WHEN THE DEAD COME KNOCKING

chapter 9

WHEN THE DEAD COME KNOCKING

CHAPTER NINE — THE TWELFTH KNOCK

The sound of the twelfth knock seemed to pass through Mara's entire body.

It wasn't loud.

That was what made it terrifying.

It was deep.

Ancient.

A single sound that seemed to come from beneath the walls, beneath the floor, beneath the earth itself.

Knock.

Every door in Blackwood Manor opened simultaneously.

Mara stood frozen.

From the darkness behind the doors came whispers.

Hundreds of voices.

Some were crying.

Some were laughing.

Some were calling names.

But one voice rose above all the others.

Her own.

"Help me."

Mara turned toward Elena.

"Mom."

Elena grabbed her hand.

"Don't listen."

"That was me."

"I know."

"How can my voice be behind those doors?"

"Because the house has been collecting your memories."

Another voice called.

"Grandma."

Mara looked toward the corridor.

Her grandmother appeared at the far end.

The real grandmother.

She was holding a lantern.

"Mara!"

Elena pulled Mara backward.

"No."

Mara stared.

"That's Grandma."

"No."

Her grandmother looked terrified.

"Elena, please!"

Elena's face hardened.

"You died thirteen years ago."

Mara froze.

The woman at the end of the corridor stopped.

She lowered the lantern.

"What?"

Elena stepped in front of Mara.

"You died in the fire."

The woman shook her head.

"No."

Mara stared between them.

"Mom, what are you talking about?"

Elena didn't answer.

The woman began walking toward them.

"I came for Mara."

"Stay back," Elena warned.

The woman looked at Mara.

"Come with me."

Mara's heart broke.

She wanted to believe her.

This woman had held her hand.

Had raised her.

Had comforted her.

But there was something wrong.

Mara remembered what the creature had said earlier.

Everyone else is a copy.

She looked at the woman's eyes.

"Grandma."

The woman stopped.

"What?"

"What did you call me when I was little?"

The woman smiled.

"My little girl."

Mara's stomach tightened.

That wasn't the answer.

Her grandmother had never called her that.

She had always called her sunbeam.

Mara stepped backward.

"You're not her."

The woman's face changed.

Her smile disappeared.

Then her features blurred.

For a moment, Mara saw an old woman.

Then Elena.

Then Luca.

Then herself.

Finally, the creature became faceless.

Elena raised her hand.

"Don't look at it."

Mara turned away.

The creature screamed.

The sound shook the walls.

Every door slammed shut.

Mara covered her ears.

The floor trembled.

Then everything stopped.

Silence.

Elena lowered her hand.

"It's gone."

Mara looked around.

"Where?"

"Back inside."

"Inside what?"

Elena pointed toward the wall.

"The house."

Mara stared.

"Mom, I need answers."

"You'll get them."

"Now."

Elena looked at her.

"You saw the little girl."

Mara nodded.

"She said she was the real Mara."

"Yes."

"Was she?"

Elena didn't answer.

"Mom."

Elena looked away.

"Yes."

Mara's heart sank.

"So I'm not the real Mara."

Elena closed her eyes.

"No."

Mara stepped backward.

"Then who am I?"

"You were created from her."

"By the house?"

Elena nodded.

Mara's voice trembled.

"Why?"

"Because I couldn't let her die."

Mara stared at her.

"She was your daughter."

"Yes."

"And I was created to replace her?"

"No."

Elena looked directly at her.

"You were created to save her."

Mara shook her head.

"I don't understand."

"I made a deal with the house."

"What kind of deal?"

"I offered it a memory."

"Whose?"

"Mine."

Mara frowned.

"That's all?"

"No."

Elena's voice broke.

"I gave it the memory of my daughter."

Mara felt cold.

"The house took Mara's memories."

"Yes."

"And created me from them."

"Yes."

"Then what am I?"

Elena whispered:

"Everything I couldn't bear to lose."

Mara looked down at her hands.

She remembered being a child.

She remembered her mother.

She remembered Luca.

She remembered birthdays.

School.

Summer.

Rain.

But if those memories belonged to the original Mara...

Then what memories belonged to her?

Her eyes filled with tears.

"Do I have anything of my own?"

