James Taylor sat in his modest office, surrounded by screens displaying dozens of customer queries. He worked as a support agent for one of the largest online retailers in the country, but his salary barely sufficed, and the job felt more like a mechanical routine than anything meaningful. One day, he made a decision — enough was enough. He no longer wanted to be just "fodder for Google algorithms." He decided to change his life.

James had one advantage — he wasn’t afraid of taking risks. So, when he stumbled upon an ad in one of the darker corners of the internet, his attention was immediately drawn to a mystery that promised to solve all his problems. A secretive group offered a million dollars to anyone who could unravel the secret of a mysterious neighbor.

This neighbor was… not quite ordinary. Locals spoke of him engaging in something mystical. Rumors swirled that his house was filled with strange devices for manipulating time and nature. Some even said he studied alchemy and created bizarre anomalies. His basement was said to house laboratories, and at night, strange lights would sometimes emanate from his windows. But the strangest thing was — no one knew his name. No one had ever seen his ID, nor did anyone know his past. His identity was hidden, as was his face, which no one could seem to remember.

The group offering the reward was known for its secrecy, but James took the plunge. He contacted them and received his assignment. A few days later, they provided him with a place to stay — a house across the street from the very neighbor, which had recently been vacated by tenants who had fled due to unsettling events.

When James moved in, everything seemed to fall into place. But the moment he stepped onto the doorstep of his new home, he felt something strange. It wasn’t exactly ominous, more… alien. Time seemed to slow, and the air felt heavy, as if it concealed some hidden danger.

At night, when silence fell, James heard sounds coming from the neighbor's house. These were not ordinary sounds — a low hum, interspersed with strange cries, almost like a call from… somewhere beyond. It was something inhuman. He stood, mesmerized, and rushed out into the dark yard to walk around the neighbor's house.

Along the perimeter of the property, James found several gaps — hidden holes in the fence and old barriers, as if deliberately placed for someone to sneak through. One of these gaps was how he decided to proceed.

Entering the dark yard of the neighbor, James couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly off. Dark silhouettes, strange shadows, and distorted movements of branches — it seemed as if everything around him was alive, not just part of the quiet night. The shadows of trees and bushes moved too quickly, and the atmosphere itself made him uneasy. Step by step, he approached the house.

After slipping in through a window, James found himself in a large room, filled with antique furniture and strange devices. The walls were covered with obscure schematics and notes. The floors were dusty, but everything felt as though someone had been here often. Upon closer inspection, he noticed several open doors leading to dark hallways, and a strange glow emanating from one of them.

What struck him most, however, was a massive metallic device in the corner of the room — something like a crumpled piece of time, as if an entire part of the universe had been compressed into this strange machine. It resembled a machine capable of manipulating time, perhaps even rewriting it.

Suddenly, as James tried to approach the device, he heard something odd — footsteps behind him. Not fast, but distinct, as if someone were following him. James froze, not daring to breathe, and slowly turned, hoping it was just the wind or his imagination.

But when he turned around, his eyes met this.

It was a creature. Not human, not animal, but something… distorted. Its face was hidden behind a dark mask, and its eyes glowed with a cold fire. The creature stood in the doorway, and it seemed as though the space around it was warping. Slowly, without any unnecessary movement, it walked toward James, leaving a trail in the air as though time and space themselves didn’t matter.

James stepped back in terror, but his steps were too fast, and his body seemed to move of its own accord. He saw the creature draw closer, its face contorting in the dim light. And then it spoke.

“You shouldn’t have come here. Now you will be a part of this…”

In that moment, James realized that he had not just opened the door to someone’s home, but to the very essence of this place. And the neighbor’s secret was far darker than he could have ever imagined.

With a scream, he ran, but the shadow behind him didn’t vanish.