CHAPTER THREE — INSIDE THE WALLS
778 Words
By the next morning, Mira felt the weight of the apartment pressing on her. She had never been the type to scare easily, but something about this place dug under her skin in a way she couldn’t explain. Maybe it was the silence. Maybe the warning note. Maybe the empty apartment next door. Or maybe the sense—stronger now—that every time she turned her back, something was standing behind her, waiting.
She needed answers.
She started with the building manager, a man she’d only spoken to briefly when signing her lease. His office was on the ground floor, tucked between the mailboxes and an old radiator that hissed like it hated everyone.
She knocked.
No answer.
She knocked again, louder this time.
Still nothing.
She tried the handle. Locked.
A small sign hung crookedly on the door: Back in 15 minutes.
But the edges were dusty, like it hadn’t been touched in weeks.
“Great,” Mira muttered.
On her way back up the stairs, the light on the third-floor landing flickered three times, paused, then flickered again. A rhythm. Almost like… tapping.
Her chest tightened. She hurried up the steps and practically darted into her apartment, shutting the door behind her. She locked it—once, twice, three times—just like Mr. Alden had.
She didn’t want to admit that it made her feel better.
For a while, she tried to distract herself. She made instant noodles. She rearranged her clothes. She scrolled aimlessly on her phone. But the silence kept closing in, thick and pressing. Every few minutes she found herself glancing at the walls.
Then it happened again.
Tick… tick… tick…
This time she didn’t freeze. She marched up to the wall and pressed her palm against it. The tapping stopped instantly, like whoever—or whatever—was behind it had been waiting for her to react.
“Okay,” she whispered, her breath shaky. “This is stupid. It’s just pipes. Or rats. Or… old wood.”
But the excuses didn’t help.
She grabbed a glass and held it against the wall, pressing her ear to the bottom like you would when eavesdropping. At first, there was nothing. Just the faint hum of the building.
Then: a shuffle.
Not tapping.
A scrape.
Like something dragging lightly against the inside of the wall.
Her heart slammed into her throat.
Suddenly someone knocked—loud, sharp, unexpected.
Mira jumped so hard the glass fell out of her hand.
Another knock followed, this time more desperate.
She rushed to the door and peered through the peephole.
Mrs. Lewis stood outside, looking nothing like she had earlier. Her face was pale, her hair was messy, and she kept glancing down the hallway like someone might appear at any moment.
Mira opened the door. “Are you okay?”
Mrs. Lewis pushed her way inside without asking. “Close the door,” she whispered harshly. “Now.”
Mira shut it. “What’s going on?”
“You need to listen to me,” the woman said, her voice trembling slightly. “You need to be careful here.”
Mira felt her stomach tighten. “Because of the note? Because of Mr. Alden?”
Mrs. Lewis flinched at the name like it hurt. “I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t even be talking to you,” she murmured. “But you’re new. You don’t understand this place yet.”
“What’s wrong with the building?” Mira asked.
But Mrs. Lewis didn’t answer. Instead, she looked toward the wall—the same wall Mira had just been listening to—and her face went stiff with fear.
“It hears things,” she whispered.
Mira felt her entire body go cold. “What hears things?”
Mrs. Lewis shook her head violently. “Don’t ask me that.” She stepped back toward the door. “Just… whatever you do, don’t stay out in the hallway at night. And don’t open your door for anyone after midnight. Anyone.”
Mira stared at her, stunned. “Why?”
The woman swallowed. “Because sometimes the people who knock aren’t… people.”
Before Mira could speak again, Mrs. Lewis slipped out the door and hurried down the hallway without looking back.
Mira stood frozen.
Her apartment felt different now—darker, heavier, wrong. She backed away from the wall slowly, her pulse pounding in her ears.
Then, as if on cue, the tapping started again.
This time it came from behind her.
From the opposite wall.
Tick…
Tick…
Tick…
The sound followed her as she moved.
And for the first time since arriving, Mira felt truly unsafe.
- Writer
