“Even if Caesar broke through all the security and escaped, he couldn’t possibly find you,” she said.

“The institute is hundreds of kilometers away. It takes hours to drive there, no way he could make his way to your home.”

“I think you’re just being soft. You begged to come see Caesar every day and now that you have, you’re scared?”

Her confidence and teasing finally eased my nerves.

After saying goodbye, I drove back home.

But I hadn’t expected to be woken up by my best friend’s call at three in the morning.

She said that somehow, the chimpanzee had stolen the guard’s key, released all the animals and shut down the monitoring and infrared systems.

The entire institute was in chaos.

I gulped, unsure how to respond.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning lit the sky, followed by thunder and then heavy rain poured outside the window.

A moment later, loud banging echoed from my front door, so forceful that I nearly fell out of bed.

My best friend must have heard the noise, because she fell silent for a moment, then tried to reassure me again.

“Jessica, I’m just kidding, don’t be scared.”

“Even if Caesar escaped, he definitely couldn’t have found you. The tracker must be malfunctioning. With this storm, there's no GPS signal and even if it had an address, it wouldn’t be able to find your house.”

“Don’t you live with your boyfriend? He’s there, you’ll be fine.”

I screamed, “My boyfriend is on a business trip! He won’t be back until tomorrow!”

If I waited for him to save me, I’d be dead before he arrived.

The banging outside grew more urgent.

Still clinging to a sliver of hope, I tiptoed toward the door.

Maybe, just maybe, it was my boyfriend, back early and playing a prank.

I leaned in to look through the peephole, but it was pitch black outside.

And then, I heard a heartbeat.

“Am I not pretending enough? Why doesn’t she open the door?”

“If she won’t open it, I’ll have to bang harder.”

“No, I have to hold back. If I scare her, I’ll ruin the skin.”

A cold sweat broke over me. I pressed my back against the wall, trying not to make a sound.

Then I crept to the window, using the noise of the rain to cover my voice and whispered, “Sophia, Caesar… that gorilla… it’s right outside my door…”

“And my boyfriend’s not home tonight. Please do something!”

My boyfriend and I lived in a small apartment, with no partitions, just a combined bedroom and living area.

The door was a flimsy, standard model.

With Caesar’s strength, he could smash its way in easily.

I was panicked.

How had he found my address? How did he get here through a storm?

This was unbelievable, could he actually understand human language?

My best friend quickly tried to calm me.

“Don’t worry. The institute’s security team is already on their way, but the weather might slow them down.”

“All you need to do is stay inside and wait for help.”

“That chimpanzee is smart. Don’t provoke him!”

I was on the verge of tears.

“How long will it take? I don’t think my door’s going to hold much longer!”

She grew anxious too.

“Why don’t I send my brother over first? He lives near your place!”

“Don’t be afraid, even the smartest animal can’t resist an electric baton!”

“Don’t open the door until he’s dealt with Caesar. You hear me?”

I nodded vigorously and hung up.

My best friend’s brother was a veteran, 1.9 meters tall, almost 200 pounds, all muscle.

She had told me that, back in the army, he could kill a cow with his bare hands.

Even against Caesar, he might stand a chance.

And he had an electric baton.

My heart, which had been suspended in terror, finally calmed a little.

Soon, I heard the sounds of a struggle outside the door, grunting, crashing and something heavy falling to the ground.

A strong metallic smell of blood wafted in through the doorway.

I wanted to look through the peephole to see what had happened, but I couldn’t summon the courage.

Then the loud pounding at the door suddenly softened.

Tap… tap… tap…

Summoning my courage, I called out softly, “Benjamin?”

There was no reply.

I reached for my phone, held it up to the transom window above the door and snapped a picture.

Sure enough, the person outside the door was my best friend’s brother.

But his entire body was slumped against the door in a strange position.

Looking closely at the photo, I noticed bloodstains on his clothes.

Had he been injured?

I was instantly filled with guilt. I was about to open the door to help him when I heard that same heartbeat again.

“Why is this woman smarter than a monkey? I’ve been hiding and letting this man knock, why won’t she open the door?”

“Has she figured it out?”

A pool of bright red blood began to seep in from under the door.

My heart leapt into my throat and cold sweat drenched my palms.

A terrible thought crept into my mind.

Had my best friend’s brother… died?

I turned pale, clamped a hand over my mouth and tears flowed uncontrollably.

She’d told me he was getting married next month. And now he’d died trying to save me?

How could I ever explain this to her?

But before I could dwell on that, a greater danger still loomed.

The only silver lining was that the gorilla outside the door didn’t seem in a hurry to kill me, it was playing a game of cat and mouse.

