The Tall Man Checks at 2:17

A week after the first rule, strange things started happening in the house.

Every night at exactly 2:17 a.m., the baby monitor turned itself on. One night,

the father finally asked his son about it. The boy said, “That’s when the

tall man checks.” The father asked, “Checks what?” The boy whispered, “Who’s awake.”

That night, the father stayed up and watched. At 2:17, the monitor switched

on, screen full of static. Then, for one second, he saw his son sitting

up in bed… smiling at someone standing just off camera. He ran to the room.

The boy was fast asleep. The monitor was off. The next morning,