00:00I thought the noise was just the building settling.
00:02Old pipes, old walls, old sounds.
00:08That's what they always say.
00:10I live on the third floor of a small apartment complex.
00:13Thin walls, shared ceilings.
00:16You hear people move.
00:18You hear doors.
00:20You ear life.
00:22But this wasn't movement.
00:23It was dragging.
00:25Every night around 2.17 a.m.,
00:27something heavy scraped across the ceiling right above me.
00:30Slow, deliberate,
00:33like something didn't want to be heard but didn't care enough to stop.
00:36At first, I just ignored it,
00:39figured it was my neighbor getting a late-night snack or rearranging furniture.
00:42But the second night, it happened again, same time.
00:462.17.
00:48The dragging sound lasted for exactly 30 seconds,
00:51then complete silence.
00:52By the third night, curiosity turned into a nod of unease in my stomach.
00:58I decided to do some digging.
01:00I pulled up the apartment records online,
01:01the unit directly above me.
01:034B was listed as vacant.
01:06It had been empty for eight months.
01:08That couldn't be right.
01:10I sent a quick email to the building's maintenance supervisor.
01:13He replied almost immediately.
01:16He confirmed it.
01:18No tenants.
01:19No pets.
01:20No one was even using it for storage.
01:23The apartment was empty.
01:25That night, my heart pounded against my ribs as I sat in the dark.
01:29My phone aimed at the ceiling, recording.
01:32I watched the clock on my phone tick past 2.16.
01:35And then, at 2.17 on the dot,
01:39the dragging started.
01:40The sound was faint on the recording,
01:42but it was there alone,
01:43grating scrape.
01:45But as I watched the video playback,
01:47something strange happened.
01:49The audio became distorted,
01:50full of static and strange warbles,
01:52and the video itself glitched,
01:54freezing on a single,
01:56blurry frame of my ceiling.
01:57It lasted for exactly 30 seconds,
02:00and then the recording returned to normal.
02:02Nothing.
02:03The next day,
02:04I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.
02:06I caught my downstairs neighbor,
02:08an older man named Mr. Henderson,
02:10as he was getting his mail.
02:11I asked him if he'd ever heard strange noises from the apartment above me.
02:16He went quiet for a moment,
02:17his friendly expression fading.
02:19He looked around the lobby nervously before leaning in close.
02:22You hear it too,
02:24he whispered.
02:25A chill ran down my spine.
02:27He told me it had started weeks ago.
02:30A dragging sound.
02:31But for him,
02:32it sounded like it was coming from my apartment.
02:35Always at the same time.
02:37Always for the same length of time.
02:39Always from the floor directly above him.
02:42That night,
02:42the fifth night,
02:43I braced myself for the familiar sound.
02:46But 217 came and went with only silence.
02:49I almost let myself relax.
02:51But then the sound changed.
02:53It wasn't dragging anymore.
02:55It started tapping.
02:57Three slow,
02:58distinct taps from the ceiling,
03:00followed by one long,
03:02drawn-out scrape.
03:03It felt like a signal.
03:05Like it knew I was listening.
03:08Sleep was impossible now.
03:10I spent the rest of the night on my couch,
03:11with all the lights on,
03:13my phone's camera ready.
03:14I was determined to catch whatever this was.
03:17The sixth night,
03:18the apartment was dead quiet.
03:20I sat on my couch,
03:21staring at the ceiling,
03:23waiting.
03:24217.
03:25Nothing.
03:27A minute passed.
03:30Then another.
03:30I was just about to give up when I heard it.
03:34A soft knock.
03:35Not from the hallway.
03:36Not from the window.
03:38It was on my ceiling.
03:39Directly above my head.
03:41One knock.
03:43A pause.
03:44Two.
03:46Another pause.
03:48Three.
03:49I held my breath.
03:51Frozen.
03:52Staring at the white plaster.
03:53And as I stared,
03:55the ceiling looked back.
03:56A faint,
03:57almost imperceptible outline began to form.
04:00Like pressure from above was making the drywall sag.
04:04Something was pressing down.
04:06Slowly.
