The House Owner

It was a beautiful day, a sunny November morning in the city when Ali decided to search for his new flat. He had already searched in separate parts of the town and identified some good ones, cheap ones, and feasible ones, but he wanted tovisit this area, especially for its neighborhood. His mother once lived there, and she had some pleasant memories. Additionally, one of his co-workers praised the area because of its decent people. So, if he could find a good offer, this place could be his next stop. 

When he entered the main street, he saw many coffee shops with a warm ambiance and plenty of groceries that seemed useful. Although he was walking, the roads seemed a bit confusing, but it's an old town, so he thought it’s okay to deal with it for a while. He would have plenty of time to get to know the place better.

Houses were old, at most five stories tall, and they were lined up side by side along the roads. The tallest one was the tower of the new residence, which looked like a building out of the Matrix movie. It could be spotted from anywhere you looked. It has massive black windows that don't give away any hints about who was living there.

Ali met the local real estate agent who had a small store on themain street. The real estate agent resembled a grocer; his turtleneck sweater, pilled belly, and all, made him look like a large ball of wool. He also sported thick, brush-like mustaches that, despite occasional attempts to adjust, always pointed in the same direction. Even though his appearance didn't inspire much confidence, it was clear that he knew the area well.

Thankfully, he had a car, so he took Ali to the apartment he mentioned on the phone, which was located on the two parallel streets beneath the main road. The flat was on the second floor, and even though it had been freshly painted, its overall appearance clearly indicated its age. The real estateagent told him that it is hard to find a centrally located, also new flat nowadays, and in this neighborhood, all houses were above 40 years old.

The entire house was painted in a paper bag color to give it a more appealing appearance, and the kitchen was unnecessarily huge. There were two rooms that seemed fit enough for his belongings and a small living room. The house wasn't as bright as his current one, but that wasn't one of his concerns since he would be out for work most of the day. He also wasn't a fan of the outdated decor in the bathroom, but the spacious layout was practical. The ventilation window, on the other hand, was a bit weird because of its size. When you turned the metallic handle and opened the window, you could see the dark and large obscured ventilation hole extending both upwards and downwards behind it. There were no extra barriers, which was a bit eerie. The real estate agent greeted it normally, saying those windows are rare to find, but in this neighborhood, it's common to encounter them. When you open it for only two minutes, your bathroom will be steamless. Ali couldn't decide whether he'd irritate by the hole ordisregard it like a normal person.

When they were about to leave the flat, the house owner appeared at the doorstep. She was an old woman who was trying to smile warmly, but instead a she looked disturbing. She was so thin that he could see her neck bones. She had covered her grayed hair with a navy blue scarf. Her clothes were old and outdated, and they even appeared a bit dirty.

She asked some questions about Ali’s job and family. Ali, a lonely30-year-old engineer living a standard life in the city, revealed that his family lived in the country as farmers, and his sister was located in England. The house owner told him about the residents in the other flats. The flat across was vacant due to ongoing renovations, there were three more floors upwards, and she lived with her sister alone on the roof flat. Other neighbors were just like him, working 9 am to 5 pm; they were all white-collar people. One of them was a software engineer living alone, and one was an artist girl who shared her flat with another. Ali was distracted a bit because of his phone ringing continually, and he eventually disrupted the chat to answer.

The call was from his director, Cem, who was a stubborn man and wouldn't like it if he was not answered at his first call. So, Ali apologized, and while leaving, he promised to call the agent in 24 hours. Cem was nervous a bit, he asked Ali about the documents he was waiting for. They had to be sent before the meeting. Ali was sure he had sent them before leaving the house, but he was distracted; he could also have possibly forgotten it. Tension and stress enveloped his body. He searched for a taxi from the application. Normally, it took hours to find one. But hey! Here appeared a bunch of available ones. This neighborhood got one plus point for its transportation facilities.

When he got back to his house, he encountered his flatmate, who had nasty drinking and smoking habits that he wouldn't tolerate anymore. He ranted to his room, opened his laptop, and checked the email he had to send two hours ago. There it was, waiting in the draft box. Ali sighed deeply, and after finishing his work, he lied in his chair for a while to adjust to the flat issue lingering in his mind.

This would be a great step for him to live alone, so he would like to choose a flat where he'll be comfortable, maybe pushing his budget boundaries a bit more. There were great, new and cleaner apartments, but he also had to eat, and he didn't want to cut from his social life. It was a hard decision.

