A Knock

“Hello Sylvia, what's up with you?" Clara asked as she dropped to the floor with a loud groan.

Sylvia's shoulders shook a little as she seemed to gather her thoughts together while staring at Clara weirdly.

“Nothing,” she shook her head and got up from the tiled floor.

Clara gave her a look from the side of her eyes and paused unbuttoning her shirt which was soaked in sweat in the underarms.

“Seriously, I know something is up when you're acting all weird like this," Clara pressed.

Sylvia took a deep breath and began to look for something, “nothing is wrong, where is your hand fan, this heat is killing me,”

She skirted around a plastic bucket left in the middle of the room as she made to climb the bunk bed to Clara's bed in order to search for the hand fan.

“Sylvia Matthews!" Clara shouted!

“Ahhh! What?" Sylvia shouted in return as she grabbed the hand fan and got down carefully from the ladder.

Clara only folded her arms in response, her sweaty shirt forgotten.

“Fine, I'll tell you," Sylvia rolled her eyes and sat on the floor cross legged. She brought out her smartphone and scrolled for a moment before passing the phone to Clara to read what she tapped on.

Clara's eyes skimmed over the phone for a moment before rolling back and up as she released a long sigh.

“I got worked up for nothing," she resumed unbuttoning her shirt while shaking her head.

“What do you mean? It says here in the hostel information group chat that this hostel is haunted!" Sylvia tapped her phone screen and shoved it in Clara's face who elbowed it out of her way as she made to get up.

“I told you that those are just stories, there's nothing running around in this hostel. Come on!" Clara shook her head.

“Well, believe it or whatever but do not open this door late at night when everyone is asleep, you're really fond of that. Please don't put us all at risk," Sylvia pleaded.

“Pssh!" Clara waved it off.

Just Sylvia being Sylvia because she's superstitious.
She doesn't stay up all night like I do on a daily basis, not like nothing extraordinary has ever happened while I have been up.

Clara shook her head as she climbed up the ladder attached to the bunk bed.

“Girls would just eat whatever you feed them," she muttered and got comfortable, ready for her afternoon nap.

In no time, Clara was fast asleep.

“Clara!" Sylvia called.

“What?" Clara murmured and turned towards the direction Sylvia's voice came from, her eyes still closed.

“You didn't tell me that you were so exhausted. Aren't you tired of sleeping?" Sylvia asked.

“What time is it?" Clara asked.

“It's the witching hour," Sylvia whispered with a giggle.

“Huh?" Clara's eyes shot open only to meet darkness and silence.

“Sylvia," Clara called in a harsh whisper as she squinted in the dark trying to make out her roommate's bed.

“Sylvia!" She called again and all she got was an indistinct murmur while the bed creaked noisily as Sylvia turned in her sleep.

Sylvia was fast asleep.

Sylvia wasn't awake just now.

Clara's heart began to race as cold sweat dripped down her spine while she sat frozen in her bed.

“It's just a dream, nothing more," she whispered to herself and closed her eyes.

Clara lay back down on the bed as she tried to regulate her breathing by counting in her head.

As she got to fifty, she heard a knock on the door so soft that it didn't register immediately. Before she could process it, she heard another knock much louder than the first one.

Dima Pechurin From Unsplash

Everything in her went still that she even stopped breathing.

A single knock, a pause, then two rapid knocks each louder than the last, repeatedly.

Clara's heart was racing to the point that she thought it'd burst out of her chest and splatter everywhere.

“I have something for sale," a soft voice spoke from outside the door.

“Huh?" Clara muttered and gripped her sheets right.

“You'll patronize me won't you?" The voice continued speaking but in a distorted form now.

“Won't you, Clara?" Came the most menacing voice that Clara had ever heard.

She couldn't take it anymore and maybe her heart did burst, but all she heard was a loud ringing noise and all she saw was darkness.

Hello Inkwell community,

It's good to be back... 😄