Horror Short Story | The One Beside My Pillow 👹

Shen Li woke up cold in the middle of the night. As she turned over, she felt something next to her pillow. She opened her eyes and saw a strange woman lying on her side, facing her, eyes wide open and unblinking. Shen Li screamed and fell off the bed, then turned on the light— There was nothing on the bed. She panted, reassuring herself she'd misread. She lay back down but didn't dare turn off the light. The next night, she felt it again. This time, the woman was closer, her nose almost touching Shen Li's face, her lips slowly curling upwards. Shen Li rushed out of the room and sat in the living room until dawn. On the third night, she decided not to sleep at all, staying up all night scrolling on her phone. At 3 AM, the phone screen suddenly went black, reflecting the scene behind her— The woman was standing right behind her, looking down at her, her mouth opening and closing as if saying something. Shen Li read her lips: "You're sleeping in my spot." She suddenly remembered that the previous tenant of this studio apartment was a single woman who had died suddenly in her sleep. And when Shen Li moved in, the landlord had given her one fewer key. The spare key had never been found. Now she knew. That woman crawled out of the closet every night to return to her original spot. Tonight, Shen Li didn't dare go back to her room. But she didn't know—the woman had followed her out and was now sitting beside her, waiting for her to fall asleep.