After moving into a new apartment for a fresh start, a woman begins to notice her shadow moving independently forcing her to question whether she's losing her mind or being stalked by something that lives in the walls.
Arrival
Late afternoon the city hums softly outside.
Amina gripped the edges of a heavy box marked books and staggered up the stairs to her new apartment. Her friend zara followed, trying not to drop a box of dishes.
Zara
(cheerful)
Fresh start, huh? New place, new you.
Amima
(smiling faintly, breathless)
Yeah. Just me, myself… and four walls.
They laugh, but amina's smile falters when she notices her curtain swaying in the still window above.
Amina (to herself)
Weird. Window's shut.
Inside, the apartment was pale and quiet. The air smelled of plaster and old paint. Zara set down her box and looked around.
Zara
Needs work… but it's cozy.
Amina
(half joking)
Cozy? There's not even a chair.
Zara
That's what I'm here for pizza first, cleaning later.
But even as they joked, amina kept glancing at the bare walls. The corners seemed too deep, as though the room were still holding its breath.
After zara left, the apartment was silent except for the faint buzz of a streetlamp outside,amina sat cross-legged on the floor, eating cold takeout straight from the box.
Amina (internal thought)
This is good. Just me. No drama. Just peace.
She rose to toss the empty carton for a fraction of a second, she thought her shadow didn't move with her it stayed crouched on the floor a beat too long before snapping upright.
Amina
(mutters)
You're tired. You're seeing things.
She shook her head and went to bed the lamp clicked off but on the far wall, in the faint streetlight glow, her shadow lingered long after she left the room.
The next evening, amina unpacked to the sound of soft jazz on her phone speaker a lamp glowed warm in the corner. She tested the wall, raising her arm to stretch.
In the mirror, her reflection followed perfectly. On the wall behind her… the shadow raised the opposite arm.
Amina
What the hell?
She lowered her hand the shadow hesitated, then sank back like a tired marionette.
Amina (internal thought)
I'm losing it. I'm actually losing it. No test it. Don't panic. Just test it.
She turned the lamp off and on again the shadow behaved normally. She turned it off once more, heart pounding.
Amina(whispering)
It's fine. It's fine.
That night, her phone buzzed,No Caller ID,she answered silence,ust faint static,she hung up, shivering.
When she turned toward the kitchen wall, her breath caught dark smears handprints stretched up toward the ceiling exactly where her shadow had lingered before.
Amina
Oh, no. Oh no, no, no…
She backed away the prints looked old at first… but as she watched, they faded away, as though someone were wiping them from inside the wall.
Amina(internal thought)
It's just old paint. Just paint… right?
But the smell of damp plaster filled the room, heavy and sour, and the walls seemed to hum.
Steam clouded the mirror.
Amina wiped it, and froze.
Another figure stood behind her tall, wrong, its head tilting slightly to one side.
She spun. Nothing there the light above buzzed louder, flickering. The water scalded hot on its own.
Amina
(panicked)
Stop! STOP!
She twisted the tap off, but the sound of running water kept going faint and hollow, like it was rushing behind the walls instead of through the pipes.
In desperation she called zara.
Amina
(on phone, shaking)
zara, I think something's wrong with this place.
Zara
What do you mean, wrong?
Amina
The shadows… they're not they don't oh, forget it. You'll think I'm crazy.
Zara
(softer)
You're just stressed. I'll come by tomorrow, okay? You need rest.
Amina (internal thought)
Rest? I can't close my eyes in here. I can't even breathe.
Determined not to doubt herself, Amina set her phone to record herself sleeping. The lamp stayed on.
At three a.m., scratching woke her. It came from the inside of the walls slow, deliberate. Her shadow stretched unnaturally long across the ceiling though she hadn't moved.
Amina
(panicked whisper)
No… no…
The shadow bent over her bed like a vine. She bolted upright, but the shadow rose faster moving without her.
The Walls Close In
She grabbed a flashlight and ran for the door. The walls pulsed with dark shapes, each one showing the same figure reaching toward her.
When she gripped the door handle, a shadow hand slammed it closed from the inside.
The lamp shattered. Darkness swallowed the room. Only moonlight remained… and in it, her shadow stood perfectly still, smiling though her lips did not.
AMINA (internal thought)
Don't scream. Don't let it know you're afraid.
But her chest heaved, and her flashlight beam shook as she aimed it around the room. No figure only the wall. And on that wall, her shadow raised one finger to its lips… as if to hush her.
The Next Morning
When Zara arrived, the door stood ajar. The apartment was silent.
On the floor lay Amina's phone, still recording.
The last video frame showed Amina asleep perfectly still while her shadow stood beside the bed, waving slowly at the camera.