Mia didn't move.
The closet door kept opening.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
The hinges didn't creak.
That was the worst part.
No sound.
Just movement.
The light in her room flickered once… then steadied.
"Mia…"
The whisper came from inside the closet.
Not from the wall this time.
From the dark space between hanging uniforms and stacked shoes.
Her throat tightened.
This isn't real. This isn't real.
She forced her legs to move backward until her knees hit the edge of her bed.
The closet door stopped.
Half open.
Dark inside.
Too dark.
Then—
A hand slid out.
Pale.
Thin.
Fingers too long.
It gripped the edge of the door.
Mia gasped and grabbed the nearest thing she could find — her desk lamp.
"Go away!" she screamed.
The lights exploded.
Total darkness swallowed the room again.
Her phone buzzed on the floor.
Buzz.
Buzz.
Buzz.
The only light came from the screen.
Three new messages.
Unknown Number.
She dropped the lamp and crawled toward it, her breath shaking.
The first message read:
You moved into my room.
The second:
You sleep where I screamed.
Her chest tightened.
The third message came through while she was watching.
Typing…
Then—
Open the door.
The closet door slammed shut.
The bang echoed like a gunshot.
Mia screamed.
Footsteps pounded in the hallway.
Her dorm neighbor, Lila, burst in seconds later.
"What happened?!"
The lights flickered back on again.
The closet door was closed.
Still.
Normal.
Mia's hands trembled as she pointed.
"It was open," she whispered. "Someone was in there."
Lila rolled her eyes nervously. "You're freaking yourself out because of 213, aren't you?"
Mia's heart skipped.
"What do you know about 213?"
Lila hesitated.
Then she closed the door behind her.
"You didn't hear?"
"Hear what?"
Lila lowered her voice.
"Last year… a girl lived there. Same grade as us."
Mia swallowed.
"What happened to her?"
"They say she disappeared."
"Disappeared how?"
Lila leaned closer.
"She was found in her room. Alone. No wounds. No struggle. But she was…" she paused.
"Was what?"
"Smiling."
Mia's stomach twisted.
"And the weirdest part?" Lila whispered.
"She died at exactly 2:13 a.m."
The room felt smaller.
The air thicker.
"That's not possible," Mia said quietly.
Lila shrugged. "After that, they sealed the room. Nobody's allowed in."
Mia's phone buzzed again.
She looked down slowly.
Unknown Number.
A picture.
Her closet.
Taken from inside it.
And in the background—
Mia and Lila standing there.
Underneath the image:
She's lying.
Mia's heart dropped.
She looked up at Lila.
Lila was staring at her phone.
But not confused.
Not scared.
Smiling.
Too wide.
Her head tilted slightly.
The same way the girl in the picture tilted hers.
"Mia…" Lila said softly.
But her voice wasn't Lila's anymore.
It was layered.
Like two voices speaking at once.
"You shouldn't have opened the door."
The lights went out again.
And this time—
They didn't come back on.
END OF CHAPTER THREE.