The Knocking

Knock,knock - twice, perfectly sounded,as she was barely awake that time in the morning.

She was ready to say anything automatic like "Come in", but, for some reason she could not understand, none of the appropriate words came out. She simply slided back into the covers and took some time to try to figure out what was going on. Her parents had been out for the weekend and she had been enjoying every single minute of the "living alone" life since the previous friday. Those were days when the kitchen was all hers to fry anything greasy and smelly, the living room was all hers to watch TV or DVDs soundly and the bathroom was all hers to take all time wanted in bath. It had been a while since the last time it happened and it would probably take a while longer until the next time it would take place again.

So it was sunday already, huh? No surprise the house would not be all hers anymore. But still, it was too early for her to say goodbye to freedom. Not that it was the main reason for her to be in denial about the knocking. But because her parents were supposed to be home around five in the afternoon. What time was it then? Six in the morning? Of course plans are always meant to be changed, but that would be really unexpected. Perhaps they had a good reason for that. Even so, she just could not move from her bed or even reply. What the hell was going on there? She did not know or bother to explain. Her body was stuck or something.

She thought about the dog. Yes, they had a pretty loud and grumpy old dog that would bark til death for anything that crossed the front yard. From the family members to a stranded bird. Someone would always have to go there and beg him to stop that annoying noise. Nevertheless, nothing was heard from the dog this time. Not one piece of barking. No other sound was heard either. No one talking, opening doors, getting something from the fridge or anything normal that would be heard if anyone had arrived. The house just sounded absolutely empty as it was when she went to bed no longer than 3 hours earlier than that. Emptiness does not knock though. And even though she was trying hard to convince herself that noise was anything-in-the-freaking-world-else, she knew it was a clear and unquestionable knock.

Some minutes had gone by since the awakening sound. She had time to calm down. But the door remained closed. And she remained in silence, as the rest of the house. First she took her cell phone from the charger. No calls received. Just a couple of social media noise from friends. Checking those messages and photos got her attention from that for a while. She also read her e-mail with her online daily french lesson. Yet, she did not open. The last thing she wanted now was to practice french. She would not want to make sounds now. No special reason. She just felt better and safer at that moment if nothing from her could be heard by anyone or anything. A picture of her best friend wearing something weird on her head at a party the night before made her smile. She chose not to go so as to spend that precious time home alone. Now she kinda regret that decision. Comments about her instagrammed picture of the pizza she prepared herself hours ago, much after ordinary people had finished dinner, was also amusing. Some were hungry just to look at that. Others were questioning how could someone cook and eat that around 2 AM. She was happy she could have done so with no one complaining. And at that very moment she could remember how amazing it tasted. She could eat another one. A whole new one.

She spent half an hour trying to clean her mind but it was useless after all. She noticed that when she googled "knocking on the door meaning" when she could swear she had forgotten all that. Well, some song lyrics, funny videos and movie trailers appeared first. But then some forums showed as well. And even a paranormal themed blog. Most of them did not say anything really interesting or effective. But then one caught her eye. It was a website about ancient spirits and demons. But that post was very straight, short and clear about mysterious knocking on doors. "Do not open!" - it said. "If youŕe sure no one is in the house, and that door is being knocked by the unknown, it is deeply important that you do not open. You dont wanna answer that call". Alright, that was enough to freak her out for a moment. She really wish she was not home alone anymore. She probably never missed her parents or their complaining over pretty much everything so much! She felt like going anywhere but the idea of crossing that door was nulled. No more knocking heard til then, but she was still wrapped up in fear, with a creepy sensation that just would not leave.

It was 9 AM already. What, she had spent like three hours on that ridiculous situation? She was starting to be ashamed. And also a little anguished. That bedroom felt out of oxygen after so long barely moving in there. She surely had spent much more time there a million times before without even noticing. But now it was unbearable. There was that small detail too...she needed to pee! Water would also be very welcome, but the toilet was all she could think about now.

What was that? The subtle sound of someone moving things in the living room? First it was a shock, but then she was absolutely happy. It made sense. Her parents were probably home. Maybe they had arrived that early for some incident during the trip and then took some time to rest a little more at home. They didnt want to wake her up either. Not trying harder than a little knock unanswered. Now they were starting a normal day. She could even imagine her dad at the sofa with that blue mug of coffee and her mom reading the newspaper beside him at the armchair. During that delicious thought her phone vibrated. Text from "MOM". She could not be happier even before opening the message. The fear was all gone now. She was just about to be sure they were home. But that was until she actually read it. "Honey, leaving the hotel now. I believe we will be home in about three hours or so. Please feed the dog. Mom".

KNOCK, KNOCK - a little louder and certainly a lot clearer now.

She held a scream by suffocating it with both hands. There were tears she could feel running down her face though. She was out of control and for some reason she knew that whatever was knocking would not give up. She was in absolute panic but her mind could still work. She was very smooth and silent to take that old and dirty baseball bat under the desk. She had it there since she was seven for she hated to sleep alone. Her dad gave her that bat in order to make her feel safer. He could never understand that the boogie man feared no bats. But she felt better just to have it there, and lucky that she never really had to use it. Until now.

She stood up and held it on her left hand. With the right one she slowly started to turn the knob. Once it was at its limit, she pulled the door all of a sudden with all the stentgh she had. A creepy cold wind passed her through and she could feel shivers all over. She felt immediately pushed back by something she did not see. She was sure to have fallen with her back against the floor, but quickly stood up again and crossed the door line.

It all seemed to be gone. No more shivers, no more cold, no more sounds. She looked at the floor ahead and the old family dog was sit in front of her. He was starring at something behind her. She could hear him crying real low, differently from how he sounded most of the time. She said his name once or twice but he could not take his eyes from whatever it was. She bended down to touch him but he seemed to leave hesitation behind at the same moment. He passed her by and ran into her room. She would follow him with her eyes to finally see what was catching his attention so deeply. Then she saw him crying and desperately trying to get any reaction... from her! She was there, eyes wide opened, fallen on the floor.

She tried to scream but no sounds could be made by her anymore. She could now see the empty and deep black smile of death standing in front of her. Those eyes were made of nothing and yet contained all the horror you could feel when you knew it was over. She looked at her dead body once more and regret she had opened that door. She had answered the knocking. She had answered the call of death. Now there was nothing else to do but to follow that horrible figure into darkness.