My apartment is on the top floor of a four-story building. There is nothing above my unit but the roof — a flat, mechanicals-only roof accessible only through a locked door in the stairwell.
I have been hearing footsteps above me every night for two weeks.
They started subtly — something I could explain as building noise, HVAC, thermal expansion. But building noise doesn't have rhythm and pace and pauses where the footsteps pause, as though whatever is up there has stopped to listen for something.
I mentioned it to the building manager. She said no one had been on the roof. She unlocked the roof door and checked. Nothing. She said old buildings make sounds.
Night eight, I began timing it. The footsteps start at approximately 11:40 PM and continue until approximately 2 AM. They're not random. They move — from one part of the roof to another, with deliberate pattern. Back and forth along one stretch, then stopping, then a long crossing to the other side, then back.
Night eleven, I went to the roof door myself. I unlocked it. I stood at the bottom of the stairs that lead to the roof access hatch and listened. I could hear them clearly — above me, through the hatch — without the muffling of my ceiling. Steady. Even. Unhurried.
I did not open the hatch.
Night thirteen, the footsteps stopped midway through. At approximately 12:30, they simply ceased. No gradual receding, no movement to the roof exit, no fading — just stopped.
Then they started again. Directly above my bed. Moving slowly, back and forth, in the tight space directly above where I sleep.
I have moved my bed to the living room.
Tonight is night fifteen. I can hear them starting up again, from the far side of the roof, making their way over. Taking their time.
I'm timing how long it takes them to reach the spot above the living room.
I don't know what I'll do when they do.