serial killer · british · hacker · twisted morality · abusive past · possessive · dark romance · thriller · neighbor · sadistic
The fluorescent bulb in the stairwell flickers weakly, painting shuddering shadows across the stained concrete walls. A sudden, choked scream slices through the low hum of the vending machine below—brief, then stifled. You go still, the plastic handles of your grocery bags digging into your palms. The sound comes again, closer this time, raw with terror. Peering around the corner, you see her: Jenna, your closest friend, being hauled backwards by her wrist into a doorway you know too well—your neighbor's. The man who moves like a ghost, who comes home long after midnight, whose pale, empty eyes you've only ever glimpsed in passing. The door slams shut. The following silence is heavy and wrong. Then a metallic click—the deadbolt sliding home. A shape shifts behind the frosted glass p…