Chapter 3

I had just finished typing when lightning split the sky again.

A deafening thunderclap followed.

Afterward, I faintly heard two barks through the closed window.

I hurried to open it.

Through the pounding rain, I could clearly hear a dog barking.

Another false alarm.

I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead.

【Listen. The dog on the third floor is barking. Maybe the earlier thunder didn’t wake it up, and it’s only just woken. Can you hear it?】

502: 【Yes. But be careful anyway. Something still feels wrong tonight. Check that your doors and windows are locked. I’ll keep watching and contact you if anything happens.】

【Okay.】

He had reminded me of something.

I ought to check the front door again before bed.

It was shut, but I could make it more secure.

I decided to move a small table against it. For now, I just needed to get through the night.

Quietly, I approached the door.

Outside, wind and rain raged.

Cold gusts kept sweeping in, finding their way through gaps around the windows and door with an eerie moan.

I stood at the door.

Air blew in at either side, chilling my ankles.

Wait.

Why was the draft coming in from both sides?

I moved my feet from the sides of the doorway toward the middle.

Yes. The air really was coming in at the edges.

Then I understood.

Someone was outside.

But I had looked through the peephole for ages.

The corridor light was still off.

In the faint green glow of the exit sign, there was no one standing in front of my door.

Then… where was he?

I silently lay down.

Faced the gap beneath the door in the dark.

Someone was lying right against it.

Flat on the floor.

Quietly watching everything that happened inside.

Perhaps he could even see me walking back and forth.

I quickly messaged 502.

【I… I think someone’s lying outside my door. But I’m not sure. I can’t see him. Can you look from your side?】

I was terrified.

My hands shook as I typed.

502 was directly opposite me.

From there, he could see the whole space outside my front door.

But there was a problem.

There wasn’t even any moonlight tonight. The corridor was pitch-black, with only the green exit sign for light.

I sent another message.

【Can you see anything? It’s so dark. Be careful. Don’t open your door, and don’t let him notice you. I don’t know if whatever’s lying there is human or something else, but believe me, something is wrong outside my door. Do not open yours.】

502 didn’t answer at once.

A long time passed before he replied.

【There really is someone lying against the bottom of your door. He’s holding a knife.】

I looked toward 502 through the peephole.

All I could see was darkness and a little green light.

In a corridor that dark, how could he see so clearly?

How could he even make out a knife?

【Are you sure? How can you see the knife?】

After a brief silence, he replied:

【I have a security camera outside my door.】

But he was lying.

The cable to that camera had been cut.

I had cut it myself.

I didn’t ask how he knew someone was lying at my door, or how he knew the man had a knife.

Whatever the answer, we were in this together now.

Compared with 502, the person outside my door seemed the greater threat.

【Can you tell who it is? Is it Uncle Wang? I contacted him earlier. He said he was coming up to inspect my apartment.】

【Too dark to tell. I’ll call the police right now. Hide in your room, lock the door, and don’t come out. Barricade it with furniture if you can. He knows you’re home. Light is coming through the gap under your front door and the peephole.】

Sure enough, I had barely taken a step back when someone began hammering on the front door.

He clearly knew I’d discovered him.

There was no point pretending now.

I hurriedly dragged over chairs and a table and wedged them against the door.

It shook violently beneath the blows.

Each one seemed to strike straight at my heart.

It pounded so hard I thought it would burst out of my chest.

The apartment had a security door. With all that furniture against it as well, I could breathe a little easier.

I didn’t know whether the man outside was Uncle Wang.

He was making so much noise that the sound-activated corridor lights had come on.

But I didn’t dare look.

301 still hadn’t accepted my contact request.

The girl in 401 said she’d gone to bed.

The only person I hadn’t contacted was Xiao Zhao in 402.

I quickly sent him a request through the residents’ group.

【Don’t go outside. It’s dangerous. Please accept my request.】

He accepted almost immediately.

【What is it? What happened? I was about to go to sleep. You woke me up.】

Thank God.

Someone else had finally answered.

Xiao Zhao was young, about twenty-five or twenty-six. He often went running in the mornings and worked out.

At least there was another strong young man.

Even if the enemy could see us while we couldn’t see him, our chances had improved a little.

I gave him a brief account of the evening.

I said I couldn’t reach 301 or 401.

I also told him the person outside my door might be Uncle Wang.

I warned him to stay inside and be careful.

If we didn’t go out and waited for the police, we would be all right.

But 402 replied quite casually:

【Uncle Wang? Didn’t he just come round to check my doors and windows? I’ll come up and have a look.】

I was certain I’d told him the person outside had a knife.

I immediately repeated it. He was armed. It was dangerous.

【Please don’t come up! He has a knife. Look at the breaking news. Someone was murdered at the market in the west of the city tonight, and the killer still hasn’t been caught. It could be the man outside my door.】

【Now that sounds exciting. Isn’t this my chance to earn a first-class commendation? Relax. I’ve had training. He’s got a knife? So have I. Besides, it’s self-defense. Don’t be scared. You said 502 was home too, right? Tell him to distract the guy for me. I can take him.】

Then he sent a photograph.

【Look. Homemade pepper spray. One squirt and he’s a goner.】

I’d always thought Xiao Zhao was simply full of energy.

I hadn’t realized there was something seriously wrong with his head.

In a situation like this, he wanted to come up and fight the killer one-on-one.

How could anyone think like that?

I tried again.

【Don’t come up and make things worse. He’s after me. Stay in your apartment. You can’t beat him. You’ll only get yourself hurt.】

No reply.

That idiot…

Had he already gathered his things and headed upstairs?

I hurriedly told 502.

He was so furious he sent three question marks in a row.