Motion Detected

The notifications started on a Wednesday. At first, Emma thought it was a glitch—her

phone lighting up with “Motion Detected: Kitchen,” even though she lived alone and wasn’t home.

She opened the camera feed. The screen loaded, flickered, then showed an empty

kitchen. She turned the system sensitivity down. But the alerts kept coming.

“Motion Detected: Hallway.” “Motion Detected: Bedroom.” “Motion Detected:

Basement.” Always when she wasn’t home. Always showing nothing. After three days,

she called the security company. They checked everything—no malfunction, no signs of a break-in.

“Probably shadows,” they said. That night, she woke up at 2:47 a.m. to her phone