Part 1

Elena woke again at 3:17 a.m., as she had for weeks, staring at the ceiling while the house stayed silent. Each night followed the same pattern of half-sleep and sudden alertness that left her mind restless and heavy. She tried to ignore it, but something about these awakenings felt increasingly unusual tonight everything.

One night she noticed a faint sound coming from the hallway, different from anything she had heard before. At first she assumed it was imagination, but the pattern repeated with precise timing every time she woke. When she finally stood up and opened her bedroom door saw movement.