WHEN THE DEAD COME KNOCKING

chapter 14

WHEN THE DEAD COME KNOCKING

CHAPTER FOURTEEN — THE HOUSE THAT REMEMBERED HER

Mara stood before Door Two.

The warning above it remained carved into the stone:

DO NOT REMEMBER YOURSELF.

She read it twice.

Then she reached for the handle.

The moment her fingers touched it, the black key in her other hand became warm.

A whisper drifted through the passage.

"Don't."

Mara froze.

She looked behind her.

Nothing.

"Who's there?"

No answer.

She looked back at the door.

The whisper came again.

"Don't remember."

Mara opened the door.

Warm sunlight flooded the passage.

She stepped through.

And suddenly she was standing in a school hallway.

Not an abandoned hallway.

A living one.

Students walked past her.

Teachers spoke.

Lockers slammed.

Someone laughed nearby.

Mara recognized the place immediately.

Her old school.

She had not been there in years.

A bell rang.

Students rushed into classrooms.

Mara stood in the middle of the hallway, confused.

"This isn't real."

A voice behind her answered.

"Does it matter?"

She turned.

Luca stood there.

Not the memory of Luca from the previous house.

This version looked older.

Sixteen.

The age he had been when he disappeared.

He smiled.

"You came back."

Mara's heart tightened.

"Luca."

"Come on."

He walked toward a classroom.

Mara followed.

Inside, everything looked normal.

Students sat at desks.

A teacher wrote on the board.

And there was Mara.

A younger version of herself.

She was sitting near the window.

Mara stared.

"What is this?"

Luca sat beside her.

"The day everything changed."

Mara watched the younger version of herself.

She remembered this day.

Or thought she did.

The teacher was talking.

The younger Mara looked nervous.

Then the classroom door opened.

Elena entered.

She looked frightened.

"Can I speak with Mara?"

The younger Mara stood.

The present Mara watched.

"I don't remember this."

Luca looked at her.

"That's the point."

Elena took the younger Mara into the hallway.

Mara followed.

They walked toward the school's back entrance.

Mara watched them disappear through a door.

Then she heard a sound.

Knock.

She turned.

A locker was shaking.

Another knock.

Mara opened it.

Inside was a photograph.

She picked it up.

It showed Elena holding two children.

Mara.

And another baby.

The baby had been scratched out.

Mara stared.

"Luca?"

He was no longer beside her.

She turned.

The school hallway had emptied.

Every classroom door was closed.

The lights flickered.

Then a voice came over the school speaker.

"Attention, Mara Vale."

Mara looked up.

"You have forgotten something."

She stepped backward.

"No."

The voice continued.

"You forgot your brother."

Mara's chest tightened.

"I remember Luca."

"Not Luca."

The voice became distorted.

"Samuel."

Mara closed her eyes.

"I remember him."

"No."

A door opened.

Inside was a small bedroom.

A child sat on the bed.

Samuel.

He looked ten years old.

Mara walked inside.

"I'm sorry."

Samuel looked at her.

"For what?"

"For forgetting you."

"You didn't."

"Then why didn't I know about you?"

"Because they removed me."

"Who?"

"The family."

Mara frowned.

"Why?"

Samuel looked toward the window.

"Because I was the first one to discover the truth."

"What truth?"

He looked at her.

"The houses don't bring people back."

Mara waited.

"They replace them."

A cold feeling moved through her.

"Replace them with what?"

"With memories."

Mara looked at the child.

"Then what happened to the originals?"

Samuel's expression became sad.

"They were never brought back."

Mara whispered:

"They were erased."

Samuel nodded.

"And their memories were used to build the copies."

Mara looked down.

"Like me."

Samuel shook his head.

"Not like you."

"Why?"

"Because you were the first copy who refused to disappear."

Mara stared.

"How did I do that?"

"You remembered yourself."

She looked at the warning from the doorway.

DO NOT REMEMBER YOURSELF.

"That's what the house is afraid of."

Samuel smiled.

"Exactly."

The bedroom began changing.

The walls became darker.

The windows disappeared.

The floor became stone.

Mara looked around.

"We're leaving."

Samuel shook his head.

"You are."

"What about you?"

"I'm already gone."

Mara reached for him.

Her fingers passed through his hand.

He smiled.

"I told you."

"You're a memory."

"Yes."

"But you feel real."

"Memories can feel real."

Mara's eyes filled with tears.

Samuel stepped backward.

"Before you go, I need to tell you something."

"What?"

"Don't trust the woman in the twelfth house."

Mara froze.

"The original Mara?"

Samuel nodded.

"She isn't what she says she is."

"Why?"

"Because she was the first."

"What does that mean?"

"The first person to make a deal with the thing beneath Blackwood."

Mara stared.

"She made a deal?"

"Yes."

"What did she give it?"

Samuel's face became frightened.

"Her name."

Mara didn't understand.

"How can someone give away their name?"

"You'll understand when you reach the last door."

The bedroom began collapsing into darkness.

Samuel stepped farther away.

"Mara."

"Yes?"

"When you reach the twelfth house, don't say your name."

"Why?"

"Because it is listening."

The room went black.

Mara opened her eyes.

She was back in the underground passage.

Door Two stood behind her.

The black key had changed again.

The symbol for Door Two was broken.

Mara looked at it.

"One more."

A voice came from ahead.

"Not one."

