The Knocking from Behind the Wall

The Knocking from Behind the Wall

by Tyler Tronny

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The world can be a strange and mysterious place, filled with little quirks and oddities that sometimes just can't be explained. I live in a small town called Darksmouth and the people here have always told me that things aren't always what they seem. It's only just recently I've started to understand what those words from my childhood actually met.

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It was a gloomy winter night just like any other for the people of Darksmouth. I just had one of those days, tiredly running all over college campus, from my elaborate classes that started at 8 in the morning all the way to my final class in the wintery dark of 6 in the evening. The final weekdays of classes were always like this, which simply made me enjoy every moment of my weekends even more. I can’t understand why our local college would put such heavy technical classes during this ridiculous time slot. The dark winter’s night listening to a lecture heavy class about the highly technical field of photography, I’m sure it was fascinating. So fascinating in fact that it’s very possible my eyes glazed under the weight of the teacher’s brilliantly teaching tactics of having us listening to his every word while in the dark classroom with only the slight light shining from the projector and our computer screens glimmering a bit of life into me.

Normally after days like this, I would take advantage of an early start on my weekend. I could have gone home, lay in bed or even on the couch cuddling with my boyfriend while having a relaxing binge of whatever series or films him and I would be in the mood for, but not today. No, today had other plans for me. You see, during my lunch period I got a text message from my job asking me if I could come in after class for an evening shift, cause the new girl called in sick today, and like the good little girl that I am, who doesn't want to disappoint, I said yes. I guess I thought, "sure I needed the money, so why not!", so after class I ended up driving directly to work.

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​I was exhausted, but I needed the money. If it met standing up on my tired legs for 4 more hours, I was okay with that. I really wanted to go home and just lay in bed, but it was for the money, I'm only doing this job because I want to save for my future with my boyfriend Damian, and I was determined to push through this miserable work shift, push until the ticking clock thundering in the empty shop straight to my eardrums finally hit the end of my shift. Soon I'll be back home in the arms of my sweet Damian.

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The clock finally struck 10 and I could officially lock everything down and close up the shop. I don’t even understand why my boss called me in, empty aisles, not a single customer today, it was like a ghost town. It was about 11 when I finally left work and I was already yearning for the sweet comfort of warmth. It’s funny, I almost missed the heated safety of the empty ghost store I’ve been roaming around for the past 4 hours when faced with the chilling temperature currently glooming over Darksmouth, I forced my eyes wide open, driving straight back home, music hitting me like a ton of brick, volume loud on the radio with the heater turned off so that the icy cold from the outside would shock my body awake.

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I finally arrived at my cozy house, calling me in the darkest of night as I yearned for the feeling of a hot chocolate keeping me warm while cuddling with my boyfriend by the fireplace. I could feel my frustrations of such a horrid day melting away as I was walking to my door. After entering the house, I started to strip out of my winter wear to put on a pair of cozy slippers. I heard the sound of a door opening and saw Damian, my sweet, standing at the end of the corridor looking at me. I smiled and waved at him, but he simply stared at me without saying a word.

"Damian, is everything okay?" I asked, feeling slightly worried, but he didn't say a thing.

​He simply continued his way from our room and just walked straight into the bathroom silently. It was odd seeing him like this, he usually greeted me. In the three, going on four years we've been together, seeing him glancing straight at me without saying anything kinda felt out of character for him, kinda like if he was mindlessly sleepwalking. Now obviously, I was a little upset, after the hellish day I just had, seeing my boyfriend, my rock, avoiding me like that, without giving me a single ​"hello, sweetie" or "how was your day, honey?" like he usually does, kinda troubled me. I didn’t even get one of his warm hugs, especially on such a freezing night... What was going on? It felt like rubbing salt in an already frustrated wound, and I may have let the fatigue get the better of me, pushing my annoyance over the edge.

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​"​Are you serious right now?" I burst in anger at the lingering empty corridor.

"Yeah! Go bloody hide in the toilet! I'm burned out from running around all day and you don't even say one little hi or anything to your freezing girlfriend!" I said while fumingly walking down the corridor towards the bathroom, ready to confront him, but…

Something unexpected stopped me, a voice took me by surprise midway through the hallway, when crossing the dining room.

​"Honey? Who are you talking to?"

​I turned towards the voice and saw Damian sitting right there at the kitchen table, hiding behind his notebook computer. I must have looked incredibly puzzled as I stared at him with confusion at what exactly just happened.

​"How did-- How did you do that?!" I confusingly exclaimed.

"How did I do what?" He asked with a puzzled look looming across his face.

​"When I came in, I saw you... You were at the end of the corridor not even a minute ago."