His phone rang; it was the real estate agent who was the seller of the weird ventilation window. He said that the owner offered him a bit lower rent price, emphasizing she needed steady income as soon as possible to continue the vacant flats' renovations. It was a great coincidence, but still, he asked for some time to evaluate.

After some detailed budget calculations, Ali decided to rent the cheapest one. He wouldn't be at home most of the day and would probably be out on the weekends too. So, it was his decision! He moved into the flat in just 10 days. It was hard to settle and change the used stuff he got fussy about, like the toilet, etc. They had to be clean! He enjoyed his new flat as soon as he slept there. It was silent, neat, and only his. He started to cook, and he started to exercise. It was more than he imagined!

Unfortunately, three months after he moved, the pandemic occurred worldwide, and one by one, each and every corporate firm turned to a home office working mode. That wasn't in Ali’s agenda, but he could make some decorative arrangements in the flat to create a cozy working atmosphere. So, he decided to move his working area to the living room, the brightest room in the house.

At first, days were great! He slept more, and he ate less. Hygiene was his priority; that's why he didn’t buy food from outside. But he started to get bored after a month. He sometimes passed the day if he was not in the mood for cooking. He also was not in the mood for exercising anymore because of the mask obligation outside.

His workload was degraded because most of the manufacturing firms sent their sick employees away. This feeling of boredom had started to disrupt his sleep routine as well. He had become thoroughly engrossed in watching movies to spend time.

On a usual night, he passed out while scrolling down in eternity on his phone. He heard a familiar creak sound from the corridor. He was in his bed and too lazy to check it out. His eyes were closed, but he recognized the bright light of his phone. He put it away and turned to his other side to settle more comfortably. After a while, he heard the creak sound again. He promised himself to check it out in the morning. It was probably the neighbors' noise. The walls are thin enough to get through noise when it’s silent.

In the morning, at first, he couldn’t find the source of the sound; there were a few old creaking things in the house. Then he remembered the bathroom. The window was closed, but he was accurate, so he turned the handle to hear the eerie sound again. He was right. “But how?” he murmured. Maybe he was dreaming. It was a great black hole with darkened tackless walls, which a person could only climb with ropes and tools. He didn’t believe in ghosts or such things, but he believed in thieves. It is impossible to reach this ventilation hole without getting into a flat. So he decided to put some tapes on the handle in case of wind or natural reasons until he finds a solid solution. He didn’t want to call any craftsman in a pandemic world; it wouldn’t be logical and hygenic for this kind of simple problem.

That night, when it was time for bed, he closed his room door for the first time. The thought of something coming from that window felt a bit spooky. Although he still thought it was his disillusion.

He had been asleep for about two hours when the noise of creaking disrupted him again. This time his heart raced to his throat, and he jumped, but he didn’t have the brave heart to open the light. Maybe it was the wind, and the tapes ripped off, he thought, so he listened while sitting in his bed in the darkness. For ten minutes or so, there were no sounds at all. He started to believe he was going nuts. Then he heard the creaking sound again. It was accurate now! It was too scary for him to confront, so he decided to hide near the bed with very slow moves. He bent down to peer through the narrow gap under the bed and fixed his eyes on the spot where the door was. He hadn’t locked it! How silly was he? His forehead sweated, and his body was trembling. He had challenged the sense of security in his house and failed. Now, he was praying that whatever that thing was, it wouldn’t open his room door.

He waited on the floor for about an hour without taking his eyes off the door. However, in the end, succumbing to sleep, he closed his eyes. Whenever he fell asleep, the vision of a giant creature opening his room door appeared in his mind, waking him in horror. Even though there was no sound at all, he stayed on the floor. When his phone alarm rang in the morning, he jumped again with dread. For the first time, he got angry with himself for choosing a dark flat. He was exhausted and tired. His heart was still racing, though, but he had to work, and it was impossible to hide there all day anyway. There were no disturbing pieces of evidence in his room. He slowly reached his room door. There was the eerie evidence! It was open!

He was about to faint and heard the adrenaline pound pulsatein his ears. How couldn’t he hear the noise of the handle? These old doors were noisy enough to locate a person in the house. Holding his breath, he leaned his head out from the room and checked the hallway. Lack of sunlight in this part of the house gave him chills! There was nothing but silence in the shadowy walls of the house. He immediately turned on the lights and went towards the living room. His laptop andexpensive equipment were his priority, that's why he firstchecked his desk. All were in their places as he left them yesterday. Even the wrapper of the chocolate bar he ate was still standing on the desk.

