Elias’ Crimes and Punishments of Romance

“What are you talking about? There’s nothing beside me,” Amanda replied, her fear mingled. with a suspicion that Elias might be playing a prank on her.

“Honey, I swear something is moving next to you. Just turn around and see for yourself.”

She reluctantly complied, but there was nothing there. It was becoming evident that the man. was attempting to spook her. “Elias! Seriously? How old are you? How childish can you be? You scared me!”

Elias couldn’t help but chuckle at Amanda’s irritation. “Since you’re so scared, why don’t you. your dear husband keep you company while you sleep? I promise not to do anything. I’ll just obediently stay by your side.”

“No, thanks! No matter what happens tonight, you can’t sleep on the bed. If you dare to, I’ll get mad and won’t talk to you for a month.”

“Alright, alright, you go to sleep. I won’t bother you anymore.” Although he wanted to sleep. on the bed, he didn’t want to provoke his wife or risk her leaving home.

Amanda lay back down and chose to ignore Elias, but she still couldn’t fall asleep.

Noticing her restlessness, he suggested, “If you can’t sleep, how about I tell a story, just like we did to help Aiden fall asleep?”

She didn’t respond but let him proceed.

So, Elias adjusted into a more relaxed position, facing Amanda from the couch, and began, “Let me share a real-life experience from when I was studying abroad. My father insisted I keep my background a secret, so I rented an apartment. Most of the tenants were working professionals and students. Nothing unusual happened during my first week there, but I sensed movement under my bed one night while I was asleep.”

body tensed involuntarily. Driven by her. curiosity, she pressed, “And then?”

I turned on the light and checked under the bed but found nothing. However, I

find?

first, I thought it belonged to the previous tenant and decided to return it to her, thinking it might be some kind of special token of

him. “So, is the bracelet left by the

the bracelet and placed it on the table, the movement. under the bed stopped for the night. However, I started hearing strange noises coming from the table.

unconsciously held onto her blanket tightly. She had a deep fear of ghosts and the unknown.

visited the landlord and informed her about the bracelet. Her response was quite peculiar. Her face

does

the landlord’s windowsill. Later, I learned that a murder occurred in my rented room. It was

pale, and she gripped her blanket tightly. “So, you’re saying that bracelet belonged to the murdered woman? How is that even possible? The police would have investigated the scene thoroughly and wouldn’t leave such a crucial piece of evidence. behind. And even

quite the mystery, right? I can’t explain

hearing those noises under the bed, and after you. picked up the bracelet, the eerie sounds resumed.”

to indulge in her

tiny beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She had a deep fear of such supernatural occurrences. At that moment, she couldn’t bear

Elias could

huddled on the bed, shivering, and didn’t dare to turn around. Even though a man was lying on the couch staring at her, she

atmosphere to get

feeling of something lurking under the bed haunting her. This unease was precisely why she avoided horror movies. altogether. After a while of tossing and