The doorbell rang again.

Once.

Twice.

Then silence.

I didn't move.

Eli still gripped my wrist, his face pale enough that the freckles across his nose looked like ink splattered over paper.

"Don't answer it," he whispered.

"Maybe it's Di."

His eyes didn't leave the front door.

"It isn't."

The certainty in his voice froze me.

Another knock.

Three slow taps.

Not impatient.

Patient.

Like whoever stood outside already knew I'd eventually open the door.

The notebook twitched inside my backpack.

Scratch.

Scratch.

Scratch.

Eli heard it too.

His head snapped toward the bag.

"It knows."

"What knows?"

"The notebook."

My heartbeat stumbled.

"No."

"It does."

He swallowed.

"My grandfather used to tell stories."

I blinked.

"What stories?"

"The ones nobody believes until they're living inside one."

Another knock.

This time the hallway lights flickered.

The air pressure changed.

It felt heavier.

Like the whole house had inhaled.

My phone buzzed.

Di.

Are you okay??

Before I could answer

The screen glitched.

Every letter dissolved into black droplets.

The droplets crawled together.

A new message appeared.

Do not let him in.

It wasn't from Di.

It wasn't from anyone.

I looked at Eli.

"I didn't type that."

"I know."

His voice barely existed.

The front door creaked.

Not opening.

Breathing.

As though something leaned against the other side.

My backpack burst open.

The notebook landed on the floor with a dull slap.

Its pages flipped wildly.

Wind rushed through the room despite every window being shut.

The pages stopped.

One sentence wrote itself.

Slowly.

Letter by letter.

He has no face until you give him one.

The knocking stopped.

For one impossible second...

Everything became perfectly silent.

Even the refrigerator.

Even the rain outside.

Even my own breathing.

Then

"Jaden?"

Di's voice.

From outside.

Relief hit me like sunlight.

"Di!"

I rushed toward the door.

Eli caught my shoulder.

"No."

"It's her!"

"It wants you to think that."

I hesitated.

"Di?" I called.

"Open the door."

Something was wrong.

Her voice sounded...

Flat.

Every word landed with exactly the same tone.

No breath.

No emotion.

Just perfect imitation.

"Jaden."

"Please."

"I'm cold."

Eli slowly backed away from the entrance.

His eyes never blinked.

"Ask her something."

"What?"

"Something only Di would know."

I swallowed.

"Di... what movie did we watch on your birthday?"

Silence.

A full ten seconds.

Then—

"The one you liked."

Wrong.

She would've laughed first.

She would've teased me for forgetting.

She would've said Coraline before I even finished asking.

The hallway outside became quiet again.

Then came laughter.

Not loud.

Close.

Too close.

It echoed from every wall at once.

The porch light exploded.

Glass scattered across the steps.

A shadow slipped beneath the front door.

Not a person.

Not smoke.

Ink.

It spread across the wooden floor like spilled paint, moving against gravity.

The notebook began writing furiously.

Ink bled through three pages.

Four.

Five.

The final sentence stopped my heart.

It has crossed the threshold.

The lights died.

Complete darkness swallowed the room.

Something breathed behind me.

Very softly.

"I finally found my author."