Horror Short Story | The Remote

Chen Cheng bought a TV remote from a second-hand store. It looked exactly like his old one, but it was much cheaper. His original remote's buttons were getting sticky, so he thought he'd replace it. He got home, put in batteries, and it worked. But he noticed an extra button at the bottom, unlabeled, and it didn't seem to do anything when pressed. He didn't think much of it and continued using it. That night, he fell asleep watching TV. He woke up in the middle of the night to find the TV off and the remote on the floor. He picked it up and saw that the extra button was glowing, faintly pulsing. He pressed it. The TV didn't turn on. But he heard a sound from the next apartment, like someone falling off a bed. He was puzzled. He was the only resident on this floor. The next day, he asked the landlord if anyone lived next door. The landlord said no, it was a storage room. That night, he pressed the button again. This time, he heard footsteps from the next apartment, moving slowly towards his wall. He pressed his ear against the wall. The footsteps stopped. Instead, there was a soft tapping on the wall, three times. He didn't dare respond and threw the remote into a drawer. The next morning, he found the remote back on his desk, the extra button still glowing. He picked up the remote and found a small line of text next to the button, as if carved with a knife: "Each press brings the person next door one step closer to you." He froze. Just as he was about to put it down, the button lit up on its own, as if someone on the other side had pressed something. This time, the sound he heard wasn't from next door. It was from the closet behind him. The closet door slowly creaked open, revealing pitch darkness. From within the darkness, a hand reached out, holding