Ao’nung was lying in his bed staring at the white ceiling. It was pretty late already, but for some reason he couldn’t go to sleep. The room was completely dark, with only a very faint, dim moonlight coming in through the window. The clock on the wall was gently ticking and the city outside his window was oddly quiet, like it only happened in the very early hours of the morning. He was just about to reach for his phone and check the notifications when the silence was suddenly disrupted by someone knocking at the door.

Ao’nung froze in place, his ears perking up at the sound. Who could even be knocking on the door at this ungodly hour? Rotxo and Miles were sleeping, Tsireya too, and their parents had their key, which meant that it couldn’t be them suddenly deciding to stop by. No one visited this late.

He stayed still in bed for a few more seconds, listening to the silence surrounding him, waiting to see if he just misheard. But then he heard another knock, this time a little louder.

Ao’nung sighed tiredly and pushed himself up to a sitting position, letting the sheets slide off of his body. The night was pretty hot, so he slept shirtless, so now all that was concealing his torso was a thin pair of loose gray sweatpants.

With another exasperated sigh he got up from the bed and shuffled over to the door…

…but just as he’s about to peek through the peephole, the sound suddenly changed its location, as if the unknown person was now banging in the door of their neighbour on the opposite side of the floor.

Ao’nung stopped and furrowed his brows at the sound, his fingers hovering over the door handle. That was an odd thing to happen. He leaned closer to the white surface and pressed his ear against the cool wood, his heartbeat increasing just slightly. He carefully listened to any kind of noise coming from the opposite side of the door - he heard some shuffling and what sounded like… footsteps?

Some time passed, and after a moment of silence, the knocking abruptly moved to the floor above — with absolutely the same force and persistence, pounding on each of the damn doors, as if… in turn.

Ao’nung’s breath hitched. The rhythmic thudding — floor by floor, door by door — was unmistakable now. His pulse roared in his ears as he stumbled back from the door, nearly tripping over his own feet.

Knock. A pause. Knock. Another pause — exactly an entire minute between each and every door being knocked at.

The hell was going on?!

Before his brain could fully process the situation and decide what to do, Ao’nung sprinted across the darkened room, practically leaping onto the bed and crawling over to the opposite side, where his friends were peacefully sleeping. He frantically shook the other boy’s shoulder, his eyes wide and panicked, his voice barely a hiss.

— Rotxo! Miles! Wake up, quick!

Rotxo groaned and grumbled as he was woken up, rubbing his eyes sleepily. His curly hair was tousled and messy, sticking out in all different directions, making him look even more cute and cuddly than usual. He turned around and faced Ao’nung blearily, his voice thick and groggy with sleep.

— What the hell, dude… it's the middle of the night. What's going on?

Ao’nung leaned closer and spoke in a harsh whisper, his heart racing in his chest.

— There's something downstairs. Someone's knocking at the doors. In every damn apartment floor by floor. And there's a one minute pause between each. I don't know what's happening…

Rotxo's eyes widened at the revelation, immediately becoming wide awake. He sat up, running a hand through his unruly hair to try and flatten it a little before turning his attention to Miles who hadn't woken up yet. He shook the other boy's shoulder roughly, trying to wake him up, as well, and after a few seconds his efforts were rewarded and Miles let out a low, sleepy groan.