Chapter 1
That night, Leo Bennett suddenly asked, "Mom, can I sleep in your room tonight?"
I didn't think much of it and agreed.
At three in the morning, I felt something was wrong behind me. Waves of coldness kept crawling up my spine.
I slowly turned over. By the moonlight outside the window, I saw Leo's eyes wide open, staring at the door. His forehead was drenched in cold sweat.
I followed his gaze, my heart pounding.
In the crack of the door, there was a pair of feet.
Just as I wanted to scream, Leo covered my mouth tightly. He leaned close, trembling, and whispered into my ear.
Chills shot down my spine. I was almost scared to death.
It turned out that that day was not the first time he had seen it.
I'm Clara Bennett, and I'm thirty-eight years old.
My husband was Dylan Bennett, who died in an accident when I was just twenty.
At that time, our newborn son, Leo, was just one month old.
For the past eighteen years, it had just been the two of us, scraping by. Although our lives were tough, they were at least steady.
I thought there were no secrets between him and me.
Until that night, it was another ordinary Friday.
I finished my shower and was about to sleep.
In the living room, Leo was still sitting on the sofa, playing with his mobile phone, and his side face looked perfect under the light.
He was already a head taller than me.
I urged him, "Leo, it's getting late. You have class tomorrow."
He looked up, his expression complicated, as if he wanted to say something but was hesitant.
He said, "Mom."
I replied, "Yeah?"
He asked, "Can I sleep in your room tonight?"
Hearing this, I was caught off guard for a moment.
He was eighteen already, but he was still clinging to me like when he was little.
I asked, "Is your bed uncomfortable?"
"No," he replied, shaking his head and looking away. "I... I just suddenly want to sleep with you tonight."
His voice was a little strained.
I remember when he was a child, every time there was thunder, he would get under my bed in fright.
Maybe he had been under too much pressure from school recently.
I didn't think much of it. My heart went out to him, so I agreed.
I replied, "Alright, go grab the pillow."
He said, "Okay."
He moved quickly, practically ran back to his room, and came out with the pillow in his arms.
My bed was queen-size, with more than enough room for him and me.
He slept on the side by the door.
With the lights off, the room was very quiet.
I fell asleep quickly.
Half-asleep, I felt that Leo was still awake beside me.
His body was tense, his breathing very light, like a wary little creature ready to bolt.
I didn't think much of it. I turned over and fell asleep.
When I awoke again, it was a bone-chilling cold that jolted me awake.
It wasn't from outside. Instead, it came in waves from behind me, warming its way into the gaps of my spine.
My eyelids felt heavy, but my mind was strangely clear.
The room was very silent.
It was so quiet that I could hear my own heartbeat.
Leo, who was beside me, seemed completely still.
I feel something was wrong.
Something was terribly wrong.
I slowly turned around, bit by bit, careful not to make a sound.
In the silence of the night, it felt like the movement took an eternity.
Through the thin moonlight shining through the window, I saw Leo's face.
His eyes were wide open, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks in the darkness.
His forehead was covered with cold sweat, shining wet under the moonlight.
He didn't look at me.
His gaze was fixed on the door of our room.
What was over there?
A cold jolt shot up from the soles of my feet.
I followed his gaze, turned my head stiffly, and looked at the door.
The door was half-open.
I was certain it was closed before going to bed.
The black crack in the door was like a crack in an abyss.
Right at the base of that gap, where the floor and the door met, I saw it.
There were a pair of feet.
A pair of feet that didn't belong to anyone in our family.
They were wearing a pair of old cloth shoes with dust on the upper, and the style was from more than ten years ago.
They just stood there, right in the gap of the door.
They didn't move at all.
But I knew they were there, watching us.
A piercing terror seized my throat instantly.
I was just about to open my mouth to let out a scream.
Before I could utter a sound, a cold hand covered my mouth tightly.
It was Leo.
His hands were trembling violently, and his palms were covered in cold sweat.