Handsome Guy Upstairs, Mind Your Influence

: A Terrifying Night

3.

I was so scared my soul nearly left my body. Large beads of sweat dripped down my forehead.

"Who's there?"

After my voice echoed into the darkness, a strange, dead silence fell.

Just as I was fumbling around, about to change my clothes, KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—

The knocking started again!

This time, I froze, half-sprawled on the bed, all my courage to open the door and check completely gone.

'Who knew if what I'd see would even be human!'

Then, the knocking stopped again.

After a moment, it started up again, each time more forceful than the last.

With trembling hands, I opened my phone and placed a voice call to Zane Shaw.

"Hello?"

Hearing his voice calmed me down considerably, but I couldn't stop the tears from flowing. "Zane? Quick, you have to come over!"

He paused for a few seconds on the other end. Then I heard the door knock again, and his voice came through the phone. "Don't be scared. It's me."

I used whatever I could grab onto for support and made my way to the entrance to open the door.

When I saw the hallway light illuminate his face, I breathed a sigh of relief and went limp, leaning against the door for support. "Just now, my power suddenly went out," I stammered. "The lights were flickering, and—and someone was knocking on my door."

It was terrifying.

Those few short seconds had felt like an eternity.

Zane Shaw glanced at the scene inside my apartment. "You didn't see anyone else, did you?"

His question sent another chill down my spine. "No!"

He pointed to the ajar circuit breaker box on the wall. "Good. When I came down, I noticed someone had tampered with your breaker. Don't worry, this was definitely intentional. I'll go check the surveillance footage in a bit."

As he spoke, he had already flipped the switch on the breaker, and the lights in the apartment finally came back on.

The weight in my chest finally lifted. I wiped the tears from my face. "Thank you, thank you so much. Why don't you… why don't you come in and sit for a while?"

'I just wanted to invite him in for a glass of water, nothing more. I'd just feel a lot safer with him here.'

He looked like he was about to say something, but hesitated. Following his gaze, I realized I was still just wrapped in a bath towel.

My face flushed red. "It's fine if it's not convenient."

"You go get changed first. I'll go check the security footage. Don't worry, there won't be any more trouble."

'That's what he said, but I'd just been scared half to death. I'd finally found a living, breathing person, and I wasn't about to let him get away.'

"Zane! Officer Shaw, wait, don't go yet!"

He gave a resigned smile. "Alright. Go get changed first."

I let him in and closed the door, then went to my bedroom to change. When I came out, he was still waiting there.

I let out a sigh of relief. "I don't think I can sleep here tonight. I'll just go to my best friend's place."

He nodded in understanding. "Okay. Where does your friend live? Do you need me to drive you?"

Normally, I would have refused, not wanting to bother someone so late at night.

But now, staring out at the inky blackness, I couldn't help but wonder what other unknown things were waiting for me out there…

"She lives in The Orchard Gardens in Belhaven."

Zane Shaw frowned slightly. "That's too far."

It was a bit far—a two or three-hour drive.

I lowered my gaze. "It is a little far. I already feel bad for bothering you this late. It's okay, you can go get some rest. I can get there by myself."

He pressed his lips together and shook his head. "It's not that I think it's a hassle. I'm just saying, you have work tomorrow. After a scare like tonight, who knows how long it'll take you to fall asleep, and then you'll have to get up extra early…"

'Hearing him lay it out like that just made my situation feel even more pathetic.'

"Forget it. How about this? Why don't you stay at my place tonight?"

'Stay at his place?'

My eyes widened as I stared at him.

He cleared his throat. "Don't get the wrong idea. I have two bedrooms."

I couldn't help but laugh.

'When did I ever get the wrong idea?'

'Well, except for that one time I misunderstood and thought he was playing… 'indecent music' in his apartment.'

'But you can't blame that entirely on me, right?'

'It was just my rotten luck.'

"Okay, thank you, Mr. Officer!"

I grabbed my toiletries and followed him upstairs.

His apartment layout was pretty much the same as mine. Since the entire building was full of rentals, the interior design was nearly identical too.

The only real difference was probably that, as a police officer who likely spent most of his time on cases, he didn't have many personal belongings at home.

"Relax. I've already notified Building Management to check the security footage. Get some sleep."

He led me into the guest room. "If you're still scared, it's okay to leave the light on."

'Of course, I couldn't do that.'

'This is his place, how could I just waste his electricity?'

Besides, being in a different place with someone else around, I had calmed down a lot. I don't believe in ghosts or spirits to begin with; tonight's 'supernatural' event was probably just someone playing a prank.

'And Zane Shaw is a cop. Who would dare mess with him?'

So, even though I had been scared to death just a short while ago, I fell asleep quickly.

But my dreams were far from peaceful. In my dream, I was in total darkness when I heard that knocking sound again. I opened the door, and a man in a clown mask pulled out a sharp knife, about to stab me…

I woke up.

Even though it was just a dream, I was still badly frightened.

I got out of bed and, navigating from memory, went to the kitchen for some water. But then I saw a figure moving around inside.

"AH!"

I pointed at the figure, my limbs trembling. "Who—who are you!"