Marek’s own laptop speakers were muted. He didn't need the sound; the Polish subtitles at the bottom of the screen told him everything. “Puk, puk,” the text read as the killer knocked.
Marek froze. He didn't turn around. He looked back at the laptop. The movie had unpaused itself. The killer on screen was no longer looking at Maddie; he was looking directly into the camera, holding up a sign written in Polish: “Słyszysz mnie?” (Do you hear me?)
It was a photo of Marek’s back, sitting at his desk, with the movie Hush paused on his screen.
He picked it up, expecting a work notification. Instead, it was a file transfer request from an "Unknown Device." He declined it, his heart hammering. It buzzed again. This time, he accidentally hit Accept . A single image file opened: .