Another You

My name is Maya, and I need to warn you guys about something. Something horrifying and dangerous even. So if you come across this, please read it. This is a story about my friend, who I miss very much.

I was 21 at the time and I was starting to move into my new apartment. I lived with my roommate, whose name was Ava Lin. For the first few weeks, living with her was going great.

When I first met her, I just had a feeling that we’d become best friends. We just had so much in common and every time we were together, we could never stop laughing. Though of course, Ava did have her moments that I thought were weird.

When we ever go out, she would always look around. Now that might not sound weird, but what I mean is she would look around her surroundings like she was waiting for something. I never asked about it, mainly because I didn’t think it was none of my business. Though I didn’t notice then, that should have been my first warning.

We lived together for two more months but Ava got even more strange. She started barely leaving the apartment and even going as far as staying in her room most of the time. I didn’t want to say anything to her but it got to the point where she wasn’t even eating food or even talking to me. 

Another week went by and I had enough of it. I went to her room door and knocked on it loudly. “Ava! Open the door, we have to talk.” I shouted, waiting for her to open it. She never kept her door locked but I wanted to be polite.

I stood there for a minute waiting until I decided to open the door myself. I opened the door and was hit by a terrible smell, “What the hell is that?” I asked myself, as I covered my nose, almost gagging. I looked around the room to realize Ava wasn’t here but her room was horrifyingly gross. 

Her bed is a mess and I saw rotten food on the floor, which surprised me because I didn’t think she ate anything. There were also random clothes on the floor and I was horrified at the look of it. I had an idea that she was going through something but not anything like this. 

Maybe she’s not as clean as I thought? Maybe she had depression? All those thoughts went through my head but I knew none of them could be it. I rushed to my phone and called Ava, only to hear a ringing in the distance. It was coming from her room. 

I rushed to the room and saw her phone buzzing on her desk. “Ok this is getting weird..” I said to myself confused. I looked around the entire apartment and even asked my neighbors if they even saw Ava at all. I kept trying for two more hours until I gave up and went back to my apartment.

I was secretly hoping that Ava would just knock on the door at any moment. So for another hour I was laying on my couch watching tv. Then after a few more minutes of watching tv, I slowly fell asleep. Then suddenly I was in the middle of my apartment hallway. 

I looked around confused, “Did I sleepwalk or something?” I said to myself. I looked around and saw that my front door was open but somebody was at the entrance with their back towards me. I tried to walk towards it but I couldn’t move. “What the hell? Why can’t I move?” I said to myself. I then looked up and was shocked by what I saw.

The figure turned around and it was Ava. “Ava..” I said, shocked. “Ava what is going on!” I said, confused and also scared. She looked at me and started talking, “Maya listen to me..” she said calmly. She said something else but I couldn’t hear her at first. “What?” I said and she repeated it but I still couldn’t hear her. “Ava I can’t understand you.” I said and then I heard her louder. “Maya! Don’t open the door!!.” 

Everything went dark after that and I woke up on the couch, heavy breathing. “So it was a dream” I said to myself. Then my doorbell rang and I looked at the clock. It was 11:am and I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Who can be up this late?” I said to myself. I got from the couch and went to my front door. I looked through the peephole and…I saw Ava’s eye on the other side. “She’s back!” I said, relieved. 

I put my hand on the doorknob but then I stopped. Something didn’t feel right….I looked at the peephole again. Ava was still there in the exact same spot. “Ava!…Ava is that you!” I said, but she never responded. Then in the corner of my eye, I saw a figure on the other side of my window. I then looked out my window on the side of my door and saw Ava right in front of it. “Wait what?” I said to myself confused. If Ava was by the peephole, how is she by my window?

Then I remembered the dream and I froze in my spot. Then the doorbell rang again..and again..again. “Ava!…Ava what’s happening!” I screamed but she never answered and kept ringing the doorbell. “Ava what the hell?! What are you doing?!” I yelled but she still never answered. She just kept ringing the doorbell over and over again. I decided to look through my window again and jumped. 

It was Ava and she was smiling with black eyes but she had blood rolling down her face. I backed away from the window and screamed. I ran to my room, locked my door and I sat on my bed crying and waiting for the ringing to stop. How could there be two of them? Why do I see two of them? 

After that was a blur because I’m pretty sure I fell asleep from all the crying. I woke up and saw that it was daylight outside and froze. “Did I actually fall asleep?” I said, getting up from my bed. When I was walking to my door, I saw a note on my floor and picked it up. “Was that always there?” I asked myself. I started to read it and I couldn’t believe what I was reading. It was a note from Ava explaining everything.

“Dear Maya” 

 “I just want to say in the bottom of my heart that I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I brought you into this situation and I’m sorry I kept this secret from you. Before you moved in, I felt like I was feeling watched. I didn’t see it at first but then a day before you moved in I did. It looked just like me and I was horrified. Everywhere I went, this creature would be there just watching me. That’s why whenever we’d go out I looked so paranoid. After that I stopped leaving the apartment all together but I knew it wouldn’t last long. So I left last night and I hope to god I live long enough to call you. I’ll be back before you know it but be careful Maya. DON’T open the door for anything unless you’re sure you know who it is.

 Be careful Maya 

Love Ava Lin”

Before I could process what I read, I heard a scream that made me jump. It was my neighbor and it came from outside. I ran out of my room to my front door and looked through my peephole. Ava’s eyes were still there looking back at me. Then I looked out my window and saw my neighbors looking at my door with complete horror. “What’s happening now?” I said. 

I was about to close my blinds until one of my neighbors saw me and mouthed me to stay inside. Of course, being stupid, I ignored her and decided to open my door anyway. I twisted my doorknob and opened the door….then I screamed bloody murder. Ava was in front of me…but it was only her head hanging from the roof with a rope and a hook.

It’s been a year since this happened to Ava and I’m still grieving. I miss her so much and sometimes I even blame myself. I should’ve asked her what was going on when I had the chance but I didn’t and now she’s gone. I wanted to look for that…that creature so bad but it’s impossible. 

All I can do is thank Ava that I survived it because if it wasn’t for my dream I probably wouldn’t be telling this story. All I can say now is be careful and I hope none of you run into this thing. But if you do, please find shelter, stay there and Don’t open the door.