Dark Flutters: Stories for a Moonless Night

Someone's At The Door

                                                               Someone's At The Door

The knocking started softly. Just a soft rap against the door and nothing more.

Jodie looked up from the table, where her textbooks lay scattered before her. She glanced at the clock as she rose from her chair. It was ten at night. Who would be knocking at this hour?

Her parents wouldn’t be home until after midnight and she told her friends she would be studying, much to their disappointment. She glanced at the door as she stepped towards it. What could someone want this late at night?

She frowned as she moved closer to the door. It couldn’t be anything good, that was for sure. Worry knotted in her stomach as her hand reached out to turn on the porch light.

Three heavy raps echoed through the living room as the unknown visitor knocked again. These were confidant and loud, as if the visitor could sense her on the other side of the door.

She quickly flicked on the porch light and leaned towards the peephole. Her heart stuttered as she gazed outside. The front porch was completely empty.

Jodie blinked in shock. Somebody was messing with her. She let out a slow breath as she realized it must be one of her friends. They knew she was home alone and thought they’d have a little fun with her. She shook her head as she watched out the peephole. She wasn’t going to fall for their games.

The door shook under her palms as someone knocked again, their impatience sounding in each loud blow. She froze as her eyes took in the scene outside. The porch was still empty. She backed away from the door, fear trickling down her spine. Who was knocking on the door if no one was out there?

Once again, three more knocks sounded. The door shivered under the impact of them. She turned and fled the living room. She didn’t want to spend one more minute near that door. She made her way past the kitchen and upstairs towards her parent’s bedroom. There she would find sanctuary from whoever was outside.

She quickly went in and shut the door behind her, sliding the lock firmly in place. Glancing around her, she nervously sat down on the end of her parent’s king-sized bed. She took a deep breath before letting out a relived sigh. She wouldn’t have to hear that knocking up here.

Jodie looked around the room, hoping to locate the remote to her parent’s TV. She could just watch movies in here until her parents came home. They wouldn’t mind. She got up from the bed and picked up the remote from the nightstand. Her fingers had no sooner curled around it when she heard three light raps on the bedroom window.

She froze, causing the remote to slide out of her hand. She couldn’t believe it. The knocking had followed her all the way up here. She backed up slowly, heading for the door. This was impossible. There was no way anybody could be outside that window.

Her parents’ bedroom was on the second story.

She spun around, lunging towards the door. She frantically tore at the lock. She had to get out of the room. If it could manage to stand outside of that window, it could come through it with no problem.

Her trembling fingers managed to slide the lock. She flung the door open wide; escaping into the hall away from whoever was hovering outside the window. She headed quickly down the hall and towards the far end of the house, where her bedroom lay.

Her mouth went dry as she heard rapping from above her head. Glancing up, she tried to keep her feet moving. Tears formed in her eyes as she stared at the ceiling above her. Someone was knocking on the roof.

Jodie tried to make her mind go blank. She didn’t want to imagine what might be lurking just beyond the wood that sheltered her from the elements. Whatever it was couldn’t be human. She sprinted towards her bedroom and hurried in, slamming the door behind her. She dove onto her bed, remembering the safety it used to provide her as a child, when the darkness would terrify her late at night.

She slipped under the covers, pulling them over her head; too terrified to do anything else. Something was outside and wanted in. She held back a whimper as she tried to steady her breathing. It hadn’t forced its way in yet. Maybe it couldn’t. Maybe she had to let it in.

A tiny surge of hope flooded through her with this thought. Maybe if she just stayed here it would go away. Childhood beliefs would be her shield as she hid deep in her blankets.

She laid there, trying to keep her body from shaking, listening to the silence filling her room. She would do this. She would out wait this thing.

Suddenly from under the bed, three loud knocks rang out against the metal frame.