04:07Deliberately.
04:07Learning the shape of my room.
04:10The next morning,
04:11I was a wreck.
04:12I called maintenance,
04:13and practically begged them to open up Unifibi.
04:16I had to see inside.
04:18He was reluctant,
04:19but I think he heard the desperation in my voice.
04:22He unlocked the door,
04:23and we stepped inside.
04:24The apartment was completely bare.
04:27Dust coated every surface.
04:28But there,
04:29on the hardwood floor,
04:31were fresh scratch marks.
04:33A long,
04:34deep gouge
04:35ran from the far wall,
04:37straight to the center of the room,
04:39directly above where my couch sits.
04:41There was nothing else.
04:42No furniture.
04:43No boxers.
04:45No tools.
04:47No explanation.
04:48That night,
04:49I didn't even bother trying to sleep.
04:51I just sat there,
04:52in the silence,
04:53waiting.
04:54The clock hit to seventeen.
04:57The silence stretched on.
05:00There was no noise from above.
05:01No dragging.
05:03No tapping.
05:04A wave of relief washed over me.
05:07Maybe it was over.
05:09Maybe opening the apartment had somehow broken the cycle.
05:12And then I heard it.
05:14The slow,
05:15heavy dragging sound.
05:16It wasn't coming from the ceiling.
05:18It came from inside my apartment.
05:20Right behind me.
05:22I thought the noise was just the building settling.
05:25Old pipes.
05:27Old walls.
05:28Old sounds.
05:30That's what they always say.
05:31I live on the third floor of a small apartment complex.
05:35Thin walls.
05:37Shared ceilings.
05:38You hear people move.
05:40You hear doors.
05:41You hear life.
05:42But this wasn't movement.
05:44It was dragging.
05:45Every night around 2.17am,
05:47something heavy scraped across the ceiling above me.
05:49Slow.
05:50Deliberate.
05:52Like something didn't want to be heard,
05:54but didn't care enough to stop.
05:57At first,
05:58I ignored it.
05:59Second night,
06:00same time.
06:012.17.
06:03The sound lasted exactly thirty seconds.
06:06Then,
06:06silence.
06:08I checked the apartment records.
06:09No one lived above me.
06:11The uni had been empty for eight months.
06:13Mainance confirmed it.
06:15No tenants.
06:16No pets.
06:17No storage.
06:19Empty.
06:20That night,
06:22I recorded the ceiling.
06:23Las doce dieciséis.
06:25Las doce diecisiete.
06:27The dragging started.
06:29The phone microphone picked it up,
06:31but
06:31the video glitched.
06:33Audio distorted.
06:35Visual froze.
06:37Thirty seconds.
06:38Then nothing.
06:39The next day,
06:40I asked the downstairs neighbor.
06:42They went quiet to Naskadi.
06:44You hear it too.
06:46They said it started weeks ago.
06:48But from below them,
06:49same time.
06:52Same length.
06:53Always.
06:54Above.
06:55On the fifth night,
06:56the sound changed.
06:58It stopped dragging.
06:59It started tapping.
07:01Three slow taps.
07:02Then one long scrape.
07:05Like a signal I couldn't sleep.
07:07I sat on my couch.
07:09Lights on.
07:10Camera ready.
07:11Two seventeen.
07:14No sound.
07:16Then a soft knock.
07:17On my ceiling,
07:19directly above my head.
07:20One knock.
07:22Two.
07:23Three.
07:25I looked at the ceiling.
07:26And the ceiling looked back.
07:30A faint outline,
07:31like pressure,
07:32from above.
07:34Something was pressing down,
07:36learning the shape of my room.
07:38The next morning,
07:40maintenance opened the empty unit.
07:42The floor was scratched.
07:44Dragged marks,
07:45leading to the center of the room.
07:48Nothing else.
07:49No furniture.
07:51No tools.
07:52No explanation.
07:54That night,
07:55the noise didn't come from above.
07:57It came from inside my apartment.
08:00Right behind me.
08:01At two seventeen.
08:02it came from inside him.
08:02It was just a process.
08:02In the ornestine.
08:03The house is a
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