The Knock That Echoed

Aarav's hand was still raised.

He snatched it back as if it had been burned. His palm tingled, a strange sensation crawling up his arm, like invisible threads pulling at his bones.

The girl—he still didn't know her name—was watching him. Not just with fear, but with something else. Like she had seen this before. Like she knew what was happening to him.

"Aarav," she said slowly, as if testing if he was still himself. "What did you see?"

He swallowed. His throat was dry. He couldn't tell her.

Not about the reflection.

Not about the whisper.

Not about the knock.

So he shook his head. "Nothing. Just... darkness."

The girl exhaled sharply, as if she didn't believe him but didn't want to press. "We need to get out of here. Now."

She turned and started walking faster, her footsteps echoing down the narrow corridor.

Aarav followed. But with every step, the memory of the knock refused to leave him.

One.

Two.

Three.

Why did it feel like it had followed him back?

---

The Walls That Heard

They walked for what felt like forever.

The tunnel twisted, sloping downward, the air growing heavier. Aarav's breaths felt thick, like he was inhaling something more than just air.

Then he realized—

The walls were listening.

He couldn't explain how he knew, but he could feel it. A presence embedded in the stone, pressed into the very structure of this place.

Then, something changed.

The air shifted.

And then—

A knock.

Loud.

Too close.

Not from behind them.

Not from ahead.

From the walls themselves.

Aarav froze. His stomach twisted.

The girl stopped too. Her eyes widened.

Another knock.

Then another.

The tunnel shuddered. The walls pulsed.

Something was coming.

The girl grabbed his arm. "Run."

They bolted.

---

The Door With No Exit

Their footsteps pounded against the stone, breath coming in short gasps. The knocking followed them, growing louder, faster, erratic—

Then—

The tunnel ended.

A wall.

A dead end.

Aarav skidded to a stop, heart hammering against his ribs. "No. No, no, no."

The girl cursed under her breath. "There's always an exit—there has to be!"

She ran her hands over the stone, searching. Aarav did the same, but all he could feel was cold, unyielding rock.

The knocking stopped.

Silence.

For a single, stretched-out second, nothing moved.

Then—

The wall knocked back.