Chapter1:3:14am
Chapter 1: 3:14 AM
The notification chimed at exactly 3:14 AM.
Ethan blinked through the heavy sleep in his eyes, the harsh blue light of his phone illuminating his pitch-black bedroom. He hadn't downloaded any new apps before going to sleep, but a strange, nameless icon now sat right in the center of his home screen. It was pitch-black with a jagged, cracked white border.
Curiosity won. He tapped it.
The screen flashed violently, loading a crudely drawn, retro-style pixel map. Ethan’s chest tightened as he looked closer at the layout. It wasn't a random game level. It was a perfect, identical blueprint of his own house. A tiny, pixelated boy sprite stood in the exact coordinates of his bedroom, right next to the bed.
Amused but slightly unsettled, Ethan tapped the sprite. A text box popped up at the bottom of the screen:
“Ethan is awake. He shouldn't be.”
A sudden, freezing chill swept through the room. How did a random app know his name?
He smashed the home button to close it, but his phone completely froze. The pixel map updated. A second sprite appeared out of nowhere—a tall, shadow-like figure rendered in static white and gray pixels. It was positioned right outside his bedroom door, standing in the hallway.
Tap. The text box changed:
“The Visitor is walking down the hall.”
Ethan held his breath, straining his ears in the absolute silence of the night. From the dark hallway outside his actual bedroom door, he heard it—the faint, rhythmic creak of the floorboards.
Step. Step. Step.
Panicking, he smashed the power button, but the screen stayed blindingly bright. On the digital map, the shadow sprite moved directly in front of his bedroom door.
“The Visitor is turning the handle.”
In the real world, the metal doorknob right beside his desk began to slowly, silently rotate.
The door is about to click open. For Chapter 2, does Ethan try to dive under his bed to hide, or does he scramble to block the door with his desk?