Elena stepped closer.

"You have your choices."

"That's not enough."

"It has to be."

Mara shook her head.

"You lied to me."

"I was trying to protect you."

"You made me believe I was your daughter."

"You are."

"Then why wasn't I born?"

Elena couldn't answer.

Mara turned away.

A soft knock came from behind the wall.

Then another.

She looked toward it.

"Is she still there?"

"Who?"

"The real Mara."

Elena nodded.

"Yes."

"Can I save her?"

"Maybe."

"How?"

"You have to go back."

"To the first door."

Elena nodded.

Mara looked at the corridor.

"Then let's go."

They walked through the manor.

Every room looked different.

Mara recognized some places.

Others seemed unfamiliar.

The house was changing around them.

Paintings appeared and disappeared.

Doors shifted locations.

Hallways stretched longer than they should.

Elena kept moving.

"Don't touch anything."

"Why?"

"Because the house is trying to distract you."

They reached the staircase.

Mara stopped.

At the top stood Luca.

He looked frightened.

"Mom."

Elena froze.

"Luca?"

He ran toward her.

She caught him.

Mara stared.

"Is that really him?"

Elena held the boy tightly.

"I don't know."

Luca looked at Mara.

"I remember."

Mara stepped closer.

"Remember what?"

"The night you opened the door."

Mara's heart raced.

"What happened?"

Luca looked at Elena.

"She told us not to tell you."

"Tell me now."

Luca swallowed.

"You didn't open the door."

Mara froze.

"What?"

"You were holding the key, but you didn't open it."

Elena looked away.

"Mom?"

Luca continued.

"Someone took your hand."

Mara felt a sudden chill.

"Who?"

Luca pointed behind her.

Mara turned.

Nobody.

Then she saw the shadow.

A tall figure stood at the end of the hallway.

Faceless.

Motionless.

Luca whispered:

"That."

The figure raised its hand.

Mara suddenly remembered.

A voice had spoken behind her when she was eight.

Not Luca.

Not Elena.

A voice that sounded exactly like her own.

Open it.

She had obeyed.

Not because she wanted to.

Because she had believed it was her own voice.

Mara stepped backward.

"I didn't choose."

Elena nodded.

"I know."

"Then who did?"

Elena stared at the figure.

"It did."

The creature began walking toward them.

Luca grabbed Mara's hand.

"Run."

They ran.

Elena followed.

The hallway twisted.

A door appeared.

Then another.

Then another.

They opened one after another.

Inside each room, Mara saw a different version of herself.

A child.

A teenager.

An adult.

Some were crying.

Some were smiling.

Some were pounding against the glass.

One stood completely still.

Mara stopped.

"Who are they?"

Elena pulled her along.

"Memories."

"All of me?"

"All the versions the house created."

Mara looked back.

The versions were watching.

One of them whispered:

"Choose."

Mara didn't understand.

"Choose what?"

Elena shouted:

"Don't answer!"

The doors slammed shut.

The hallway returned to normal.

They reached a large wooden door.

Mara recognized it.

The first door.

The one from her memories.

The one with the brass lock.

Elena stopped.

"Behind this is where it began."

Mara looked at the key in her hand.

"Will opening it free the real Mara?"

"Maybe."

"And what happens to me?"

Elena's eyes filled with tears.

"I don't know."

Mara stared at the key.

She had spent her entire life searching for the truth.

Now the truth was standing in front of her.

But it could destroy everything she believed about herself.

She inserted the key.

The lock clicked.

Elena grabbed her arm.

"Wait."

"What?"

"If you open it, you may not come back."

Mara looked at her.

"Neither did she."

Elena nodded.

"I know."

Mara turned the key.

The door opened.

Darkness.

Then a small voice.

"Finally."

Mara stepped inside.

The room was exactly as she remembered it.

A wooden table.

A broken chair.

A window.

And a little girl sitting on the floor.

Eight years old.

Mara.

The original.

The child looked up.

"You're late."

Mara's heart broke.

"I'm sorry."

The girl shook her head.

"You weren't supposed to come."

"Why?"

"Because if you come here, it knows where you are."

Mara looked around.

"Where is it?"

The girl pointed toward the corner.

Nothing was there.

