Lena laughed nervously, glancing around the spacious new apartment that she and her boyfriend, Josh, had just moved into. The exposed brick walls and modern fixtures were a dream come true, but ever since they signed the lease, Lena had felt… unsettled.
“It’s not haunted, babe,” Josh replied, rolling his eyes. “You’re just spooked because it’s an old building. Trust me, nothing creepy is going to happen.”
That night, as they unpacked their last box, a sudden cold draft swept through the living room, making the hair on Lena’s arms stand up. The windows were closed. She looked at Josh, who shrugged it off.
But things got stranger.
The next morning, Lena woke up to the sound of footsteps in the hallway. Heavy, deliberate steps, but when she checked, no one was there. Josh was already at work.
The days that followed were filled with odd occurrences. Doors creaked open on their own, lights flickered even though the electrician had checked the wiring, and every night at exactly 3:03 AM, Lena heard faint whispering in the walls—whispers that sounded almost like someone trying to say her name.
One evening, as Josh scrolled through his phone, Lena stumbled upon a box tucked in the back of a closet. It was filled with old, faded photographs of people who had lived in the apartment long before. The strange thing? Every single picture showed the residents standing in the same spot in the living room, their expressions frozen in fear.
“Babe, come look at this!” Lena called, her voice shaking. Josh walked over, glancing at the photos. “Okay, that’s weird,” he admitted.
Just then, the lights flickered again, and the temperature in the room dropped instantly. A shadow moved across the wall—something dark and fast, but too big to be human.
Josh and Lena froze.
From the corner of the room, a soft voice whispered, “Why did you come here?”
The air seemed to thicken, pressing in around them. Without thinking, Josh grabbed Lena’s hand and bolted for the door, but it slammed shut before they could reach it. The whispering grew louder, a chorus of voices now, and suddenly they could see them—ghostly figures, pale and translucent, standing in the very spot from the photographs.
One by one, the spirits turned to face Lena and Josh, their hollow eyes locking onto them. “You shouldn’t have come here,” they repeated in unison.
Heart pounding, Lena screamed, “What do you want?!”
The lights exploded, plunging the room into darkness.
And then, silence.
When the power flickered back on, they were gone. Everything was exactly as it had been—except for one thing. The box of photographs lay open, but now, a new photo was on top.
It was a picture of Lena and Josh, standing frozen in fear in the very same spot.
“Maybe we should start looking for a new apartment,” Josh whispered, his voice trembling.
Lena could only nod.