Chapter 2

I sat down at my laptop and pulled up the security camera app.

I had it installed last month for safety. The camera faced the door and captured the entire hallway.

I wanted to see who it really was.

I clicked open the footage from the last three days, starting right at the delivery time.

The video popped up, and the elevator doors opened up. The delivery guy stepped out.

He had a helmet and a mask. His face was completely hidden. He walked up to my door, set the bag down, rang the bell, and turned to leave.

Everything looked normal. His movements were smooth and uninterrupted.

I frowned, rewound the footage, and watched it again.

He set the bag down, rang the bell, turned around, and walked into the elevator. There was still nothing out of the ordinary.

I refused to believe it, slowed the footage to 0.5x speed, and stared fixedly at the screen.

The guy in the helmet showed up, set the bag down, and pressed the doorbell. Then he turned to leave.

Right here, in slow motion, his head tilted ever so slightly toward my door, toward the peephole. His right hand rose, index finger extended, pressed against his mask, the motion unmistakable. "Shh."

He was signaling to stay silent. Signaling whom or what? The peephole or me?

A chill ran down my spine as I paused the video. I zoomed in, and then zoomed in more. His eyes were hidden in the shadow of his helmet, but that gesture was aimed right at me.

I closed the video and pulled up the footage from the next day.

Was it the same delivery guy? No, he looked a bit taller, but the outfit was identical. He set the bag down, rang the bell, and turned to leave.

I slowed it down to 0.25x speed. He also paused as he turned, his head tilting toward the door, his right hand rising with his index finger pressed to his lips.

On the third day's footage, it was a different delivery guy again. He made the same movement and the same gesture.

It felt like some creepy ritual. They dropped off the warning, and then signaled me to stay quiet.

I slumped in my chair, my hands shaking. It wasn't an accident, nor a prank. Three delivery drivers made the exact same gesture.

They knew about the notes, and they were part of whatever was going on.

But why? Who made them do this?

I looked toward the door. The peephole was pitch black. Suddenly, I realized that that shh gesture wasn't meant for me.

Maybe it was meant for whatever was lurking outside the door, something I couldn't see, also the thing that was watching me.

*****

On the fifth morning, I dialed the delivery app's customer support hotline. "Hello, how can I help you?"

"I need to complain. For four days in a row, someone's been putting scary notes in my food, and the delivery guys are acting really strange." I rushed through my words, afraid they'd cut me off.

There was a two-second pause on the other end. "Do you have any photos or evidence you can provide?"

"Yeah, I've saved all the notes, and my security camera caught some strange behavior from the delivery guys."

"Alright, please send us the order number and pictures of the notes. We'll verify and handle it."

She gave me an email address and asked me to send everything over.

I hung up, took pictures of the notes, and sent them off right away.

I waited three hours, but still got no reply. I called again, and this time, a guy picked up.

I repeated everything, and he listened patiently before saying, "Ma'am, it's probably a prank by one of our couriers. We'll tighten up our supervision."

"It's not one. It's three different guys, all making the same creepy gesture," I shot back, my voice rising.

"We'll look into it. Please be patient."

"How long do I have to wait?"

"Three business days."

Panic set in. Three days? Who knew what could happen in three days?

"I need this taken care of right now. This is already putting my safety at risk," I demanded.

The customer service rep went quiet for a moment. "Ma'am, please provide the order number for your most recent order. I'll check the specific courier's information."

I gave him the number, and I could hear him typing away on his keyboard. There was a long silence, only the faint crackle of static on the line.

"Ma'am," the customer service rep said, his voice suddenly hesitant. "According to the system, the delivery guy with the order you provided is David Lane."

"Call him, then," I said.

"But," he swallowed hard. "David's account was flagged as missing three years ago."

I was stunned. "What do you mean?"

"His account is frozen. He shouldn't be able to take any orders at all," he said.

His typing got faster, more frantic.

"I checked your orders from the past few days. Ma'am, every single delivery was under David's account." His voice dropped, barely above a whisper, like he was sharing a secret he shouldn't.

"But the system shows the couriers who actually picked up the orders are completely different people," he added.

"Then, who's actually delivering the food?" I whispered.

He didn't answer. All I could hear was his tense breathing over the phone. And then, there was a barely audible, shaky sigh.