Then the lights flickered.

A tall shadow appeared.

The child whispered:

"Behind you."

Mara turned.

The faceless figure stood inches away.

She couldn't move.

It raised one hand.

Mara felt something touch her forehead.

A flood of memories entered her mind.

She saw the first Mara.

Her birth.

Her childhood.

Her love for Luca.

Her mother's fear.

The fire.

The door.

The moment Mara disappeared.

Then another memory.

Something the house had hidden.

Elena standing before the first door.

Holding the brass key.

And beside her stood a second woman.

The woman looked exactly like Elena.

But her eyes were black.

Mara gasped.

"Mom."

The memory continued.

Elena had been crying.

The copy said:

"Give me one daughter, and I'll return the other."

Elena whispered:

"Which one?"

The copy smiled.

"Choose."

Mara understood.

Her mother had been forced to choose between her two daughters.

But there was something else.

Elena had chosen neither.

She had created a third.

Mara.

A replacement made from the memories of both girls.

The house hadn't planned for that.

It wanted one daughter.

Instead, Elena had created another person.

Mara.

The copy stepped closer.

"You weren't supposed to exist."

Mara stared at it.

"Then why do I?"

"Because your mother cheated the house."

The creature's voice echoed.

"She gave me a memory instead of a soul."

Mara felt tears running down her face.

"So I'm real."

The creature tilted its head.

"Are you?"

Mara looked at the little girl.

The original Mara was watching.

"You have her memories."

The creature continued.

"You have her face."

"You have her childhood."

"You have her name."

"But you are not her."

Mara looked at her hands.

Then at Elena.

Her mother stood in the doorway.

Crying.

Mara whispered:

"Am I your daughter?"

Elena stepped forward.

"Yes."

The creature laughed.

"She doesn't know."

Mara looked at Elena.

"Tell me."

Elena wiped her tears.

"You are my daughter because I chose you."

The creature screamed.

The walls shook.

Mara suddenly understood.

The house could copy memories.

But it couldn't decide what made a person real.

That was something only a person could decide.

Mara stepped toward the creature.

"You don't get to tell me who I am."

The creature stopped.

"You belong to us."

"No."

"You were made by us."

"No."

"You have our memories."

Mara raised her head.

"But I made my own choices."

The creature stepped backward.

For the first time, it seemed afraid.

Mara turned toward the little girl.

The original Mara was crying.

"Can you forgive me?"

The girl nodded.

"You were never the one who hurt me."

Mara held out her hand.

The child took it.

The moment their hands touched, the room filled with light.

The creature screamed.

Every wall cracked.

The house began shaking.

Elena shouted:

"Mara!"

The little girl looked at Mara.

"Now."

"What?"

"Wake up."

Mara felt herself falling.

The last thing she heard was Luca's voice.

"Don't forget me."

Then everything went black.

Mara opened her eyes.

She was lying on the floor of Blackwood Manor.

Elena was beside her.

Luca stood nearby.

The little girl was gone.

Mara sat up.

"What happened?"

Elena looked toward the hallway.

"The house lost."

Mara stared.

"Is it over?"

Elena shook her head.

"No."

A knock sounded from upstairs.

Everyone froze.

One.

Then two.

Then three.

Mara stood.

"What now?"

Elena looked at her.

"The house isn't knocking anymore."

Mara's blood ran cold.

"Then who is?"

A fourth knock.

A fifth.

A sixth.

Elena whispered:

"Someone outside."

They walked toward the front door.

Mara looked through the window.

A figure stood on the porch.

A woman.

Holding an old suitcase.

Mara couldn't see her face.

The woman raised her hand.

And knocked.

Seven.

Eight.

Nine.

Mara's grandmother suddenly appeared behind them.

She was pale.

Terrified.

"Don't open it."

Mara turned.

"Who is she?"

Her grandmother whispered:

"Your aunt."

Mara's eyes widened.

"I don't have an aunt."

Her grandmother shook her head.

"You did."

Another knock.

Ten.

Eleven.

Mara stared at the woman outside.

The twelfth knock was coming.

The woman slowly lifted her face.

Mara saw her clearly.

And realized she had been staring at her own reflection.

END OF CHAPTER NINE