I have a habit of checking my mailbox as soon as I get home. Usually, there's nothing in there, or maybe a promotional flyer from a car dealership, but one day, I found a plain envelope.

Inside was a blank sheet of paper with a message written in bold, neat handwriting that simply said, "Open it." Honestly, it crept me out. From that day on, I made sure to lock up tight.

But after that, a plain envelope appeared every single day. The message was different each time, like "Open the microwave," or "Open your desk drawer."

As embarrassing as it is to admit, inside the microwave was a frozen meal I'd forgotten to take out, and in the desk drawer was an earring I thought I'd lost. Honestly, I considered moving, but I couldn't afford it, and since no actual harm had been done, I just ignored it.

Before long, though, the notes started escalating, telling me to open places that no one could possibly know about unless they had actually been inside my apartment.

For example, "Open the storage box under your bed," or "Open the organizer in your closet." Inside those, I found human fingernails and clumps of hair. Honestly, I was terrified.

But I was so busy with work, completely exhausted every day... I couldn't afford to move, and I think my brain just stopped being able to process things rationally.

Then came that day.

As usual, there was a plain envelope in my mailbox. But this time, instead of "Open it," the note said, "Look behind the full-length mirror."

Terrified as I was, I looked behind the mirror.

There was a photograph taped there.

It was a picture of my room. The angle made it look like it had been taken from inside my closet.

On the back of the photo, written in the same neat handwriting as the notes, was this:

* * *

"I'm in the closet right now. Open it."