The last but the scariest part was left, the bathroom. First, he took a knife from the kitchen. The thought that he could defend himself with this if something were to happen discouraged him. Yet he had to check, and as soon as he got relief, he would be calling the house owner to send a craftsman! Right now, to feel safe and secure was more significant than the possibility of getting sick. The bathroom was empty and silent. The ventilation window was closed, but the tapes were damaged. Here was the evidence! He didn’t touch anything and called the house owner immediately. She didn’t open up, but that wouldn’t stop him. So he went upstairs for a short visit. It was the singular flat on the floor with no neighbors, and the ceiling light was broken.

Eachfloor illuminated when he stepped in, but this one was not like them. He opened his phone torch and started to check the place. There was a small door on the ceiling leading to the attic. Underneath the attic door, there were stuffed objects. The belongings and the house itself were old, as if they werethe owner of the house. After a short observation, he knocked several times on the door, but nobody was at home.

With disappointment, he got back to his flat, pondering some other solutions. Even though he wanted to call the police, he was afraid it might be an exaggerated hallucination. He couldbe embarrassed or, worse, ill!

So he decided to call the real estate agency while opening uphis laptop. The man answered the phone in a rush, probably with another customer, and Ali was sure he didn’t pay as much attention as he expected. The real estate agent recommended a craftsman to him and said that he would send a phone number shortly. It was frustrating; he felt all alone!

After a while, his phone rang, and there were several messages. One of them was from the real estate agent, sharing the craftsman's number, and the other was from his neighbor. There was a WhatsApp group for the residents of the house, and the real estate agent told one of his neighbors to add him, which was a relief for him.

As soon as he joined, he started to write, but of course, he couldn’t share his problem. Instead, he introduced himself initially and asked a general question if they had any issues with the bathroom and if there’s a craftsman they can recommend. It was silent for a while, but then some wrote that they hadn’t had any problems. Probably he sounded weird to them; he could see it from the short answers.

He called the craftsman and asked if he could come as soon as possible. The craftsman was also occupied and talking from a loud place that sounded like someone was breaking stones. A heavy rain started outside, and the man was at another house making modifications, so he told him he could come tomorrow evening the soonest. This meant Ali had to be aloneand unsecured for another night!

For a while, he had to work and got distracted, which gavehim the thought that maybe he was overreacting. Then his door knocked, and he saw a woman in her house out fitstanding in front of his door. Before opening the door, he changed his clothes swiftly and threw away the garbage that could be visible when he opened.

She was younger than him, and her bohemian appearance indicated that she was an artist. He could remember thelandlord talking about the neighbors. She seemed a bit nervous, playing with her jumper's arm; half of her face was covered with the mask. As soon as he opened the door, she smiled and introduced herself. Her name was Asya, and shewas living right above his flat with her flatmates. She seemed a bit embarrassed because she had come without notifying in advance, but she brought him some cookies as a goodwill gesture.

Nevertheless, he needed someone by his side more than anything else. So he invited her inside. She hesitated at first; after glancing at her phone, she decided to go inside. Ali thought she was uncomfortable because he didn't wear a mask when inviting her inside. Fortunately, his living room wasneat; hopefully, it would give a nice first impression. She settled down on the couch, and before Ali offered her something to drink, she asked, “May I take off my mask? I guess you were at home alone for a while and not infected.” Ali smiled, “Yes, no worries about that, I am one of thecautious ones.” Hoping that she was too. “First of all, I am so sorry to interrupt you like that, you know, suddenly knocking on the door.” Ali was speechless for a moment, trying to distract himself from the possibility that this beautiful lady could be infected too.

