A sharp rap on the door broke the silence just after midnight. Three minutes past twelve, the sound cut through the quiet like a blade.
At first, Aarav missed it entirely.
Lying there, one arm bent behind his head, fingers moving across the phone without thought. Light from the display painted thin streaks along the wall, soft and cold. Silence pressed against the windows - no engines, no voices, just stillness where noise used to live. Somewhere past midnight, even the animals gave up their nightly arguments.
Everything felt… still.
Then -
KNOCK… KNOCK… KNOCK
Aarav paused.
Above the glass, his thumb paused. The tip almost touching where light pooled beneath it. Stillness held that moment together. Not quite pressing. Just waiting there like breath caught mid-air.
A shadow crossed his face as he turned to stare at the doorway.
Might be the guy next door, he said quietly.
Yet a quiet unease settled in. It lingered without reason, like dust on still air.
A noise like that wouldn't have started near the doorway. It came from somewhere else - somewhere quieter.
Something about it felt less bright. A weight had settled in its place.
Muffled, almost as if wrapped in cloth.
Footsteps creaked across the floor above, so he lifted himself inch by inch, breath held tight.
Silence.
That quiet where sound seems too heavy to rise. Silence sits close, almost touching skin. It fills spaces like breath held too long. A hush so deep it hums beneath bone.
Aarav exhaled softly, then moved his head from side to side. He released air quietly, shaking his skull back and forth.
"Overthinking," he whispered.
Still, he rose from the mattress, stepping toward the entrance - because certainty mattered. Then again, motion followed thought without protest.
He opened it.
Outside the hall stretched quiet. Nobody stood there.
No footsteps.
No movement.
No one.
Overhead, a fluorescent strip blinked on and off, its weak hum filling the space. Shadows jumped around, never staying still.
A voice broke the silence - it was Aarav speaking into the quiet.
No response.
Out the door he went, eyes scanning left before jumping right.
Nothing.
Something odd settled inside him. Not the sort that arrives after bad news.
Back inside he moved fast, then the door closed behind him.
Click.
He locked it.
He froze, eyes locked on the thing before him. Then came stillness, heavy and quiet.
That moment, a shaky laugh escaped him.
"Great. I'm scaring myself now."
Facing elsewhere, onward he moved toward the bed before lowering himself onto it.
The glow of the device flickered once more between his fingers, yet right then, its pull faded. A quiet shift had taken hold - attention slipping like sand through still fingers.
The hush settled heavier now. Stillness crept through corners untouched earlier.
Too quiet.
Then -
KNOCK… KNOCK… KNOCK
This moment, Aarav stopped moving.
A sudden tightness gripped his chest. The air just stopped moving. Silence roared inside him. His lungs refused to work. Every muscle froze mid-motion.
It didn't come from the door. The sound started elsewhere.
It couldn't be.
Head turning inch by inch, he moved like time itself had paused. Each motion stretched longer than the last, quiet and deliberate. Not a rush anywhere in his body. Just slow. Then slower.
A noise came out of the wall just then.
A small table sits just next to where he sleeps.
Aarav held his gaze there. It stayed still under his eyes.
Faster now, his heart pounded, every beat echoing harder than before.
"No…" he whispered.
A quiet movement followed his rise. Toward the wall he went, one careful foot after another.
Another.
Closer now, the chill pressed harder against his skin.
A moment passed before he lifted his hand. A pause settled in. His fingers hovered briefly, unsure. Then slowly, they met the surface - flat, firm, final.
The stone at my back pulled warmth away. A chill rose through my clothes.
Normal.
Just a wall.
Aarav exhaled, unsteady. The air left his lungs slow. His hands trembled slightly. Quiet settled around him like dust after a fall.
"See? Nothing."
A shaky grin crept across his face, breath held tight. Stillness came next, though his hands wouldn't listen.
Then -
Tap.
A sudden yank pulled Aarav's hand away. The motion snapped fast, sharp, reflexive - no pause, just retreat.
His eyes widened.
That sound…
From across came it. The far part sent it.
A tap came through the silence, sudden. Then - another answered.
A stillness took hold. He stood fixed, unable to shift even slightly.
Couldn't think.
Frozen stiff, his body would not move a single inch.
"No… no, that's not possible…"
Back he moved, head swinging side to side.
"This is stupid. It's just pipes or… or something in the wall."
Yet saying it made him feel hollow inside.
Stillness followed the turn of the handle. The sound just vanished into air.
It had responded.
Aarav swallowed hard.
A lump rose where his voice should be. The air stuck behind his tongue like dust.
Forward he moved, slow like a breath held too long. His feet seemed to resist, yet they carried him anyway.
A shiver ran through his fingers when he lifted them skyward.
"Hello…?" he whispered.
No answer.
Fingers folded tight into a ball of tension.
Then -
He knocked.
Once.
Soft.
A whisper of noise lingered, almost vanishing before it could bounce.
And then -
KNOCK.
Back it came, just like that.
Same spot.
Same force.
Same rhythm.
A backward stumble came from Aarav, pulse jumping without warning. His chest thudded fast, breath catching midair.
His shout came out sharp, voice breaking mid-syllable. That wasn't humor at all.
Silence followed.
Heavy.
Suffocating.
Still he looked, fixed on the cracked plaster. Time passed without sound.
Hoping.
Hoping that it stays gone for good. What a relief if it never comes back.
Seconds passed.
Then -
A faint sound.
This wasn't about hitting anything. Just silence instead.
Something else.
Something softer.
Like… a whisper.
Aarav's eyes widened.
Close now, he tilted forward. His breathing came out jagged.
A whisper slipped out - "...hello?" - soft as dust settling.
A silence hung there. Stillness filled the space. Time seemed to pause, just briefly.
Then -
From inside the wall…
A voice answered.
Low.
Distorted.
Almost… amused.
"You heard me first."
Fear hit Aarav like a frozen wave. His breath stalled mid-air.
Frozen in place, his limbs would not respond.
Screaming filled his head while his legs stayed still.
The wall stood quiet ahead. Stillness held it there.
Silent.
Fine again, as if it never did.
But Aarav knew.
Something was there.
A moment ago, silence broke. The voice arrived like a crack in thin ice.
KNOCK… KNOCK… KNOCK
This time -
A noise rose up just past his back. The sound hit without warning. From that spot near where he stood. Something moved in the space behind.