Hearing the words that were coming out of my mouth sounded a little absurd​. Damian's confused face cracked a bit of a smile and said "Haha, funny. You almost had me for a moment there."

​​"No, I'm serious, are you messing with me? I saw you come out of our room looking straight at me and you just walked into the bathroom without saying a single thing to me..."

His smile soon vanished though after my slight panicked outburst. I could feel my fatigued eyes tearing as the worrying words came out of my trembling voice. Damian looked at me with worry in his eyes. "Sweetie..." he said as he stood up from his chair and came in to finally give me a hug I was yearning for.

​"No, I'm not messing with you, I've been sitting here deep diving in my writing for at least a good hour now, so I'm pretty sure whatever you saw, it wasn't me. It's late, maybe you're just feeling tired it's all, how was your day? Do you want me to make you a nice hot chocolate to warm up those icy hands of yours?"

I didn't answer, Damian's warmth was all I desired. I wanted this hug to last forever, living in this moment with his arms wrapped around me warming my still shivering body from the horrid winter glooming on the outside. I still wasn't enterally convinced by what I saw, but I didn't care. I had a long tiring day and I just didn't want to think about it any more.

"I'd love one of your hot chocolate, but give me just a few more moments of body heat."

Damian smiled warmly at me and said "Sure thing, if that's why you need it, my adorable sweetness."

---

It was an uneventful night, well that is until both Damian and I went to bed. I wish I could control my thoughts better, I rarely watch horror movies because my mind has been known to play tricks on me, walking from school during a wintery sunset as the shadows start creeping and crawling towards you. You end up fighting your pattern seaking brain that is looking for things you really shouldn't be looking for. Was that it? My exhausted brain playing tricks on me? That's when I heard it... Coming from the behind wall at the foot of the bed, strange noises, light scratching and tapping. Coming from the same wall that separated our room from the bathroom, the same bathroom that I saw the silent lookalike entering earlier... I was frozen with dread looking at the wall I could hear.

​*tap-- tap-- tap tap*

The tapping was getting louder, eventually turning into a light knocking... What was making this sound? Was someone on the other side of the wall? The questions were like a torrent in my mind, and my imagination was putting my body in a freezing state of fear... But then... The knocking started to move. Slowly, but surely it was moving towards our bedroom door...

*tap-- tap-- tap tap*

I was panicked, I was fighting my body to move out of this state of fear, but I just laid there, feeling the heavy weight of what was tormenting me pushing me down. Body turned cold as a chill slithered down my spine and then I saw it. From the corner of my eye, I saw the door knob was beginning to turn just slightly. I could feel my tears sliding down my cheeks, I had enough, I closed my eyes, hoping that I was simply having a bad dream.

"It's nothing, it's nothing... It's just your silly little imagination playing tricks on you. You're just tired that's all." I pleaded.

I hid my head under the covers, hoping that I could muffle the scratching, tapping and knocking coming from behind the wall, and then I felt a bit of warmth. Damian, still sleeping, cuddled up to me. I could feel the reassuring warmth of his body close to mine, calming me down and I heard him whisper.

"AhuuUm, Anna... Cold..." Damian's said with a shivering voice.

I blushed a little and responded "Sorry, Damian."

"No, it's okay." I heard him say in his sleep.

I smiled a little and whispered, "I love you, Damian." in his ear.

Then I felt Damian putting his hand on mine, sleep whispering my name. "I love you too, Anna." and then... The sun came up, and the next day arrived, a completely normal pleasant day without anything out of the ordinary.

---

The days passed on by, just like any other day... Then the days turned into weeks, the weeks turned to months... The recollection of what happened on that strange day ended up getting pushed at the back of my mind, like a bad dream forgotten by time. Life was good, Damian and I were happy... But... One day every memory, every emotion, every single thing from that day came flooding back to me. I was making supper for Damian and myself when I heard his voice coming from behind me.

"Welcome home, sweetti--"

I turned with a welcoming smile on my face, but my warm smile went cold as soon as I saw my boyfriend’s troubled gaze, he seemed nervous and a little panicked.

"Anna... Is there someone else in the house with us?" He said to me, looking as if he had seen a ghost.

At that moment, it was like someone cracked a dam causing a deluge in my mind of long forgotten memories. At that moment, I knew exactly what Damian was talking about, because that look of troubled confusion he was giving me was the same confusion I was feeling on that exact day, one year ago.

"What did you see?" I asked gravely. I needed to hear him say it.

"You... I saw you... I saw you come out of the bathroom, you were staring straight at me with a smile and then you entered our room."

I looked at Damian with worry, why now? After so long, why now? I dreaded this worrisome feeling, but my unease escalated to true panic after I heard one little sound coming down our corridor, cutting through the silence.

