My One Horror

Keyhole

Walking up the creaking steps, the house moans into the windy night. There were empty echoes heard as the floorboards squealed under my weight as I headed upstairs for bed. While brushing my teeth, I hear my mom yell from downstairs the same thing she says to me every night. "Don't go into my office, just knock if you need anything". And I respond with the same plain "K". It's routine at this point.

...

My eyes flutter open and I turn my head lethargically to the side. My clock reads 12:00 am in big, bold, red numbers. Drowsy, I close my eyes again, only to jolt upright by a loud thump. I try to ignore it, opting to go back to sleep. It kept happening again and again and again until it left my nerves with no traces of sleep and only annoyance. The sheets bunched up as I dragged my body sluggishly from the comfort of my bed. My feet hit the floor, and I tiptoed to the door. I flinched as the door produced a shrill scream when I opened it and my face scrunched up as the light from the hallway hurt my tired eyes.

Stepping into the hallway, I overlooked the railing and stared down. There laid a black pit at the bottom of the stairs, created by the darkness that the night brought. I turned and followed the unknown thumps. I crept down the hall and stopped to listen for any other sounds. The loud bangs led me: thump, thud, thump, thud. Finally, I stopped in front of a door; it was my mom's office. I turned my head side to side, behind and all around, listening to make sure no one was awake or around. The only sound was the dings of the wind chimes howling into the night. Quietly, I tried to open the door, jiggling the knob when it wouldn't open.

Crouching down, I looked through the keyhole of the rusted-round door knob and narrowed my eyes trying to see through to the other side. Looking through the rusted hole, I tilted my head in confusion as I stared at myself blinking on the other side. Was there a mirror in front of the door? I don't remember there being one. I froze as I realized I hadn't blinked that time. There was someone on the other side of the door. I staggered back landing on my backside, and shuffled backwards with my hands.

Footsteps cascaded down the hall towards me until there was nothing but blank silence. All except for my racing heartbeat that was rushing blood to my ears and my uneven breathing. Tilting my head back slowly, I saw a figure standing in the darkness above me, staring down. I waited with an unabandoned panic, only for relief to wash over me when I heard the figure speak. Watching as they parted their lips and said, "I told you to knock".

"Mom?" I said with relief. "What are you doing? You scared me," I said, laughing nervously.

My mom just stared down at me blankly. "Did you see anything?" she said coldly.

"What?" I said, confused.

"Did you see anything?" She repeated, only this time yelling and grabbing my wrist, yanking me up off the ground.

Pain spreads from my wrist up the length of my arm as my mom's grip tightened. "Stop it, you're hurting me," I say with a pained voice.

"Stop avoiding my question. I will ask you one more time. Did you see anything" she shouted, only to shake me by the arm like a predator trying to tear apart its prey.

"No, I didn't see anything," I said, hoping that she would let me go.

"Oh whoops, sorry honey" she said laughing, changing her demeanor from cold to apologetic. "I thought you may ha-, oh never mind", she swatted the air like she was trying to get rid of what she was about to say, "Did I hurt you? Let me see," she said, going to grab my wrist.

"I'm fine," I said, avoiding her touch, rubbing the bruise beginning to form.

My mom smiles at me; it looks strange on her after she stared at me with cold eyes only moments before. She continues to smile and give me a kiss goodnight on the forehead, as she walks away. I watch the back of her head and the sway of her brown hair as she takes out a gold key from her pocket and unlocks her office door. I continue to stare ahead watching my mom and a pair of glowing eyes burn holes through me from the confines of my mom's office. A chill crept up my spine and I turned around heading down the dark hall, the tick of the wall clock walking with me. I closed my door only to hear another thump.