OFFLINE- Chapter 3
The Knock Inside the Apartment
The knock came again.
From inside the apartment.
Not outside the front door anymore.
Inside.
Kai Mercer slowly turned toward the dark hallway leading past his bedroom while the stream chat exploded so fast the messages blurred together on-screen.
NOPE NOPE NOPE
BRO RUN
THIS ISN’T FUNNY ANYMORE
WHO IS IN THERE??
Kai physically couldn’t move for a second.
The apartment was small.
One bedroom.
Tiny kitchen.
Bathroom near the hallway corner.
There was nowhere for someone to hide without him noticing earlier.
Right?
Thunder rumbled outside again while the overhead apartment lights flickered weakly.
Then another donation alert appeared.
$3,000.
User-0
Do not go near the hallway.
Kai stared at the message in disbelief.
“Okay,” he muttered shakily toward the camera, “if this is some kind of prank, you officially win.”
No response came.
The numbered viewers continued silently flooding into the stream while the viewer count climbed higher.
9,200 watching now.
How?
His channel wasn’t even searchable enough for this kind of growth.
None of it made sense.
Then the hallway light turned on by itself.
Kai froze instantly.
The yellow bulb flickered softly down the narrow corridor beyond his room, revealing nothing except peeling apartment walls and darkness near the bathroom entrance.
Empty.
At least it looked empty.
The chat reacted immediately.
SOMEONE THERE
DID YALL SEE THAT??
MOVE THE CAMERA
Kai grabbed the webcam and pointed it shakily toward the hallway.
Nothing moved.
No figure.
No shadow.
Just silence.
Then another message appeared in chat.
Not from User-0.
From a new numbered account.
User-17:
He’s standing beside the bathroom door.
Kai’s heartbeat slammed painfully against his chest.
The hallway looked empty.
Completely empty.
Yet thousands of viewers instantly reacted beneath the message.
I SEE HIM
OH GOD
WHY IS HE TALL LIKE THAT
Kai stared harder toward the darkness near the bathroom entrance.
Still nothing.
Unless—
No.
Maybe the darkness near the doorway looked slightly taller than before.
His breathing slowed involuntarily.
The longer he stared, the more the shape near the bathroom seemed wrong somehow.
Not visible.
Present.
Like his brain slowly recognizing something that had always been there.
Another donation alert interrupted him violently.
$5,000.
User-0
Do not acknowledge him.
Kai immediately looked back toward the monitor.
“Acknowledge WHO?”
No answer.
Then the apartment internet suddenly lagged.
The stream glitched briefly across his second monitor before stabilizing again.
But something had changed.
The webcam angle now showed the hallway behind Kai more clearly.
And standing near the bathroom door—
was a figure.
Tall.
Thin.
Motionless.
Kai physically stopped breathing.
The chat exploded so violently the messages became unreadable.
The figure stood partially hidden in darkness at the end of the hallway.
Too tall for the apartment ceiling almost.
Its face couldn’t be seen clearly.
Only pale skin and long dark clothing blending into the shadows behind Kai.
Kai slowly turned around.
The hallway was empty.
He whipped back toward the monitor instantly.
The figure remained there on stream.
Standing perfectly still.
A freezing numbness spread through his body.
“No.”
His voice barely came out properly.
“No no no.”
The viewers skyrocketed again.
15,000 watching live.
Every numbered account spamming the same sentence repeatedly now:
DON’T LET THE STREAM END
Kai backed away from the desk slowly while staring between the real hallway and the livestream feed.
Empty in reality.
Occupied on stream.
Then the figure moved.
Only on the livestream.
Its head slowly tilted sideways toward the camera.
And the lights inside Kai’s apartment immediately shut off.