*tap-- tap-- tap tap*

"Do you hear that--" I stopped Damian's interrogation midway, putting a finger to my lips, shushing him.

"Be quiet" I whispered to him, putting on a brave face to hide the trembling chills slithering down my spine.

*tap-- tap-- tap tap*

I walked towards the elongated hallway, focusing my gaze towards the bedroom door at the far end of it, staring it down, listening carefully at the thick heavy silence for the acoustic knife to strike once again.

...

...

...

*KNOCK!-- KNOCK!-- KNOCK! KNOCK!*

The bedroom door trembled to the furious knocking from behind the door.

"Damian, what should we do?" I asked, turning back at the kitchen towards him, but... Damian vanished... 

"Damian? Damian?! Damian, where did you go?!" I whispered to myself in a panic, wondering what happened to my sweet Damian, where did he go?

*KNOCK!-- KNOCK!-- KNOCK! KNOCK!*

The knocking became angrier now, most desperate, almost like something was desperately trying to escape, my blood was chilling through my trembling body as I walked closer and closer to the door.

*KNOCK!-- KNOCK!-- KNOCK! KNOCK!*

What's hiding behind my door?

*KNOCK!--*

Did something happen to him?

*KNOCK!--*

Where did he go?

*KNOCK! KNOCK!*

Damian?

My heart was racing, it took all of my strength to push through and enter the bedroom door. The room was cold and I could see several boxes in the corner, all well packed. I heard a heavy impact hitting the ground behind me, the sounds were coming from Damian. 

"Damian, I'm so glad you're okay!" I said without thinking.

Damian didn't say anything.

"Damian?" I asked, not sure what was going on here.

I then saw what my boyfriend was doing. He was moving and packing things inside the bedroom, why was he putting my stuff in one of those boxes?

"Damian, what's going here?" I exclaimed loudly, but he didn't answer.

Damian stopped packing for a moment in silence.

"I can't do this anymore." He whispered under his breath.

"What are you talking about? Why are you packing my stuff? Are-- Are you breaking up with me?" I confusingly asked him, desperately wanting a reassuring answer.

"I'm sorry..." Damian whispered again, this time with a little more pain in his voice.

"What? Why? You're not making any sense... Whatever's wrong, I know we can work it out, Damian. Please..." I could feel the tears slithering down my cheeks as I tried to grasp for air, choking on my words.

"Please, Damian! Love you so much! What do I have to do? I don't want you to leave me."

The silence was deafening, my heart was pounding, the room was stretching as I was gasping for air.

"So cold..." 

*KNOCK!* 

A knock reverberating down the hallway coming from our front door broke me out of my anxiety induced trance.

I slowly walked up the corridor towards the origin of the sound, there were boxes here at the entrance door as well and an older woman entered through the frame, I recognized her face... What was Damian's mother doing here?

"Are you almost done?" The woman asked calmly.

"I just have a few more boxes left..." I heard from behind me, I turned to see Damian, looking sad, messy long hair and unkempt beard.

"Damian..." I whispered as a tear dropped from my eye. What happened to my sweet angel of warmth... Why was he feeling so cold and sad?

Damian's mother came in for a hug "I know it's hard, sweetie, but I'm glad you finally had the strength to move forward." she said as the loving caring mother I've always known her to be.

Damian was trying to keep his sadness under control, but broke down into tears in his mother's arms. "Oh gods! I just miss her so much!" Hearing those words, broke me. As an eldritch chill came crawling back through my body, all I could whisper under my choking breath was "Don't cry."

Damian dropped to the floor in tears as his mother continued holding him close.

"There, there... Let it out, sweetie. Let it all out. After the year you had, it's normal to let yourself feel again. You're healing." She said reassuringly.

"That stupid job of hers. I should have done more, maybe then she wouldn’t have..."

"It wasn't your fault, Damian." She said, while trying to be strong for her only son.

...

"She was right... It wasn't his fault… Damian… It wasn’t your fault..."

...

"It was mine..."

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*KNOCK!-- KNOCK!-- KNOCK! KNOCK!*

The slithering dark ice of the night, the lingering cold. I lost control for one split second as the light of a trucker blinded me... As the cold lingered so did I, off road in the dark... Knocking, banging and trying desperately to scratch my way out... Screaming for help, thinking.... "Why here, why now? Why did it have to be in a dark zone, cut off from the world." Wishing that I could’ve called my boyfriend to hear his reassuring voice, telling me to hold on a little longer as he tried to call the emergency services to save me from this icy hell. Wishing I could be held in the warm arms of my sweet Damian one last time, holding my tears in as much as I could, as the lingering hand of death finally took away my suffering with the remaining strength in my weakening arms, all I could do was put my stiffening fingers to the window and...

*tap-- tap-- tap tap*

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