The knocking started at exactly 2:13 a.m.
Mia didn't know why she woke up.
One second she was asleep. The next, her eyes snapped open like someone had called her name.
The room was black.
Too black.
The power was out.
Her digital clock was dead. Her phone screen wouldn't turn on. Even the hallway light that usually leaked under her door was gone.
And then—
Knock.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Three times.
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
She sat up slowly, her blanket sliding off her shoulders.
It came again.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
But it wasn't her door.
It was coming from the wall.
The wall she shared with Room 213.
Mia froze.
Room 213 was supposed to be empty.
It had been empty since the "incident."
Nobody talked about it, but everyone knew something had happened last year. A student transferred. Teachers avoided the topic. The door to 213 had been locked ever since.
So why—
Knock.
This time harder.
Her breathing became shallow.
"Stop," she whispered, not even sure who she was talking to.
Silence followed.
Heavy silence.
The kind that presses against your ears.
Then she heard it.
A dragging sound.
Like something being pulled across the floor.
Slowly.
Right on the other side of her wall.
Mia grabbed her phone again. Dead.
"No, no, no…" she muttered.
Her eyes moved toward her bedroom door.
She needed light.
She needed proof she wasn't losing her mind.
She slid off her bed carefully. The floor felt colder than usual. Ice cold.
Another sound.
Not a knock this time.
A whisper.
Faint.
So faint she almost thought it was the wind.
"…Mia…"
Her blood ran cold.
Her name.
She hadn't told anyone at this new school where her dorm room was. She barely had friends yet.
"…come here…"
The whisper sounded like it was inside the wall.
Not outside.
Inside.
Mia backed away slowly.
The wall behind her bed began to tremble.
A soft vibration at first.
Then stronger.
Dust drifted down from the ceiling.
"Stop!" she shouted, panic finally breaking through.
The knocking returned.
But now it wasn't three times.
It was frantic.
Rapid.
Desperate.
Like something was trying to break through.
Cracks spread across the paint of her wall.
Thin.
Spider-like.
Moving toward her.
Mia stumbled backward, tripping over her chair.
The whisper turned into a strained voice.
"…you left me…"
The cracks deepened.
And then—
Everything stopped.
Silence.
Total.
Absolute.
The lights flicked back on.
Her phone buzzed in her hand.
2:14 a.m.
The wall was smooth again.
No cracks.
No dust.
No sound.
Mia's breathing echoed in the room.
Her phone vibrated again.
A notification.
Unknown Number.
Her hands trembled as she opened the message.
It was a picture.
Of her room.
Taken from inside.
The timestamp read:
2:13 a.m.
And standing behind her bed—
Was a girl.
Long black hair covering her face.
Head tilted.
Watching.
Under the image, one sentence appeared:
"You promised you wouldn't forget me."
Mia dropped the phone.
But when she looked up—
Her closet door was slowly opening.
By itself.
END OF CHAPTER TWO.