You first noticed the smudge above your bed, .
A gray smear on the ceiling. Odd shape. Five lines.
Like fingers, stretched unnaturally long.
You stood on the bed to clean it. The ceiling was smooth.
But the smudge was still there. Just slightly moved.
You painted over it the next day.
Woke up to a handprint again. Bigger now.
Five thin trails ran toward your pillow.
You checked your security cam. Nothing moved.
But the ceiling never showed up. Only static.
You started sleeping on the couch. Silence.
Until you heard the creak — your bedroom door opening.
And something brushing the ceiling, slowly crawling.
You didn’t move. Just listened. It stopped directly above you.
Then one tiny scratch. Like a fingernail on plaster.
You looked up. The ceiling had five indents now.
Like claws had pressed into it, lightly.
You moved houses. New ceiling. Blank. Clean.
Until night three. The smear returned — but closer to the fan.
You unscrewed the fan. The wires were frayed. Like chewed.
The smear darkened. Became redder.
A single red dot on your pillow.
You smelled copper. But nothing was bleeding.
That night, you dreamed of crawling on ceilings — upside down.
Your limbs hurt when you woke up. Sore in strange angles.
You filmed yourself sleeping. Watched the footage.
At 2:13 AM, your body rose up slowly… toward the ceiling.
Your eyes were open the whole time.
You sealed the ceiling with steel mesh and concrete.
The next morning, it was peeled back like paper.
Your name was carved into the slab: .
And next to it: a red handprint. Larger now.
You haven’t slept in days.
But the handprint keeps growing.
Now it's inches above your face.
And you can hear it… breathing.
You screamed last night. Neighbors didn’t respond.
You walked outside. The world felt upside down.
Streetlights pointed downward. The sky looked like concrete.
You turned back toward your house. It was gone.
Just ceiling. Endless ceiling above you.
Crawling. Scratching. Watching.
The handprint is yours now.
And someone else just moved in below.
You wonder how long before they look up.