She put the cookie plate on the table and continued, “You wrote that you have problems with the bathroom, but you didn’t write details.” She stopped, as if she was waiting for an answer. Ali was confused; he couldn’t decide if he should or should not tell her. So he decided to begin with small steps. “It was the ventilator window, actually. I want to seal it or changethe handle of it.” While he was telling her this, her face changed, and she started to look more worried. “Ok, here is the thing!” She took a breath and continued. “We had the same problem with the ventilation window, which we called the wind or I don’t know, broken handle, etc., but it was not.” Ali was shocked. He was eager to learn more. “What was it then?” Asya checked her phone again and bit her lip, as if it was forbidden for her to speak the thing she was about to say. “Since we sealed it already, we couldn’t understand what it is, but we discovered that it is related to the landlord. Because we already reported it to her we called the real estate agent, but unfortunately, he was not supportive either. In fact, the old lady got furious with us, she threatened to kick us out of the house, saying that we wouldn't find a wide and cheap flat like this. Which she was right about. If it is not too personal, may I ask your rent pay?” Ali was shocked! What kind of a weird game or plan was this? Who were those people? He was shaken. “I…I think my rent is way too cheaper than the average, and it was one of the reasons I am here.” They were looking at each other with worried eyes. Both had no courageto discover the “thing” that threatened them. Ali continued, “So…. I have to seal the window too, but why don’t we call the police? There’s something really threatening us.” Asya was not sure. She said, “You know, I have tried all the ways, but that's for me. If we had enough money or a chance, we had already left this house. Have you spoken with the landlord?” Ali got angry at the fact that they were stuck. “No, I haven’t, but I will!” Asya panicked. “No, no, no! Let’s move logically. You have to tell the police. This way she won’t be preparedand maybe it could be solved.” That could be a more definitesolution, Ali thought. Yet, he was worried about the threat he would encounter too. “So…. Asya. Have you seen the thief or I don’t know, the person?” She seemed sad a bit. “No, I haven’t. My flatmate told me she saw a huge dark shadow of the person while wandering around inside the house. She was too scared to get out until she felt safe. I think…” She struggled until words came out of her mouth. “I think she is our landlord's sick sister. Nobody saw her before, and once I heard our apartment doorman talking about the weird shopping orders she gave to him.”

Was that what or who he had seen? The creature, like a naked giant woman, got into his room. The vivid dream he saw whenever he closed his eyes. This was more than Ali could handle; he could possibly turn back to his previous flat and bear his disgusting flatmate for a little more until he finds a new one. Then he looked at Asya, and he felt guilty for his escape plan. He also had already spent all his money while moving in. He had loans. He had to call the police. Meanwhile, Asya was getting ready to leave. Before she left, she asked Ali to inform him about the developments.

Ali was ready for the night; he decided to wait until he catches the creature, and then he would call the police. After Asya left, he started to think of a plan. What if it was a man, and he wouldn’t be able to hold him? What if he had a weapon or a knife? He could possibly seal the window better and wait like that. When the time comes, he would just call the police and wait. Till the police arrive, it was impossible to climb out of that ventilation hole. The other way was too dangerous to execute. To let the thing in…

It was still raining cats and dogs, getting much scarier. He called some friends to chill, and eventually, he invited one, but it was late, and rain was disincentive. He had to be alone to face it. So he decided to open some music to feel comfortable. Cookies were tasty; he ate a bunch of them.

After an hour when it passed midnight, the music had started to become overwhelming and unsettling. He watched the houses on the street dimming their lights one by one. He turned off the music and made himself a coffee to hold on. For the first time, he was aware of the sounds of his house; the elevator, fridge, and heaters clinks. Every noise had become clearer, and he knew they are all natural. Although he drank a large cup of coffee, his head got too heavy to hold.

When he woke up, he was just too exhausted, lying on the couch, a very bad sweet taste in his mouth. There was dizziness in his head too, as if he got heavy pills or fever in his body last night. It seemed like nothing had happened after all...

The day passed stressful for him. There were reports that he had to finish and a meeting he had to attend. After a while, his stomach felt bad, and the sweet taste turned to mud in his mouth. He ate some food, drank some water, but it made no improvement. He had a lost day, awake and half-asleep. By the end of the day, his boss called him and asked if there was a problem he could help with, that he seemed too distracted nowadays. Ali was fagged; this whole change; moving to a new apartment, this wicked window, and the pandemic affected him very badly.

Then his phone rang again. It was the craftsman who was calling. He had forgotten it long ago! However, he approvedhis demand. When the craftsman came and saw the hole, he said that there are a lot of these windows in the neighborhood, and some had those opening problems. He just tightened a few screws, demanded a reasonable amount of money, and left. The solution was not comforting, but at least someone saw it.

Then he slept for a while; it was torture to hold his head up anymore. It was a dreamless sleep, and he woke up with a phone call from Asya. She was asking if there’s any progress. He told her about the craftsman and how he felt exhausted. She was saddened; he could feel it from the sound of her voice. She sweetly called him just to check.

