Cracks in the silence

The night after Liya's confession was quiet. Too quiet.

The three of them barely spoke as they got ready for bed. The tension in the room hung like a thick fog, heavy, suffocating.

Liya noticed that Maya stayed unusually close to her the entire evening, as if afraid to be alone. Even Sana, despite her earlier bravado, seemed a little quieter than usual.

"Don't stay up scrolling all night," Sana muttered as she slipped into bed.

"Don't worry," Liya said flatly. "I'm not planning to."

Maya gave a nervous smile from her bed but said nothing.

The lights went off, plunging the room into darkness.

---

Liya tossed and turned for hours. Each time her eyes drifted shut, her mind conjured that shadow standing behind the wardrobe door.

At one point, she swore she heard soft footsteps outside the room, but when she strained to listen, the dorm hall was completely silent.

Finally, exhaustion took over, and her thoughts began to blur.

---

Bang.

Liya's eyes shot open.

The room was dark, but something felt... wrong. The air felt colder than before, and her heart pounded violently in her chest.

She turned her head, scanning the room. Nothing looked unusual at first, Maya's blanket was pulled up to her chin, her breathing soft and steady. Sana lay with her back to them, curled up under her blanket.

Liya exhaled shakily.

Maybe I imagined it...

Then she heard it.

A faint tap... tap... tap... like fingernails gently drumming on wood.

It was coming from the wardrobe.

Liya froze, her breath caught in her throat.

The tapping stopped... and then...

Creeeaaak...

The wardrobe door moved, just an inch.

Her pulse thundered in her ears as she stared at the gap. The room was too dark to see anything inside, but her mind filled the emptiness with terrible images, a shadow shifting, a hand reaching out...

"Psst... Maya!" Liya whispered urgently, barely daring to move.

No response.

She tried again. "Maya, wake up!"

Still nothing.

Gritting her teeth, Liya turned her gaze back to the wardrobe. The door hadn't moved any further... but somehow, that felt even worse.

She couldn't take her eyes off it.

For what felt like hours, she lay frozen, watching the shadowy gap in the door. Her chest ached from holding her breath.

Eventually, her eyelids grew heavy, and despite the fear curling tightly inside her, sleep dragged her under.

---

Liya woke to sunlight filtering through the curtains.

For a brief, blissful second, she forgot everything, the shadow, the whispers, the wardrobe.

Then she remembered.

She bolted upright, her gaze darting to the wardrobe.

The door was shut.

Liya's stomach twisted. Had she imagined it? Or... had something been there after all?

---

Later that morning, while Maya brushed her hair in front of the mirror, Liya finally spoke.

"Maya... did you hear anything last night?"

Maya paused, lowering her brush slowly. "No... why?"

"I..." Liya hesitated. "I heard something. From the wardrobe."

Maya's face paled instantly. "Like... what?"

"Like... tapping," Liya said quietly. "And the door... it moved."

Maya stared at her for a moment before setting her brush down with shaking hands.

"I don't like this," Maya muttered. "First your shadow, then my nightmare... now this?"

Before Liya could answer, Sana walked in, tossing her bag on her bed.

"Oh great," Sana groaned, rolling her eyes. "Are we still talking about this?"

"Sana," Maya said firmly. "I think something's seriously wrong here."

Sana snorted. "Oh, sure. Because 'ghosts' are real."

"You didn't hear what Liya just said," Maya snapped.

"I heard," Sana said dryly. "The wardrobe door 'moved.' Big deal. Maybe you left it open."

"I know what I saw," Liya muttered.

"Well, if this 'ghost' is real," Sana said smugly, "I guess I'm next in line, huh?" She shot them a teasing grin. "Maybe I'll ask it to do my homework."

"That's not funny," Maya muttered.

"Relax," Sana said, flopping onto her bed. "If this 'ghost' wants to mess with me, let it try."

Liya and Maya exchanged a worried glance.

Sana may have laughed it off now...

But tonight was yet to come.

And the room no longer felt like theirs alone.