CHAPTER 2 — Whispers Between Walls
1018 Words
The next morning, Ethan awoke to a gray sky pressing against his window. Rain had begun in the night, leaving small puddles on the sidewalk and a damp, earthy smell that clung to the town. He rubbed his eyes and stared at the mark on his wrist. It had grown darker overnight, lines branching outward, faintly curling like smoke trapped beneath his skin.
He swallowed hard. Something about it felt alive now, pulsing in sync with his heartbeat.
Breakfast was silent. His mother hummed quietly as she made tea, glancing at him only once. “Late night?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Ethan mumbled, keeping his sleeve down. There was no way he could explain this without sounding insane.
He grabbed his backpack and left without another word. The walk to school was cold and wet, the rain slicking the streets. Each puddle reflected the gray clouds above, but Ethan kept noticing something else: shadows lingering at the edges of his vision, flickering unnaturally. He shook his head. I’m imagining it. It’s just the weather.
By the time he reached school, his unease had grown. The hallways buzzed with the usual chatter and locker slams, but Ethan could feel it: the subtle weight of being watched. He tried to focus on the lockers in front of him, ignoring the shadows stretching unnaturally along the tiles.
At his locker, Mara was waiting. Her expression shifted the moment she saw him.
“You didn’t sleep again, did you?” she asked, voice low. “And… what’s going on with your arm?”
Ethan hesitated. He knew she had always noticed things—too much, sometimes—but this… this was beyond anything normal. “It’s nothing,” he said, trying to pull the sleeve lower.
Mara didn’t budge. “Ethan, I’m not asking. You look like you’re carrying the weight of the world.”
He opened his locker slowly, fumbling with the combination. His fingers shook, betraying the calm he was trying to maintain. “I… I had another dream,” he admitted finally.
Mara’s eyes widened. “Another one? Like… the forest?”
Ethan nodded. “And it wasn’t just a dream this time. I… I think it followed me here.”
Mara studied him for a long moment. “Followed you?” she repeated, almost in disbelief.
He held her gaze. “I woke up with this,” he said, showing her the mark.
Mara’s breath caught. “Ethan… that’s…” She trailed off, shaking her head. “That’s not normal.”
Before Ethan could answer, a chill slid down his spine. The lights above flickered for a brief second, and the shadows in the hallway seemed to stretch toward him. A whisper brushed the edge of his hearing.
He sees you…
Ethan froze. He looked around. No one. Just the long hallway stretching ahead, lockers lining the walls, students walking in clusters oblivious to him.
“Did you hear that?” he asked, voice low.
Mara shook her head. “I didn’t.”
“I did,” Ethan insisted. “It’s like… a voice. But not… real, if that makes sense.”
Mara frowned. “Ethan… something’s happening to you. Something big. And I don’t mean just school stress.”
He nodded, feeling the truth in her words. “I know.”
The day passed in a blur of classrooms and hallways. Every time Ethan glanced at the mark, it seemed darker, more defined. His fingers twitched as if they recognized the lines beneath his skin, and an inexplicable dread followed him everywhere.
After school, Mara insisted they walk home together. Ethan tried to protest, but the pull of familiarity and trust was too strong. The rain had stopped, leaving the streets slick and quiet.
“You have to tell me everything,” Mara said. “I mean everything, or this will get worse.”
Ethan sighed. He wanted to scream. He wanted to say, I don’t even understand it myself! But part of him wanted to believe that telling someone, anyone, might make it less terrifying. “It started in a dream,” he began. “A boy… pale, thin, trapped. He was calling for help. I tried to reach him, but…” His voice faltered.
Mara reached out, gripping his arm. “But what?”
“I woke up… with this,” he said again, showing her the mark. “And the shadows… they’re moving. I see them everywhere.”
Mara swallowed. “Ethan, this is… real. I can feel it.”
As they turned a corner, the shadows near the edge of a narrow alley seemed to ripple unnaturally, and a cold wind blew straight at them. Ethan felt his stomach twist. He stepped back instinctively.
“See?” he whispered.
Mara glanced at him. “You’re not imagining this. Something’s… watching you.”
They hurried the rest of the way home, silence stretching between them. The shadows lingered at the corners of the streets, darker than normal, almost sentient. Ethan’s pulse raced. He wanted to believe it was coincidence, the tricks of light and imagination—but he knew better.
When he reached his house, he closed the door carefully behind him, bolting it twice. His mother was in the kitchen, humming softly, but Ethan didn’t answer her calls. He went straight to his room.
The mark burned faintly, a steady pulse that made his skin crawl. And then he heard it.
A faint tapping.
It came from the wall behind his desk. Knock. Knock. Knock.
Ethan froze, every instinct screaming that something was wrong. He moved closer, pressing his ear to the wall.
Help…
The whisper was faint, almost lost beneath the hum of the heater. His breath caught in his throat. The boy…
He stumbled back, heart racing, and gripped the edge of his bed for support. The shadows in the corners of his room seemed to swell slightly, like smoke pooling in still air.
Ethan’s mind raced. This wasn’t a dream. This wasn’t imagination. Something had reached out to him. Something had marked him.
And now, it was waiting.
- Writer