After a while, the door knocked, and Ali saw Asya at his door. She was wearing a robe-like soft cardigan. Her hair cascaded softly onto her shoulders, soft brown eyes warming her smile, and she triggered something in him. Apart from that, she brought soup for him. Ali invited her inside willingly and showed her the kitchen. She stayed until Ali drank his soupand chatted with him friendly. When he settled in his place torest on the couch, she joined him, started to undress her robe and then her pajamas. Her body was beautiful. She looked like a delicious fruit or a goddess. Instead of Ali’s spinning headand heavy body, he was too into it. Asya was okay with the situation, and she got on him gently. After a while, the pleasure turned into a weird feeling, and Ali started to feel cold and shivery. His stomach got bad again, and his vision started to blur. He could possibly say that he passed out, but Asya was still there; he could feel it. The feeling was disturbing enough to force his eyes open. The moment was surreal! Before him loomed an elderly, giant woman, her wrinkled gray skin adding an eerie texture. Every part of her deformed body seemed to sag as if there were no muscles left. What was even more horrifying was that she was moaning on top of him. Ali tried to scream, but no sound came out of his throat. Neither his hands, nor his arms, or his head could move. He tensed with fear and disgust. He had pushed himself so hard that he lost consciousness again.

When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was lying on the couch, sweating with heat, and he was all alone; Asya was already gone. So, was this just a vivid dream? He had a sharp headache and felt the need to vomit. When he went to the bathroom, he saw the deep dark circles under his eyes, his faded, and sweaty face. He looked at the cursed window he had taped all over, a great anger filled him. So he thought for a while and decided that waiting is not a solution.

As the night falls, he would go foran exploration upstairs, to check if there was an end to this ventilation corridor there. Any clue would be useful.

Then he wanted to be sure about his vision of Asya. He reached out to his kitchen with running steps, and there he saw the soup she brought and his bowl. Was it even possible that they made out? His memories were obscure, and his body was trembling with some kind of sickness that made him suspicious of a global infection. Most likely, all was a part of his disturbing nightmare. But what kind of illness was this, recurring day by day, sometimes leaving him bed ridden for no apparent reason...

When he stepped out of his flat, the ceiling lamp shined sinisterly. He closed his door slowly and listened for a while to check if there was anybody. No soul was out. The apartment was too cold to handle, but his heart was pounding like a horse. One by one, he climbed the stairs to reach one floor up. Each stair was circling upwards, and as soon as he stepped, the ceiling light reacted with a small click sound while opening. The duration of the light was not too much, approximately twenty seconds or so.

The moment it turned off, Ali was shaking his hand like crazy, as if something could attack him. The old lady haunting his dreams became an obsession. When he arrived on the fifth floor, the light didn’t click like before, but this time he got scared as hell. There would be no turning from this point! He opened the torch of his phone with shaking hands just before the last floor's light dimmed out. He was alone in the darkness now. Not letting himself surrender to fear, he moved forward and realized  the entrance lane led to a small area where she placed two large rusty wooden cabinets with small lock holes. 

He bent down to see if there was any awkward stuff when he heard the click sound from one of the floors. He immediately turned around to be sure that it wasn't coming from the one just below. There was no sound, no light, and no movement at all. He pointed his torchlight right in the direction of the stairs he came from, breathing loudly enough for someone close to hear. Then he heard someone's footsteps dragging on the floor, slow and heavy. It was coming from the landlord's flat, getting closer step by step. Immediately, he turned off his phone's light and swiftly headed towards the stairs. He had no choice but to hide behind the wall.

She opened the door, and a strange and decayed scent, carried by the warm vapor, wafted through the air. The smell reached him swiftly. She was not talking but standing there. He could see her thin shadow reflecting on the floor, a chargeable light's cold and sinister brightness coming out of her hall. For a while, he waited; she was not moving. The shadow was waiting. Ali was too scared to move, looking and listening downstairs. It looked safe, but he could wait longer. Then he realized that the shadow had already gone. That's when he found the courage to look. The door was wide open, nobody standing. A naked lamp was hanging at the end of the long dark cable, brightening the grey stone entranceway. A rusty stained small rug was on the floor. The living room behind was dark, and no light at the corridor entrance. He knew he shouldn’t be here. So he began descending to the lower floor slowly, decided to turn back to his house. As soon as he reached downstairs the light clicked, he planned to run untilreaching his flat, but he heard another click sound, which made him stop and listen. He could hear some foot steps coming up, probably from one floor below. He had no choice but to wait. Asya was living on that floor, but he didn’t know the other neighbor. It was late at midnight, and who would visit a neighbor at that time? When he heard the foot steps getting closer, he realized that only one floor was left to encounter, and fear shrouded his thoughts. Reflexively, he ran upstairs and found himself diving into the flat of his landlord and hiding behind the first couch he saw in the living room. He checked the doorway from the space under the couch. The floor was rusty and sticky.

