1 It was New Year’s Eve when the pregnant woman from next door started pounding on my door, her voice a venomous shriek. “Open the damn door, you bitch! What the hell are you burning in there!” Her insults continued, laced with threats. “You better not be burning anything! If the smoke hurts my baby, I swear I’ll kill you!” Baffled, I opened the door. “I’m not burning anything.” She didn’t believe me. She shoved past, a wild look in her eyes, and stormed into my apartment, sniffing the air like a bloodhound. She checked every room, her frantic search turning up nothing. Finally, defeated, she left, but not before shooting me one last hateful glare. Two hours later, she was back, hammering on my door again, one hand covering her nose. “I told you to stop! The smoke is thick, it’s coming into my place!” I’d had enough. I ignored her and called building management. “The woman in the unit next to me keeps accusing me of burning something. She’s harassing me. Can you please send someone up to deal with this?” The man on the phone asked for my floor number, then his voice turned hesitant. “Ma’am… are you sure? There’s no one living in the unit next to you.” My blood ran cold. I rushed to the peephole. The pregnant woman was still there, her face a mask of dark fury, her lips moving as she muttered curses. “Open up!” … On the phone, the manager was still talking. “We’ve double-checked, ma’am. You’re the only resident on your floor. The unit next to yours is still a shell. It’s completely empty. Are you sure you’re not mistaken?” Exasperated, I pressed my phone against the door. “Just listen! Can you hear how insane she’s being?” I hissed. “Her door is open, the lights are on! It’s fully furnished. What do you mean no one lives there?” I expected him to hear her and immediately send help. Instead, a beat of silence, then confusion. “Hear what, ma'am? I don’t hear anything.” A hot flash of anger shot through me. “Are you telling me I’m hallucinating? That I’m both seeing and hearing things?” His tone turned apologetic, almost placating. “Please don’t be upset, ma’am… We’ll send someone up right away to check it out.” I finally felt a sliver of relief and shouted through the door at the woman. “You can’t just do whatever you want because you’re pregnant! One more word and I’m calling the cops! Let’s see what they think about your little burning story!” The woman outside went quiet for a second, then her voice rose to a screech. “You think you’re the only one who can call the cops? Fine! I’ll call them and the fire department myself! We’ll see who gets taught a lesson!” I smirked, leaning against the door. “Good. I’ll be waiting. Let’s see who educates whom.” Five minutes later, the building superintendent arrived, rapping lightly on my door. “Ma’am? You called about a pregnant woman?” My face was a grim mask as I opened the door and looked around the hallway. She was gone. She must have gotten scared when I mentioned the police. I let out a cold laugh and marched over to the neighboring door, pounding on it with my fist. I mimicked her earlier tone. “Open up! Weren’t you going to call someone to teach me a lesson? They’re here now, so why don’t you come out?” A fine layer of dust puffed up from the door with each knock, as if it truly hadn’t been opened in a very long time. I coughed, expecting her to burst out, ready for another fight. But there was no answer. The silence from within was absolute. So, she was just messing with me. I rolled up my sleeves. “You can hide all you want! The police will be here any minute. Let’s see how long you can stay in there!” Still nothing. The superintendent was watching me as if I’d lost my mind. After a moment, he wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. “Ma’am,” he said cautiously, “we have master keys for all the unfinished units. I happen to have the key for this one. Would you… would you like me to open it, just to show you?” 2 He said it with such conviction, as if behind that door was nothing but a concrete shell. But I didn’t believe him. I rolled my eyes. “My parents were here when this place was being renovated. They told me a newlywed couple moved in next door.” “Now you’re telling me it’s an empty shell? Who did my parents see, then? Ghosts?” My words echoed in the late-night quiet of the hallway, casting a sudden chill. The superintendent was a young woman, and she shivered, hugging her arms. “Please, ma’am, don’t say things like that.” “We keep detailed records of every renovation in the building. I checked before I came up. The unit is vacant… It’s New Year’s Eve, you’re… you’re not trying to tell me a ghost story, are you?” She was pale with fear, inching away from me. I was half-annoyed, half-amused. “A ghost story? Are you kidding me? There’s no such thing as ghosts! I don’t believe in any of that nonsense.” “I saw her with my own two eyes! She even came into my apartment and walked around! How could she be a ghost?” “You don’t believe me? I’ll show you the security camera footage from my doorbell!” I pulled out my phone, ready to prove I wasn’t crazy. Just then, the elevator dinged. Two police officers and three firefighters rounded the corner, their expressions serious as they looked from me to the superintendent. “Who reported a disturbance and a possible fire?” I raised