Presence in the dark

The night had settled heavily over the dormitory. Unlike the previous nights, there was no storm outside, no eerie howls of the wind against the windows, just a deep, oppressive silence that seemed almost unnatural.

Sana lay in bed, facing the wall, her blanket pulled up to her chin. Her mind replayed the conversations from earlier, Maya's unease, Liya's terrifying encounter, and the nightmare that had shaken her just the night before. But she refused to let any of it get to her.

It's all in their heads. And maybe in mine, too.

She squeezed her eyes shut, taking a slow breath. She didn't believe in ghosts. Spirits. Paranormal nonsense. There had to be a logical explanation for everything.

Then why was her heart pounding so loudly in the silence?

Liya and Maya had already fallen asleep, their slow, rhythmic breathing the only sound in the room. The faint glow of the streetlamp outside cast long shadows against the walls, flickering through the sheer curtains.

Sana turned onto her back, exhaling sharply. She needed to clear her mind.

Then, it happened.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

A slow, deliberate sound.

Her breath hitched.

It wasn't from the window. It wasn't from outside.

It came from within the room.

Sana's fingers curled around the edge of her blanket as she turned her head slightly. The sound had come from the far end of the room, near the wardrobe.

She held her breath, waiting.

Silence.

Her shoulders relaxed slightly. Maybe she had imagined it.

And then....

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Three knocks. Slow, methodical, like someone testing if they were being heard.

Sana's throat went dry.

She glanced toward Maya and Liya's beds. They didn't stir. They hadn't heard it.

Or worse, they couldn't.

A cold shiver ran down her spine.

Her eyes flickered to the wardrobe, where the sound had come from. The doors were shut, just like they had been before they all went to bed.

But something felt off.

It was the shadows.

The wardrobe stood in the dim glow from the window, but the space beneath it… it was too dark.

Too deep.

As if something was lurking underneath it.

She swallowed hard, willing herself to look away.

It's nothing. You're scaring yourself for no reason.

Sana turned over, facing the wall again, forcing her eyes shut.

And then, ever so slowly.....

Creeeaaak.

Her entire body stiffened.

That wasn't the wardrobe. That was something else.

Something moving.

A slow, dragging sound against the wooden floor.

Like someone crawling.

Sana's entire body locked in place. The dragging sound was faint, so faint that she almost convinced herself it wasn't real. Almost.

She shut her eyes tightly, her pulse hammering in her ears. Don't turn around. Just don't.

But the sound didn't stop.

A slow, deliberate pull against the floor. A pause. And then another pull.

Something was crawling.

The realization sent ice through her veins. It wasn't just a sound. It was real.

Her fingers clenched around the fabric of her blanket, her breathing shallow.

And then,... it stopped.

For a long moment, there was only silence. The kind of silence that pressed against her ears, making every second unbearable.

Sana swallowed, her throat painfully dry. Maybe it was just her mind playing tricks. Maybe she was...

A whisper.

Right next to her ear.

Not a word. Not a breath. Just a sound.

Sana's eyes shot open. No.

It had stopped crawling because it was right behind her.

Her body was rigid with terror, every instinct screaming at her not to turn around. But she could feel it.

A presence. A weight in the air.

It was there. Right behind her.

Sana's fingers dug into the sheets. She squeezed her eyes shut again, willing herself not to react. It's not real. It's not real. It's not real.

Then, a sharp pull at her blanket.

Not a light tug. A full, forceful yank.

Sana's breath hitched. She almost screamed, almost bolted upright, but she couldn't. Her body refused to move.

The blanket settled back. Nothing more happened.

Seconds stretched into eternity.

Then, the mattress dipped.

Sana felt it. The weight.

Something was getting onto her bed.

Her chest seized in terror. This wasn't like Maya's eerie tapping or Liya's unsettling whispers. This was real. Something was physically there.

A deep, suffocating dread wrapped around her as the presence behind her shifted.

And then....

A breath against her neck.

Cold. Shallow. Too close.

Sana snapped.

She jerked up with a strangled gasp, her body shaking violently as she threw herself backward, away from whatever was behind her.

The room was empty.

No shadow. No figure. No sign of movement.

But her blanket lay twisted, half hanging off the bed. The air was thick, suffocating. Her heart pounded so hard it hurt.

She turned wildly to Maya and Liya's beds. They were still asleep.

Sana clenched her jaw, forcing herself to breathe. It wasn't real. It couldn't be.

She ran a shaky hand through her hair, wiping the cold sweat from her forehead. It was the stories. The stress. The paranoia.

Her gaze flickered to the wardrobe. The dark space beneath it seemed to stretch endlessly.

Slowly, she pulled her blanket back over her, forcing herself to lie down again. It was just a trick of the mind.

And yet…

She didn't turn her back to the room again that night.