EPISODE 12 :THE GIRL BEHIND THE WALL
683 Words
“Too late.”
Maya froze.
Her mother’s fingers tightened around hers.
“What does that mean?” Maya whispered.
Her mother didn’t answer.
Ellie was staring at the wall.
There was something moving behind it.
Slowly.
Dragging itself from one side to the other.
Scrape.
Scrape.
Scrape.
Maya stepped closer.
“Mom…”
“Don’t.”
But Maya had already heard it.
A child was crying.
Not from the hallway.
Not behind one of the doors.
Inside the wall.
“Maya…”
The voice was small.
Frightened.
Familiar.
Maya looked at her mother.
“Who is that?”
Her mother began shaking her head.
“Maya, please.”
“Who is that?”
The crying stopped.
Then the voice whispered:
“Don’t let her take me again.”
Maya’s face went pale.
She looked at Ellie.
“Who is she talking about?”
Ellie slowly raised her eyes toward Maya’s mother.
“Her.”
Maya stepped away from her mother.
“No.”
Her mother reached for her.
“Maya, listen to me.”
“You said you came here to get the first daughter.”
“I did.”
“You said the house took her.”
“It did.”
“Then why does she sound like she’s afraid of you?”
Silence.
The walls stopped pulsing.
For several seconds, the entire house seemed to hold its breath.
Then Maya heard footsteps behind her.
She turned.
One of the red doors was open.
The door she had not chosen.
Inside stood the little girl from the photograph.
She looked about five years old.
Same dark hair.
Same eyes.
Same scar above her eyebrow.
Maya stared at her.
The little girl stared back.
“Are you me?”
The child shook her head.
“No.”
“Then who are you?”
The girl pointed at Maya’s mother.
“She knows.”
Maya turned.
Her mother was crying.
“I didn’t want this.”
Maya’s voice trembled.
“What did you do?”
“I was trying to save you.”
“From what?”
Her mother looked toward the ceiling.
“From becoming her.”
A violent bang shook the hallway.
The little girl disappeared.
Every light went out.
Then something whispered directly beside Maya’s ear:
“Your mother lied.”
Maya spun around.
Nobody was there.
Ellie grabbed her arm.
“We have to run.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere the house hasn’t remembered yet.”
The walls suddenly split open.
Hundreds of photographs poured onto the floor.
Maya looked down.
Every photograph showed the same thing.
Her.
But each version was different.
Some were happy.
Some were crying.
Some were old.
Some were covered in blood.
And in every photograph, someone stood behind her.
Watching.
Maya picked up the final photograph.
Her breath stopped.
It showed her mother standing in this exact hallway.
But she wasn’t alone.
Beside her stood the little girl.
And written across the bottom were five words:
SHE CHOSE THE WRONG DAUGHTER.
Maya looked at her mother.
“You didn’t come here to save me.”
Her mother couldn’t speak.
“You came here because you needed me.”
A tear rolled down her mother’s cheek.
“Yes.”
“For what?”
Her mother finally whispered:
“To replace her.”
The house groaned.
The red doors began opening again.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Then all of them.
From every doorway came the sound of children laughing.
Ellie stepped backward.
“Maya…”
“What?”
“Look at your mother.”
Maya did.
Her mother’s face was changing.
Her eyes became completely black.
Her skin began cracking.
And behind her, something enormous slowly rose from the floor.
Her mother smiled.
But it wasn’t her mother’s smile.
It belonged to the house.
“You finally remembered,” it whispered.
Maya backed away.
“Remembered what?”
The creature leaned closer.
“That you were never the second daughter.”
Maya’s heart stopped.
The creature whispered:
“You were the first.”
And somewhere deep inside the house, a little girl began laughing.
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