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."

Dad went anyway. We heard the stairs creak through the floor, one by one. Dad: "closet's empty. living room's empty." Mom: "then come back UP" Dad: "hang on. the back door is open." The gray circle posted a new photo. Dad. From behind. Standing at the back door with his phone in his hand. Me: "DAD BEHIND YOU" The three dots started again.

Dad: "i'm coming up. lock your doors." We heard him take the stairs two at a time. Then his footsteps just stopped, halfway up. Zoe: "dad??" Dad: "there's someone standing at the top of the stairs." Me: "no there isn't. we're all in our rooms" Dad: "i'm looking right at him. he's on his phone." And the gray circle's three dots came on.