I moved as slowly as I could, tearing my bedsheets into strips and trying to fashion a rope to escape out the window.

But my apartment was too high up, the sheets weren’t long enough.

And it was raining hard. The exterior walls were slick and treacherous.

Then, again, that familiar voice came from the door, “She’s not thinking of escaping through the window, is she? So smart. She’s my favorite skin.”

“But I don’t have much time to play. I’m hungry.”

“A steak has to look like a steak. You want to run? No way!”

I froze.

How did it know what I was thinking, what I was doing?

My best friend had said this chimp was genetically mutated and extremely smart.

But I hadn’t expected it to be this smart… able to predict my next move.

Still, I had no other choice.

Either I’d be skinned alive and eaten by the chimp or I’d jump and fall to my death.

Just as I was sinking into despair, my boyfriend Sebastian suddenly messaged me.

[Honey, I finished my work early and came back. I even brought you a small gift. The cab will be downstairs soon, remember to bring me down an umbrella.]

I couldn’t help but laugh and cry at once.

Sebastian had come back at this very moment.

No.

He definitely couldn’t come upstairs.

Benjamin was strong, but he couldn’t even beat that chimpanzee.

Sebastian was slender and skinny, there’s no way he could handle it.

Panicked, I called him, desperate to tell him not to come upstairs.

But he didn’t pick up.

I sent him a voice message.

“Sebastian, don’t come up! There’s a mutated chimpanzee at the door!”

“I’ve called the fire department, just wait until they get here!”

Still, there was no reply.

Then, through the rain, a taxi pulled up downstairs.

My phone rang. It was Sebastian.

“Jessica, what nonsense are you talking about? A chimpanzee?” he said, sounding confused. “If you want to see one, wait until the weekend, I’ll take you to the zoo…”

I cut him off.

“This isn’t the zoo! It’s one of the chimps from Sophia’s research lab, it escaped and now it’s trying to skin me alive!”

“Benjamin tried to save me, he’s already dead! Don’t come up here, or you’ll die too!”

I choked back a sob, thinking Sebastian would finally understand.

But instead, after a moment of silence, he exploded in anger.

“Jessica, are you hiding a man in your apartment? And now you’re making up this chimpanzee story to cover it up? Do you think I’m a three year old? That I’m that easy to fool?”

“I even bought you a gift on this business trip and now you’re making a fool of me. I’m going upstairs right now. I’ll catch you both red-handed!”

He hung up.

I couldn’t even cry.

If Sebastian came up now, he would die for sure.

I had to stop him, somehow!

Benjamin had already been killed saving me.

I couldn’t let Sebastian suffer the same fate.

I quickly dialed him again.

“I'm getting into the elevator,” he said coldly. “If you have something to say, say it to my face.”

I broke down and screamed, “Don’t go in the elevator! Sebastian, I’m not lying, there’s really a chimp outside the door! It’s mutated and dangerously smart, normal people can’t handle it!”

“If you don’t believe me, call Sophia. The lab exploded, they’re searching for it now! There’s no need to risk your life just to prove something to me!”

Sebastian scoffed.

“Everyone knows you and Sophia grew up practically wearing the same pair of pants. Getting her to vouch for you proves nothing!”

I was frantic, desperately trying to find a way to make him believe me.

Then, a breaking news alert popped up on my phone:

[URGENT: A chimpanzee has escaped from a local research institute as of 9 p.m. tonight. It is still at large. Residents are advised to lock all doors and windows and not approach the animal if spotted.]

I froze. It was Sophia’s institute.

Without a second thought, I forwarded the alert to Sebastian.

“Even if you don’t trust me or Sophia, you believe the news, don’t you?”

“I swear on everything I own, if I’m lying, may lightning strike me down!”

Sebastian knew I valued money like life itself.

If I swore on my fortune, it meant the situation was truly dire.

Sure enough, he finally believed me.

“There’s really a chimpanzee outside your door? What are you going to do? You can’t just sit there and wait to die. I’m coming up to save you!”

I quickly stopped him.

“You’re not strong enough!”

“The fire department and institute security are on the way.”

“Find a safe place to hide. If you can’t, go to the storeroom. Just don’t get hurt!”

Sebastian finally agreed and I let out a sigh of relief.

But something still felt off.

Why was it so quiet outside the door?

I hesitated, then crept to the peephole.

All I saw was a puddle of black blood.

Where had the chimp gone?

Had it been caught already? But then, why hadn’t I heard any fighting?

Just as I was puzzling over it, a foul stench wafted into my nose.

Then a clear, sticky liquid dripped onto the back of my neck.

My mind went blank.

I instinctively looked up and what I saw would haunt me forever.