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Someone Joined the Group Chat

horror◐ Teen
5 contributors · 5 paragraphs deep

Dad spun around. We heard him yell "WHO'S THERE" right through the floor. Dad: "nothing. there's nothing here." The gray circle: "He's looking too low." Dad: "what does that mean" The gray circle: "Look up." The whole house went quiet. Then Dad's three dots appeared. And stopped. And appeared again.

Dad's message finally came through. Dad: "the hallway ceiling vent is open. there's a phone taped up inside it. it's still recording." The police found sleeping bags in the crawlspace above our bedrooms. Food wrappers. A charger spliced into our wiring. Someone had been living over our heads for weeks, listening to us fall asleep. They never caught him. We all deleted the app. It doesn't matter. Every night at 9:41, right when Mom used to say goodnight in the chat, my phone still buzzes once. I've stopped checking what it says.

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