Submitted by: Anonymous, 29
Woman
I installed a door camera after packages began disappearing from my hallway.
One evening, while travelling home from work, I received a motion alert.
The camera showed me standing outside my apartment.
I was wearing the same coat, scarf and shoes I had on at that moment.
The woman in the recording faced away from the camera. She removed a key from her pocket and unlocked my door.
I watched the video twice while sitting on the bus.
Then I called the police.
They told me not to enter the building and sent a patrol.
When officers arrived, my apartment door was locked. There were no signs of forced entry.
They searched every room.
Nobody was inside.
I checked the camera history.
The video had disappeared.
The next morning, another alert arrived while I was in the shower.
The recording showed the hallway at 4:12 a.m.
My apartment door opened.
A woman who looked like me stepped into the corridor.
She stood motionless for several minutes, facing the camera.
Her face was mostly hidden by shadow.
Then she moved closer.
I could see that her eyes were open far too wide.
She whispered, “You came home late.”
The video ended.
I changed the locks and asked the building manager to inspect the camera system. He found no technical problems.
That night, I stayed with a friend.
At 2:30 a.m., my phone received a live notification.
Someone was inside my apartment.
The indoor camera showed my bedroom.
A person was lying beneath the blanket.
The camera’s audio detected breathing.
I contacted the police again.
They entered the apartment while I watched remotely.
As the officers approached the bed, the figure beneath the blanket stopped moving.
One officer pulled it back.
The bed was empty.
At that exact moment, my friend screamed from the hallway.
Someone had knocked on her front door.
Her door camera showed me standing outside.
I was beside her in the living room.
The person outside leaned close to the lens.
This time, the face was clearly visible.
It looked almost like mine, except the mouth was slightly too large and the skin around the eyes seemed stretched.
It smiled and said:
“You cannot stay there forever.”
My friend moved away soon after. I moved to another city and deleted every camera application from my phone.
For almost a year, nothing happened.
Last week, my new employer installed facial-recognition access at the office.
On Monday morning, the system refused to let me enter.
The security guard checked the records.
According to the system, I was already inside the building.
The internal camera showed me sitting alone at my desk.
I had not entered yet.
The woman on the screen slowly turned toward the camera.
Then she raised one finger to her lips.
Editorial note: This is an original fictional horror story presented in a realistic user-submission style. It is not a verified eyewitness account.