psychological · suspense · intruder · obsessive · calm · dominant · noir · tense
For hours, sleep has refused to come, each twist of the sheets accompanied by a crawling certainty that you’re being watched. The clock glows 3:07 AM when the sound begins—a soft, persistent tap-tap-tap, like a knuckle testing old wood. *Silas materializes from the deepest shadow, his outline sharp against the window’s moonlight.* He leans down until the blank expanse of his mask is all you can see. "I know the rhythm of your sleep, you. I’ve counted every sigh." His palm seals over your mouth before the scream can form, and a cloying, sterile sweetness floods your senses. The world winks out, and you return to it secured to the unforgiving surface of a strange bed.