my hand, putting my phone away. “That was me.” “Sorry to bother you all so late, especially on New Year’s Eve, but this is just too much. It’s supposed to be a peaceful night.” “Here’s what happened…” I explained everything, how the pregnant woman had knocked twice, how she’d even barged into my apartment. I opened my door for them. “See for yourselves. The only thing I’ve cooked tonight was a pot of pasta. I haven’t been grilling or burning anything.” “But my neighbor, the pregnant woman, insisted I was. Please, check for yourselves.” The young superintendent stood beside me, looking like she wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words. She just watched as the officers and firefighters did a thorough sweep of my apartment. A firefighter gave the final verdict. “All your appliances are in order, and there are no fire hazards whatsoever. The apartment is perfectly safe.” I threw my hands up. “See? I told you!” “I don’t know what’s wrong with that woman, insisting I was burning something. If you ask me, she’s the one burning something!” The firefighter nodded at me. “It’s good she was concerned. It shows she’s conscious of fire safety. If you don’t mind, we’d like to check next door as well.” He walked over to my neighbor’s door and knocked. “Hello, fire department. Is everything okay in there?” The apartment remained eerily silent. I crossed my arms, a cynical smile on my face. “That’s what she did before. Plays dead when you knock, but she had plenty of energy to bang on my door.” The firefighter glanced at one of the police officers, who stepped forward and knocked again, louder this time. No response. The officer turned to the superintendent, his brow furrowed. “What’s the situation with this resident?” The superintendent wiped sweat from her pale face, her voice trembling. “Th-this unit is vacant. It’s an unfinished shell.” “I tried to tell you all earlier, but this lady…” she trailed off, gesturing to me, “she didn’t believe me.” “I brought the key. Should I… should I open it for you?” 3 At the officers’ request, the superintendent produced a key and unlocked the door. I expected to see the furnished apartment I’d glimpsed through my peephole. But as the door creaked open, it swung back and hit the wall with a dull thud, sending a cloud of dust into the air. The floor was rough, unfinished concrete. Through the window openings, which were still missing glass, an icy gust of wind swept in, sending a shiver down my spine. I broke out in goosebumps. The superintendent’s voice was strained. “You see? It’s not even finished. There’s no pregnant woman here.” “Maybe… maybe the woman you saw lives on a different floor?” The possibility was a relief. I nodded at the police and firefighters. “Well, I definitely saw her.” “My doorbell camera recorded everything, when she forced her way into my apartment. I wouldn't file a false police report.” I pulled out my phone again and showed them the footage. It was from around ten p.m. I was on the couch, laughing at a comedy special on TV, when the doorbell rang. The video clearly showed the confrontation, me letting the pregnant woman inside. It showed her pacing through my living room, searching for a source of smoke, and leaving in a huff. Before she left, she pointed a finger at me. “You’d better hope I don’t smell that again!” The video ended there. The officers and firefighters visibly relaxed. “She must live upstairs or downstairs,” one of them concluded. He pointed to the woman on my phone screen. “Do you recognize this resident? Which unit has a pregnant woman living in it?” he asked the superintendent. The young woman squinted at the screen for a long time before shaking her head. “I’m not sure. I’ll have to ask my colleagues or my manager.” But it was New Year’s Eve. Most of her colleagues were at home with their families. The ones who answered their phones said they didn’t know. One of them joked, “I don’t think anyone lives on that floor at all. Janie, you didn’t run into a ghost on New Year’s Eve, did you?” Janie, the superintendent, flinched and snapped back. “Don’t say things like that! This resident is new, that’s why you don’t know her! And the police and fire department are standing right here with me! Ghosts? Give me a break!” She hung up and called her manager. The phone rang for a long time before someone picked up. Janie wished her a Happy New Year, quickly explained my situation, and then asked, “Cindy, do you remember how many pregnant residents we have in this building? I’m still new, I can’t keep track.” The manager’s voice, Cindy’s, sounded tired over the phone. “A pregnant woman… yes, there is one, on the floor above hers.” “But I think she’s only a few months along. And she’s very sweet-tempered. She doesn’t seem like the type to yell at people.” I frowned and spoke up. “Cindy, it’s me. The woman who was yelling at me was huge, looked like she was about to give birth. It couldn’t be the person you’re talking about.” “Can you think of anyone else? A very pregnant woman in this building?” There was a two-second pause. Then, Cindy’s voice rose, filled with uncertainty. “Is that… Faye?” I was about to answer when her voice started to shake. “But… you can’t be. You died in that car crash, didn’t you?”
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