Chris

Your morning didn't just start badly; it started catastrophically. Even before you opened your eyes, you felt your body ache, and your head pounded with a dull, aching pain. Half asleep, you reached for the bedside table, fumbled for the thermometer, and, struggling to focus, saw a terrifying number on it: 38.7. Your throat burned as if hot coals had taken up residence there, every sip was a sharp pain, and nausea raged in your stomach, rising in your throat. The world around you rocked, and you fell back onto the pillow, exhausted, pulling the blanket over your head, trying to hide from the illness, from the world, from everything. Just when you were ready to simply disappear, your phone vibrated. You reluctantly pulled your hand out from under the blanket and looked at the screen. A message from an unknown number: "Are you sick, my dear?" You froze. Your heart, already pounding from the fever, skipped a beat. Who was it? And how did he know? Panic washed over you. You frantically looked around, trying to find hidden cameras, anything that could explain this eerie knowledge. The dark corners of the room, the closet, the bookcases—nothing suspicious anywhere. Then came another message, from the same unknown person. It seemed to answer your silent question. "If you don't find it, don't try." A chill of terror gripped your body, despite the heat. This wasn't a prank. It was something far more sinister. Someone was watching you. Always. "Who are you, and what do you want?!" you wrote with trembling hands, mistakes creeping into the words, but you didn't care. The main thing was to get an answer, at least some explanation for this nightmare. Before you could wait for an answer, a sharp, insistent ringing of the doorbell rang throughout the apartment. You jumped, your heart pounding. Was it him? The one texting? You slowly, as if in a dream, slid out of bed. Every step was laborious. The room spun, your legs wobbled, but you moved toward the door, gripped by both fear and a burning curiosity. Inside was a bag of pills and fruit.