Aarav didn't open the door.
He couldn't.
His hand hovered over the handle, trembling uncontrollably as the voice echoed in his ear—
"Open it."
He stepped back.
"No…" he whispered. "No, I'm not doing that…"
Silence.
For a moment, it felt like everything had stopped.
Then—
KNOCK… KNOCK… KNOCK
This time, softer.
Slower.
Almost… patient.
Aarav shook his head and backed away from the door completely.
"I'm not opening it," he said, louder now. "Whatever this is… just stop!"
The knocking stopped.
Instantly.
The silence that followed was worse.
Heavy.
Like something was waiting.
Watching.
Aarav didn't sleep that night.
He stayed curled up on his bed, lights on, eyes fixed on the door until morning came.
Sunlight filled the room.
Everything looked normal again.
Too normal.
Aarav let out a long breath and rubbed his face.
"Okay… okay… think," he muttered.
"No more fear. There has to be an explanation."
He stood up slowly and walked toward the wall.
The same wall.
The one that had knocked back.
For a few seconds, he just stared at it.
Nothing.
No cracks.
No movement.
No sound.
"See?" he said, forcing a weak smile. "Nothing there."
He stepped closer.
Raised his hand.
Touched the surface.
Cold.
Solid.
Just a wall.
Aarav exhaled.
Relief began to settle in his chest.
"Yeah… I was just imagining—"
He stopped.
His fingers moved slightly across the surface.
Something felt… wrong.
Not the temperature.
Not the texture.
Something else.
He leaned in closer.
His eyes narrowed.
And then—
His stomach dropped.
Scratches.
Thin.
Deep.
Carved into the wall.
They hadn't been there before.
Aarav slowly traced them with his fingers.
They weren't random.
They formed a pattern.
No—
Not a pattern.
A symbol.
Rough.
Uneven.
But intentional.
As if something had tried to write…
From the inside.
Aarav stepped back, his breathing growing heavier.
"No…" he whispered. "No, this wasn't here…"
His mind raced.
Did I miss it before? No… no, I would've seen this…
His eyes stayed locked on the scratches.
The deeper he looked—
The worse it felt.
Because they didn't just look carved.
They looked… desperate.
Like something had tried to get out.
Aarav grabbed his phone with shaky hands.
He needed proof.
Needed to show someone.
Needed to know he wasn't losing his mind.
He opened the camera and pointed it at the wall.
Click.
The flash lit up the room for a split second.
And in that moment—
He saw something.
His breath caught.
He slowly looked up from the screen…
Back at the wall.
Nothing.
Just the scratches.
"…no…"
His hands trembled.
Slowly—
Very slowly—
He looked back at his phone.
At the picture he had just taken.
And there—
In the image—
Behind the scratches…
Was a face.
Faint.
Distorted.
Pressed against the wall from the inside.
Its mouth stretched open unnaturally.
Its eyes—
Empty.
But staring directly at him.
Aarav dropped the phone.
It hit the floor with a dull thud.
"No… no… no…"
He stumbled backward, his entire body shaking.
"That's not real… that's not real…"
He forced himself to look at the wall again.
Nothing.
No face.
No movement.
Just the scratches.
His breathing turned ragged.
"I'm hallucinating… I have to be…"
But deep down—
He knew.
That wasn't his imagination.
That night—
He didn't turn off the lights.
He didn't lie down.
He just sat in the corner of his room, knees pulled to his chest, eyes locked on the wall.
Hours passed.
Nothing happened.
No knocking.
No voice.
Just silence.
Aarav almost believed it was over.
Almost.
Until—
Tap.
His body stiffened.
The sound came from the wall.
Soft.
Deliberate.
Like something testing.
Aarav didn't move.
Didn't breathe.
Then—
Tap… tap…
It continued.
Slow.
Patient.
Waiting.
Aarav's eyes widened.
His heart began to pound again.
"Stop…" he whispered. "Please… just stop…"
The tapping paused.
For a second—
He thought it listened.
Then—
TAP TAP TAP TAP
Louder.
Faster.
Aggressive.
Aarav flinched, pressing himself against the corner.
"STOP!" he screamed.
Silence.
Instant.
Again.
That same terrifying pattern.
It listens.
It reacts.
It knows.
Aarav's breathing shook violently.
"No… no… no…"
Then—
Something changed.
The wall.
Right in front of the scratches.
It moved.
Not cracked.
Not broken.
Moved.
Like something was pushing from the inside.
A shape began to form.
Slowly.
Unnaturally.
Aarav's eyes filled with terror.
A hand.
A human hand.
Pressing outward from inside the wall.
Fingers stretching.
Bending.
Trying to break through.
Aarav let out a choked scream.
"No—!"
The hand pushed harder.
The wall surface warped around it.
The fingers twitched.
Scratched.
Dragged.
And then—
It stopped.
Everything went still.
The hand disappeared.
The wall returned to normal.
Like nothing had happened.
Aarav sat there, shaking uncontrollably.
Tears filled his eyes.
His voice came out broken—
"…what do you want from me…?"
Silence answered him.
For a long moment—
Nothing.
Then—
A whisper.
Soft.
Right behind the wall.
"Let me out…"