He knew he made a real mistake with this move. After a short while, a woman came in silence. Probably, she was the one who was right downstairs when he was hiding. It seemed like she was younger than the landlord. She went directly through the corridor and disappeared. She also closed the door right after she entered and dimmed out the only light in the house. She was talking with an elder woman, as he could define from their voices. Slowly, he straightened up from the place he hid. There was almost no light in the flat; the shutters were closed all the way. To see where he stepped, he had to touch the items, disgusting but the only way to escape silently. In the meantime, two women moved to the other room, talking animatedly. The younger one said to the other, " I don't think he can endure any longer; he has been unconscious for hours. Let's perform the ritual tonight and finish this job." The older one responded discontentedly, " Yes, his skinny body is weakand anemic. At this rate, we'll have to offer another sacrifice."

Ali suspected that they were talking about him; he also doubted the younger one. Could it be possible that she was Asya? He was too close to answers as well as the door. On the right, he saw the kitchen's closed door; on his left, he looked at the corridor long enough to get close to listen. The stained wall at the end of the corridor was illuminated by light from the room next to it. He began to approach it slowly. To his left, there was a partially open door. The heavy odor permeating the house was coming from there, but he couldn't muster the courage to look inside. The scent was so nauseating that he covered his nose, attempting to breathe through his mouth. Then he felt a small, hard object under his shoe. When he bent down to take a closer look, he saw that it was a tooth. He wanted to scream and run away immediately, but if he found the evidence he needed, he could call the police. The tooth was in front of the partially open door. Ali, almost blind in the darkness without light, finally used the screen light of his phone to look at the ground. There were intense blood stainson the floor, all pointing towards the room. Deciding that he had to see this, he slowly opened the door.

The shutters in this room were tightly closed as well, making it impossible to see anything in the pitch-black darkness except for the light of his phone's screen. When he turned on the flashlight of his phone towards the room, he saw a naked man tied to a long plank right in the center. The man was covered in blood, and part of his lower jaw seemed to be missing. Although Ali could tell he was still breathing, he was certain that death was imminent. Unable to bear it, Ali vomited right where he stood. Thinking he had made too much noise, he remained still for a while, cautiously listening. No one seemed to have noticed him. Before leaving the room, he took photos of the man as evidence and slowly stepped outside. Dangerous, filthy, and horrifying events were taking place in this house. With the evidence he had now obtained, he thought he could return home and call the police. Of course, that was if he didn't fall ill and die from the filth first.

As soon as he stepped outside from the room, he heard strange sounds, sinister prayers in an unfamiliar language. It was like call, he could say that. The women were chanting the prayer in the same tone, and vibrations were spreading around. It was as if these sound waves were affecting his brain, making his already upset stomach even worse. He couldn't muster the courage to approach and quickly headed towards the entrancedoor, eager to return home as soon as possible.

Luckily, the door was not locked. He had thought he would feel better once outside, but the prayers and sounds were echoing in his mind. To avoid making noise and drawing attention, he left the door slightly open. It didn't matter if they realized, that someone had entered the house at this point; he would finish what he came for. As he descended the stairs, he had to lean against the wall. His head was spinning.

With the first click of the light, the air became lighter and cleaner. He managed to inhale the air in short, uneven breaths. His mind was still blurry, and he could even say he could hearthe prayers. He continued descending without stopping, and when he reached his own floor, he noticed that the door of the opposite apartment was slightly ajar. Everything seemed dangerous and frightening to him. Thinking that the evidencehe found was sufficient, he calmed his trembling hand and opened the door, quickly stepping inside. He was about to lock the door behind him when the idea of the window occurred tohim. In case of any emergency, he might need to escape. There could even be someone else in the house. He listened quietly at first. When he heard nothing, he slowly approached the bathroom, turned on the light, and checked the window. Luckily, it was closed.

