narrow crawlspace stretched across the house.
Dust covered everything.
Except...
One path.
A clean trail.
As if someone had been crawling there regularly.
Following it deeper, I found something hidden behind insulation.
A sleeping bag.
Several empty water bottles.
Canned food.
A flashlight.
Fresh batteries.
Someone had been living above my ceiling.
Not years ago.
Recently.
Very recently.
Then I noticed photographs.
Hundreds of them.
Pictures of me.
Walking my dog.
Sleeping on my couch.
Watching television.
Cooking dinner.
Some were taken through my own windows.
Others...
Could only have been taken from inside the attic.
My stomach turned.
There was also a notebook.
Every page described my routine.
"Leaves for work: 7:42."
"Returns: 5:18."
"Dog sleeps after 10 p.m."
"He almost discovered me tonight."
The last sentence made my blood freeze.
"The dog knows."
Suddenly...
Rick barked from downstairs.
Then yelped.
I heard furniture crashing.
Someone was inside my house.
I rushed down.
The back door slammed shut.
The kitchen window was wide open.
Whoever had been living above my ceiling had escaped.
Police searched the neighborhood again.
Still nothing.
Days passed.
I couldn't sleep.
Every tiny sound made my heart race.
Neighbors began mentioning strange things.
One woman had seen a man climbing across rooftops at night.
Another said someone had been stealing food from garages.
Then an elderly neighbor knocked on my door.
"I didn't want to scare you..."
She hesitated.
"But the previous owner disappeared."
I stared at her.
"What?"
"He reported hearing footsteps inside the walls every night."
"He moved out."
"A month later..."
"He vanished."
No body.
No explanation.
The police believed he simply left town.
But now...
I wasn't so sure.
That evening Rick refused to enter the kitchen.
Instead...
He stood outside the back door.
Growling toward the woods behind my house.
Someone was standing between the trees.
Watching us.
When lightning flashed...
I recognized the same eyes I'd seen inside the vent.
And this time...
May you like
He smiled.
Then disappeared into the darkness.
