Monstrosity

Episode 1 (part 2)

Eerie sounds have been emanating from around your apartment since this evening. Though you didn't think much about it, something made your skin crawl with uneasiness as the sounds persisted.

Muffled sounds of crunching came from outside the door, and you initially thought about bad ramyeon packaging. But you had been way off.

You saw Hyun-su sprint inside the apartment and close the door; his expression was horrified as if he had just witnessed a murder.

"Woah, what happened?" you asked, hurriedly setting aside your bowl of soup and rising from the mattress.

"Cat. The cat..." He couldn't articulate coherent words. Hyun-su seemed utterly disturbed.

"What about it? Wait, let me go see—" Your sentence was cut off by a loud banging on your door.

"Fuck," Hyun-su whispered hastily, clearly overwhelmed by what he had just witnessed outside.

"What?" You questioned him.

"Hungry..." Someone, seemingly a woman, said from outside your door.

Hyun-su picked up the intercom caller, and you both could now see a distressed woman from the camera.

"Excuse me, Are you in?" She started. "Please help me."
"I'm so scared. Please help me."
"Is there nobody home?"
"Please. Help me. Please," she kept begging. "Hello?"
"Please help me."
"I'm scared."
"Hello?"

"Are you okay?" Hyun-su finally mustered the courage to speak to her.

"You're home," she mumbled.

"Did something happen?" you asked.

"I just came home, and the door was open, and it was a mess inside. And my cat is gone. The floor... It was covered in blood. Please, help me," she kept on talking, helpless.

"Okay, calm down. I'll call the police," Hyun-su suggested as he took out his phone from his pants pocket.

"Can't you stay with me?" She begged.

"What's going on?" Hyun-Su said to himself. Suddenly, there was no calling service. You checked your phone to see if maybe his phone was faulty, but no, the service was down.

"Please," she begged.

"Hang on," Hyun-su told her. You had started to get more scared with each passing second. Nothing about what was going on normal. On the contrary, it was heavily unsettling. Your gut was constantly alerting you, telling you to leave this place once you were safe.

"Please, can you open the door? I'm so scared. Please, can you stay with me? Please? Please. Please open the door. Open the door. Please. Please open the door," she kept on begging. Your heart started to beat unevenly.

"Well..." Hyun-su started carefully. "Can you show me your arms?" he asked. You shot him a confused look. But maybe this was what he saw; maybe this was what he ran away from a minute ago.

"What?" She asked, frozen.

"Your arms," he repeated. "Show me your arms,"

"What did you say?" She asked again as if she hadn't heard him the first time.

"Your arms. Show me your arms. Now," he ordered, and there was a sudden change in the woman outside. She turned aggressive. Ringing the bell again and again and banging on the door.

"I told you to open the door! Open it! Open the door! You asshole!" She screamed, blood pouring out of her nose. She went rabid.

The nosebleed was oddly familiar—heavy, like a tap open at full speed. Your heart didn't fit into your chest anymore. It thumped loudly as realisation washed over you. Were you going to turn into a monster too? You felt sick to your stomach. Unable to stand anymore, you rested on the nearest support you could find.

Nauseous, you threw up in the kitchen sink, not even realising that Hyun-su had already opened the door to confront the creepy lady.

There was no denying it. She wasn't human-like. Feeling lightheaded, you fell to the ground.