Once he reached his bedroom, he closed his door and called the police, telling them about the scenes he encountered. He didn’t have to wait too much; they arrived immediately and started going upstairs by calling the elevator. It was Ali's first time using the elevator; to him, elevators were dirty places and breeding grounds for germs. The old elevator creaked and slowly lifted them up. Ali was sure his heartbeats had accelerated, yet he almost didn't feel his presence anymore. The prayer sounds in his ears were like a loud roar, and as the police officers asked him when he moved in and what he do for a living, he could hardly recognize his own voice. When they arrived, two uniformed men entered the corridor, turning on their flashlights. One had drawn his gun and was on alert. Ali pointed to the door for them. Meanwhile, it felt as if a cold mist had enveloped his body. It was gradually slowing him down, making him tired, and causing him to shiver. As the police knocked on the door and waited, Ali was extremely exhausted. The darkness was swallowing him, and he could hardly distinguish the lights coming from the flashlights.

Eventually, everything turned dark, and silence prevailed. When Ali mustered the strength to open his eyes, he found himself in that disgustingly smelling house. He was in a room, and it was pitch-black. He could sense that he was naked. But where the policemen? What had happened?

As the clouds in his mind began to dissipate, he felt the intense pain and numbness in his jaw. He was unable to move since his hands were tied behind him. The fact hit him like a chilling wind. He had created a nightmare in his mind! Though terror accelerated his heartbeats, his body was half numb from the cold. The man he saw in the room appeared in his mind, with the tooth on the ground and blood stains everywhere…

Unable to see where he was looking, Ali opened his eyes repeatedly. Even if he wanted to scream, he couldn't move his numb jaw due to the dire pain. He tried to remember what he had done last. Where he was...

The memory had struck him! He was in his living room, sitting on the couch and trying to feel better. Then he drank some more soup that Asya brought. After that cursed soup, he thought about planning his visit to the landlord. Now, he could assemble each puzzle. Every time Asya brought him some food—the cookies, soup, and probably the chocolate left on his desk too—whenever he ate, he got sicker. How could he even trust someone he had recently met? Because she wasbeautiful and loving…

After a while, he heard footsteps. The sound of someone approaching, heavy and dragging their heels on the ground, was very familiar—the same sound he heard when he was sleeping in his flat. His heart was pounding like a horse, and this time he could feel it. This was not a nightmare.

When the door creaked open, Asya emerged under a faint light, but she looked nothing like her usual self—gone were the long, soft hair and sweet little face. Instead, a grey, sweaty figure with messy hair and a strangely torn dress met his gaze. A sinister smile played on her lips. Just as he took in this bizarre sight, the landlord appeared behind her, brandishing a copper bowl and chanting in a mysterious language. Eachuttered word hammered into his brain, especially the same eerie prayer he'd heard during Asya's previous visit.

In a twisted spectacle, he watched Asya's transformation unfold. The pain etched on her face morphed into a numb expression. With a bone-cracking sound, her arms stretched, and a hunch backed figure emerged, bending her with unnatural force. Before his eyes, she shifted into a giant, pale-skinned, dark creature. Her eyes were pitch black, but there was a fiery glint illuminating the deep darkness, akin to a cat's eyes, locking onto him as if she were watching prey.

The room pulsated with an otherworldly energy, and reality itself seemed to warp in the presence of this chilling metamorphosis.

When the prayer stopped Ali was aware that this was the end. He was going to die in pain maybe torning into pieces. There was noone who could help him. Asya had already blocked all his options and poisoned him deliberatly.

The beast reached out to him slowly, its grotesque claws inching closer until he could feel the chilling breath against his face. In an instant, a searing pain shot through his chest, and the world plunged into darkness. An abyss of eternal sleep enveloped him until a distant call shattered the silence.

A summons echoed through the void, jolting him back to consciousness like a burst of scorching flames tearing at his chest. The darkness had lifted. He surveyed the room, absorbing its sights and scents with the keen perception of a lion.

His hands, once bound, were now free, and a ravenous hunger gnawed at him, primal and insistent. Like a wild creature starved for fresh meat, he emerged from the confines of the room. The corridor seemed vaguely familiar, a ghostly memory lingering in the recesses of his mind, almost forgotten.

Then, a colossal mirror loomed before him, a deliberate placement that beckoned him closer. As he approached, his reflection revealed a monstrous visage with pallid grey skin and cruel, contorted features. In that brief moment, a fragment of his past flickered back—a time when he dwelled in a flat. Then, everything vanished, and he felt forever swallowed bythe abyss of the beast...