Someone inside the Wall

Chapter 1

Introduction:

I was in a deep, groggy sleep when I heard a series of knocks at the door. Knock, knock, knock! I glanced at my phone. It was midnight. Who could be knocking at this hour?

(1)

I had just moved into a new house. The landlord was a sleazy middle-aged man. Grinning with a mouthful of yellow teeth, he said to me, "You're a young girl, and so pretty too. I'll rent it to you for a cheaper price!" His words were hard to ignore, but the rent was affordable, and given my current situation, I couldn't afford anything more expensive. So, I put up with it.

After finally unpacking, I sat on a chair and surveyed the room. Suddenly, I noticed a spot on the wall that was a different color from the rest. There was a grayish smudge on it. I sat up and stared at the smudge. Slowly, it began to bulge. Before long, a woman's face emerged from the wall. I couldn't see her features clearly, but I knew she wanted to break through the wall. Instantly, I felt a chill run down my spine. I tried to get off the bed but found myself unable to move. She seemed to notice me and struggled, opening her mouth towards me. I mustered all my strength. Move! If I didn't move, I would die!

With a sudden jolt, I sat up in bed. Finally, I could move! Covered in sweat, I glanced at my phone. It was already 11:50 PM. I must have fallen asleep at some point and had a nightmare. Looking at the wall again, it was smooth and showed no signs of any difference. I breathed a sigh of relief.

I went to the bathroom to freshen up. The bathroom was my favorite part of the house, especially the large, bright mirror. Everything was brand new. After getting ready, I finally felt at ease and went to bed. I pushed down the fear from the earlier dream and snuggled under the covers. Just as I was about to fall asleep, I suddenly heard someone knocking on the door. Knock, knock, knock! Knock, knock, knock!

(2)

I woke up immediately and sat up in bed. Holding my breath, I stared towards the door, even though the room was pitch dark. The knocking continued. Who could it be? Who would knock at such a late hour? I got out of bed, deliberately not putting on shoes to keep my movements quiet. For some reason, I didn't want anyone to know I was home. No matter what, I had decided not to open the door, no matter who it was.

I tiptoed to the peephole and looked outside. It was completely dark. Maybe the motion-activated light hadn't turned on. The knocking continued. I still couldn't see anything. Suddenly, I realized something was wrong. The knocking should have triggered the motion-activated light. It had worked fine earlier in the afternoon. So, it wasn't that the light hadn't turned on; someone was blocking my peephole. What I saw were the eyes of the person knocking!

I quickly covered my mouth to stifle a scream. Hiding behind the door, a chill ran from my feet up to my scalp, and goosebumps covered my skin. Who was it? What did they want? Summoning my courage, I looked outside again. This time, the hallway was empty. There was nothing there. Filled with questions and fear, I returned to bed. But I couldn't sleep for the rest of the night. I hid under the covers, browsing on my phone.

"Help: What to do if someone knocks on your door in the middle of the night?" I quickly received comments from other users. "Check if it's a ghost looking for you." "Did someone die in the house you rented?" Though the comments were nonsense, they still stirred something in me. The apartments in this complex were old and looked quite run-down from the outside. But the interior of my unit was recently renovated. What seemed like a pleasant surprise when I rented it now felt suspicious. And that dream-no matter how tired I was, I shouldn't have fallen asleep so deeply without any awareness and had such a bizarre nightmare.

Everything was too abnormal. Everything around me was sending a message. There was something wrong with this house.

Chapter 2

(3)

The next morning, the sun was shining brightly, making everything look fresh and new. It felt like the events of last night were just a bad dream or a trick of my mind.

I went to the spot on the wall where I thought I saw the face in my dream, examining it closely, hoping to find something different. But there was nothing. The entire wall was perfectly smooth.

I went to work as usual. However, having barely slept the night before, I felt exhausted and lacked energy. I was so tired that I dozed off at my desk.

In my dream, I saw a girl with wide-open eyes, her mouth covered by someone's hand, being shoved into a huge plastic bag. It looked like she was being hidden inside a wall. She saw me, tears streaming down her face, and shook her head vigorously. I tried to get closer to see more clearly, but everything kept moving backward.

"Wake up, Jaynie!"

I opened my eyes groggily. It was my colleague.

"You fell asleep sitting up. Be careful, you might catch a cold."

Back at my apartment complex, I saw the security guard at the entrance. I wanted to ask him if he had seen anyone suspicious during the night but decided against it. I had just moved in yesterday and felt a bit awkward.

As I went upstairs, the only other person waiting for the elevator was a young man. It was already getting late, and after what had happened the previous night, I was on high alert. I didn't press my floor button immediately, intentionally waiting for him to press his floor first.

To my surprise, after pressing his button, he turned and asked me which floor I was going to. He turned to face me, and I noticed he had a rather pleasant face. I stammered and said, "Twelve."

Only one floor button was lit up-twelve. This realization made me clutch my bag strap tightly. I hadn't seen which floor he had pressed because his body had blocked my view.

Meanwhile, the elevator ascended rapidly. I decided to take things one step at a time. Maybe he lived on the same floor, and I was just overreacting.

I took a deep breath, my heartbeat was so loud it was almost deafening. The elevator dinged, and the doors opened. I bolted out and quickly headed towards my apartment. The man followed me at a leisurely pace, which made me even more panicked. If he caught me, who knew what he might do?

I was almost at my door. The short distance felt like a mile. As soon as I reached the lock, I punched in the code. But it was too late; he was already beside me.

(4)

I had no choice. I clutched my bag tightly and swung it with all my strength at the man beside me.

"Ah!" he yelled.

"Stalker! You creep! Get away from me!" I screamed, hitting him repeatedly.

"Hey! What are you doing?" The security guard, who had been downstairs just moments ago, suddenly appeared and stopped me. Why wasn't he catching the bad guy instead of stopping me?

I was about to question him when he said, "Mr. Todd isn't a stalker. He lives right next door!"

The guard's words left me frozen in place, feeling like I was on pins and needles. My face flushed bright red.

"I'm so... so sorry!" I stammered.

My neighbor, Frank, looked at me with a mix of helplessness and grievance but didn't say much. He waved his hand, indicating it was okay.

"No worries, no worries. I must have accidentally scared you. It's good for a woman living alone to be cautious, really."

Relieved that it was a false alarm, I felt extremely embarrassed. Thankfully, I hadn't hit him too hard, and he only had a minor scratch. After the guard left, we both returned to our apartments.

A while later, I knocked on Frank's door with some freshly washed fruit and iodine. I sincerely apologized again, and he smiled, saying it was fine. He didn't invite me in, which suggested he valued his privacy. We chatted briefly in the hallway, and I learned his name was Frank.

Back in my apartment, I thought about Frank. He didn't seem like a bad person at all. I couldn't understand why I had become so suspicious. Maybe it was the lack of sleep and stress.

After washing up, I went to bed early, telling myself that tomorrow would be a new day.

As I slept, I thought I heard knocking again.

Knock, knock, knock!

What was that sound? I frowned, not fully awake.

Knock, knock, knock!

The sound continued, soft but penetrating. I suddenly opened my eyes and strained to listen in the dark.

"Who's there?" I shouted.

There was no response. This time, I didn't tiptoe. I ran straight to the door, my footsteps loud on the floor, and looked through the peephole. The hallway was empty, just like before.

Chapter 3

(5)

As someone who doesn't believe in ghosts, I absolutely did not believe that this house was haunted. There had to be someone causing trouble. To figure out who was knocking on my door every night, I installed a hidden camera at my door the next day. The camera's range covered the area from my door to Frank's door. I was determined to