The Red Thread
It was an old, cramped rental house. From the moment Anil moved in, he noticed a small red thread poking out of a crack in the corner of the bedroom wall. At first, he brushed it off as just a piece of stray yarn caught in the plaster.
But one night, the thread seemed longer, as if it had grown. Overcome by curiosity, Anil grabbed the end and pulled. It didn't slide out easily; instead, he heard a heavy, wet sliding sound coming from deep inside the wall—like something massive shifting in the dark. As he gave it a hard yank, a small piece of raw, greyish meat popped out of the crack.
Terrified, Anil dropped the thread and scrambled into bed. That night, his sleep was haunted by a ragged, wet breathing sound. A voice, cold and dry, whispered directly into his ear: "Pull me all the way out..."
The next morning, Anil woke up to a sharp pain. The red thread was tightly wound around his index finger. When he tried to unravel it, he realized with horror that the thread wasn't just on his skin—it was under it. Every tug sliced through his flesh like a razor.
Suddenly, the crack in the wall began to split wide open. A blood-soaked hand reached out, gripping the other end of the red thread. Anil realized then that the thread wasn't connected to the wall anymore—it was connected to him. It was traveling from the crack, through the air, and disappearing deep into his own stomach.
Anil tried to scream for help, but his jaw wouldn't move. He ran to the mirror and gasped. His lips had already been stitched shut with the same red thread.
The entity inside the wall finally dragged itself out. It was a tall, skinless figure that looked exactly like Anil—same height, same frame, but raw and glistening. It looked Anil in the eyes and smiled a toothy, lipless grin. Before Anil could struggle, he was yanked forward, his body folding and snapping as he was sucked into the narrow crack in the wall.
The skinless thing picked up Anil's clothes, put them on, and smoothed out its "new" face in the mirror.
Even today, in that old house, a tiny red thread pokes out of the wall... just waiting for someone to pull it.