Our family group chat is called Fam ❤️. Five people. Me, Mom, Dad, my sister Zoe, my little brother Sam. Tonight my phone buzzed and the header said 6 members. The new one had no name. No profile photo. Just a gray circle. Mom: "who is this??" Three dots. Typing. Then it sent one photo. Our living room. The couch. Dad's mug on the coffee table, still steaming. Taken from inside the house.

Dad: "Nobody move. I'm going downstairs." Me: "dad don't" Zoe: "DAD PLEASE" We all watched the chat instead of moving. The gray circle started typing. It typed for a long time. Way too long for what came out. One line: "Tell him to check the closet first."

Mom: "NOBODY goes downstairs. I'm calling 911." We locked our doors. I sat on the floor against mine and listened to Mom's voice through the wall, giving our address. The gray circle typed the entire time she talked. When she hung up, it posted: "The police can't remove me from the group either." Then: "Ask them about the Renner family. Same house. 1994."

Two cops walked the whole house. No open doors. No footprints. And on THEIR phones, our chat showed five members. The older one went stiff when Mom said the name Renner. "Where did you hear that name?" Mom held up her screen. Six members. He stared at it for a long time. Then he said, quiet, "Pack a bag. All of you. Tonight."

We got a motel. Two rooms. Sam fell asleep with his shoes on. At 3 a.m. my phone buzzed. The gray circle had posted one photo. Two beds. A kid asleep with his shoes on. Taken from inside the motel closet. We slept in the car after that and drove to Grandma's at sunrise. Dad sold the house in a month, cheap, and the buyer never asked why. The chat still says six members. It doesn't matter what state we're in. Wherever we go, it's six.