I had never been so happy to walk through my front door and into my crummy apartment. I returned home at 7 o’clock from a long 12 hour shift in the boat yard only a couple blocks away. My day was full of angry bosses and back breaking work that made me consider quitting every single time I walked through that front gate. My eyelids were heavy, like 20 pound weights were dragging them down. I kicked off my shoes as soon as I walked in the door and immediately gravitated towards the fridge. The pale light lit up my face as soon as I opened the door. Things were tight right now. The only thing I had in there besides condiments was an expired yogurt and leftover rice from my chinese take out a couple nights ago. So I tore open a packet of ramen noodles from the cupboard and started boiling my water. With a large sigh, I trudged over to my desk, determined to finish the project I had been working on for months, in my current state of exhaustion.  It was a documentary on life in San Francisco that delved into the history of the city as well as the lives of the people living in it. For weeks and weeks on end, I had been collecting clips of different people sharing their stories, explaining their background, and telling me about the hidden gems this city had to offer. I just finished editing them all together last night. It was no amazing cinematic masterpiece, but it was mine and I could certainly say I was proud of it. Every ounce of hard work showed. All those late nights and countless migraines seemed like they would finally pay off. The last and final touch was to add in a clip of myself that I had just recorded a couple days ago, introducing who I was and explaining the purpose of my film. I downloaded the small file, anxious to see how the two minute clip had turned out. I hit play and watched myself in the recording, but what I saw wasn’t what I remembered. I could have sworn I was alone, but standing in a dark corner in the background was what looked like a another person. A chill ran down my spine as I tried to inspect the still frame a little further. The water from my ramen noodles boiled over, and my blank stare at the screen was broken. I ran over to my stove and removed the pot from the heat, but suddenly I had lost my appetite.

I returned to my computer, going to take another glance at the paused image, but this time, the shadowy figure was gone. I thought I was going crazy. Maybe I was just sleep deprived; but I knew what I saw. I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was real. I closed out of the video and decided I would just go to bed and pick this back up tomorrow. That’s when I heard something shatter in the other room. I ran to go see what it was. The mirror in my bedroom had been knocked over and the window leading to the fire escape was wide open. The curtains were subtly swaying with the soft breeze coming into my apartment. Immediately, I was paralyzed with a strong sense of fear washing over me. I had closed and locked that window this morning before I left for work, I was sure of it. I snapped out of it, slowly walking over to the window and closing it again. I slammed it shut, turned the locks, and looked up, staring outside for anything out of the norm. That’s when I caught something out of the corner of my eye. I could see the same person that was in the video standing near my bed in the reflection of my window. I turned around quickly, ready to confront whatever this was, but once again they had disappeared. At this point, I was truly terrified. I quickly packed my bag with the bare essentials, grabbed my car keys, and ran out the door. I unlocked my small mazda and sat inside, locking the doors behind me. I turned the key and threw the car into reverse only to see the same shadowy figure standing behind my car. I drove through it and quickly left the parking garage, heading towards the interstate. I didn’t know where I was going, what I was doing, or who I would turn to. All I knew is that I had to escape.

To be continued...