Mara turned.

A woman stood beside Door Three.

She wore a long gray dress.

Her face was familiar.

Mara recognized her from one of the portraits in Blackwood.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Evelyn."

Mara remembered the name.

Evelyn Vale.

One of the first women connected to the house.

"What do you want?"

"To warn you."

"About what?"

"The third house."

Mara looked at the door.

"What happens there?"

"You'll see the life you could have lived."

"Like the second house?"

"No."

Evelyn's expression became serious.

"The second house showed you a life you wanted."

"Then what's different?"

"The third house shows you a life you regret."

Mara's stomach tightened.

"Why?"

"Because regret is stronger than desire."

Evelyn stepped closer.

"If the house can convince you that one decision caused everything you've suffered, you'll willingly give it your memories."

Mara looked at the door.

"What decision?"

"That's for you to discover."

The woman vanished.

Mara stood alone.

She placed the black key against Door Three.

The door opened.

Rain fell inside.

Mara stepped through.

She was standing outside Blackwood Manor.

But the house looked new.

Beautiful.

No broken windows.

No dead trees.

Children were playing in the garden.

Mara heard laughter.

She turned.

Her father was standing beside Elena.

Both were smiling.

Mara froze.

Her father looked at her.

"You came home."

Mara's heart broke.

She wanted to run toward him.

Instead, she stayed where she was.

"What year is this?"

He smiled.

"1998."

Mara looked at Elena.

A baby was sleeping in her arms.

Mara recognized herself.

Her father walked toward her.

"You're finally old enough to understand."

"Understand what?"

"Why I left."

Mara frowned.

"You died."

"No."

He shook his head.

"I left."

"Why?"

"Because your mother asked me to."

Mara looked at Elena.

"Why would she?"

Her father whispered:

"To protect you."

Mara's chest tightened.

"From what?"

He pointed toward Blackwood.

"From the thing beneath it."

Mara looked at the house.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you were never supposed to know."

Mara stared.

"Then why am I here?"

Her father smiled.

"Because this is the moment you can change everything."

The rain stopped.

The garden became silent.

Her father held out his hand.

"Come with me."

Mara hesitated.

"If I do?"

"You can prevent Blackwood."

"Prevent all of it?"

"Yes."

"No houses?"

"No ghosts."

"No dead?"

"No deaths."

Mara stared at him.

"Then why wouldn't I?"

Her father smiled.

"Because you would have to give up your present."

Mara looked at Elena.

She was holding baby Mara.

The child looked peaceful.

"What happens to me?"

"You never exist."

Mara's breath caught.

"You mean the people I love..."

"Would live."

"But I wouldn't."

Her father nodded.

Mara looked toward the house.

She imagined Luca alive.

Samuel alive.

Clara alive.

Her mother happy.

Her grandmother young.

A world without Blackwood.

A world without the dead knocking.

It was everything she had ever wanted.

And all she had to do was erase herself.

Her father held out his hand again.

"Choose."

Mara looked at him.

Then at the baby.

Then at Elena.

She took a breath.

"No."

Her father frowned.

"Why?"

"Because this isn't a choice."

"Of course it is."

"No."

Mara stepped backward.

"You want me to believe that everything is my fault."

Her father's expression changed.

"Isn't it?"

"You want me to regret existing."

The garden began darkening.

"You want me to believe everyone would be happier without me."

Her father's face became distorted.

"Wouldn't they?"

Mara shook her head.

"No."

The illusion began cracking.

"My existence isn't a mistake."

The house trembled.

"I didn't cause what happened."

The garden shattered.

"I survived it."

Her father screamed.

The world collapsed.

Mara fell into darkness.

When she opened her eyes, she was back in the underground passage.

Door Three stood behind her.

Its symbol was broken.

Mara was breathing heavily.

The black key glowed.

Two symbols remained broken.

Ten doors remained.

Mara looked ahead.

Doors Four through Twelve waited in the darkness.

Then she noticed something.

There was writing on Door Four.

She walked closer.

It wasn't a warning.

It was a name.

LUCA.

Mara's heart stopped.

The door began knocking.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Mara whispered:

"No."

A voice came from behind it.

"Mara."

She recognized it instantly.

Luca.

Not the false Luca.

Not a memory.

His voice.

Real.

"Please."

Mara stepped closer.

"Luca?"

"I'm here."

Her hand moved toward the handle.

Then she remembered Samuel's warning.

Don't trust the voices.

Mara stopped.

The voice came again.

"Mara, please open the door."

She closed her eyes.

"How do I know you're really Luca?"

Silence.

Then the voice answered:

"You don't."

Mara opened her eyes.

The black key began glowing brighter.

The door shook.

Something slammed against it from the other side.

"Mara!"

She stepped backward.

The knocking became violent.

Then another voice joined Luca's.

Her mother's.

Then Samuel's.

Then Clara's.

Then her father's.

All calling her name.

All begging her to open the door.

Mara stood in the darkness.

She finally understood.

The houses weren't simply trying to scare her.

They were learning her weaknesses.

And Door Four knew exactly what would break her.

Luca.

Mara tightened her grip on the key.

"I'm coming."

The knocking stopped.

Mara placed the key into the lock.

Before turning it, she whispered:

"But this time, I'll decide what happens next."

She opened Door Four.

And Luca screamed.

END OF CHAPTER FOURTEEN