THE DOOR UPSTAIRS

Nobody moved.

The sound of the door opening upstairs seemed to have frozen the entire house.

I stood beside Lateefah, staring at the staircase.

Adeife was on my other side, her fingers tightly wrapped around my arm.

"Maybe someone is upstairs," Emmanuel said.

I looked at him.

"Who?"

He didn't answer.

Everyone was supposed to be downstairs.

Mosun and the coordinators had left through the main entrance, and the rest of us had been sitting together.

The footsteps had definitely come from upstairs.

Then we heard another sound.

A slow creak.

Like someone walking across the wooden floor.

Charles tried to laugh.

"Maybe the house has a caretaker."

"No," Mosun had told us earlier.

I remembered her words clearly.

Her father rarely had anyone staying there.

"Maybe an animal got inside," Wonder suggested.

"An animal opened a door?" Sarah asked.

Nobody laughed.

We stood there listening.

Another footstep.

Then another.

The sound moved toward the staircase.

I felt Lateefah's fingers tighten around mine.

"Aliyah," she whispered.

"I'm here."

"What if someone is actually upstairs?"

"We'll check."

Her eyes widened.

"You want to check?"

I swallowed.

"No."

Adeife almost laughed despite herself.

"At least you're honest."

The footsteps stopped.

For several seconds, there was complete silence.

Then we heard a door slam.

BANG!

Patience screamed.

"Okay! I'm done!"

She grabbed her bag.

"I'm going outside."

"Outside where?" Emmanuel asked.

She pointed toward the front door.

"Anywhere that isn't here."

Charles stood.

"Nobody is going anywhere alone."

"Then come with me."

Before anyone could respond, the electricity went off again.

The house disappeared into darkness.

"Jesus!" Sarah shouted.

"Everybody stay where you are!" one of the coordinators had instructed us earlier, but they weren't there now.

I quickly turned on my phone flashlight.

Other phone lights appeared around the room.

The beam from my phone shook slightly because my hand was trembling.

"Where's the flashlight?" Amos asked.

"Here."

I handed him the larger one.

He turned it on.

The beam illuminated the staircase.

Nothing was there.

"See?" Charles said. "Nothing."

Then something appeared at the top of the stairs.

A shadow.

I stopped breathing.

It was shaped like a person.

Tall.

Still.

Watching us.

"Who is that?" Fatimah whispered.

Nobody answered.

Amos raised the flashlight.

The beam travelled up the stairs.

The shadow disappeared.

"Did you see that?" I asked.

"See what?" Charles said.

"The person."

"What person?"

I stared at him.

"You didn't see it?"

Everyone shook their heads.

Except Lateefah.

She looked terrified.

"I saw it."

Adeife nodded.

"Me too."

That was enough for me.

"Let's leave the house."

We rushed toward the entrance.

I grabbed the door handle.

It didn't move.

I pulled harder.

Nothing.

"It's stuck."

"Move!"

Emmanuel pushed beside me.

Together, we pulled.

The door wouldn't open.

Patience began panicking.

"Why isn't it opening?"

"Maybe it's locked," Amos said.

"Nobody locked it!"

I looked through the glass panel beside the door.

The mountain outside was covered in darkness.

But something was wrong.

The road we had used earlier was gone.

Not hidden by darkness.

Gone.

Where there had been a clear path leading down the mountain, there was now only a wall of thick mist.

I stepped backward.

"Guys."

They gathered around.

I pointed.

Nobody spoke.

Then we heard something outside.

A faint sound.

Like someone humming.

The humming grew louder.

Closer.

A figure slowly emerged from the mist.

A woman.

She was standing on the other side of the glass.

Everyone screamed.

I jumped backward.

The woman didn't move.

She wore a long, pale dress.

Her hair covered most of her face.

She simply stood there.

Looking at us.

Then she raised her hand.

And pointed toward the staircase.

I felt cold all over.

"Don't open the door," Lateefah whispered.

Nobody intended to.

The woman lowered her hand.

Then she disappeared into the mist.

"Where did she go?" Sarah asked.

Nobody knew.

The lights suddenly came back.

Everyone gasped.

The front door clicked.

It unlocked itself.

The room became silent.

Emmanuel slowly reached for the handle.

"Don't," I said.

He stopped.

"Aliyah, we can't stay inside forever."

I looked at the dark mountain outside.

"Maybe we shouldn't go outside either."

Before we could decide, my phone rang.

I nearly dropped it.

The screen showed an unfamiliar number.

I answered.

"Hello?"

There was silence.

"Hello?"

Then a woman's voice whispered:

"Why are you still inside?"

My heart stopped.

"Who is this?"

"Aliyah."

I froze.

She knew my name.

"Who are you?"

The voice didn't answer.

Instead, it said:

"Don't let them open the apartment."

The call ended.

I stared at my phone.

Lateefah noticed my expression.

"Who was that?"

I slowly lowered the phone.

"I don't know."

"What did she say?"

I looked toward the staircase.

Then toward the locked apartment upstairs.

"She told us not to open the apartment."

Adeife's face changed.

"Why?"

"I don't know."

A loud bang came from upstairs.

Everyone jumped.

This time, the sound came from the locked apartment.

BANG!

Then another.

BANG!

Someone—or something—was hitting the door from inside.

We all stared at the ceiling.

"What is happening?" Fatimah whispered.

Then we heard a voice.

A man's voice.

"Help me."

I knew that voice.

Everyone did.

We looked at one another.

The voice came again.

"Please... help me."

It sounded exactly like Emmanuel.

Emmanuel went pale.

"But I'm here."

Nobody spoke.

The voice behind the locked door called again.

"Aliyah..."

My heart began pounding.

It was my voice.

My own voice was coming from behind the door.

"Aliyah, please open the door."

Lateefah pulled me backward.

"Don't."

The knocking stopped.

Silence returned.

Then the voice changed.

This time, it was Lateefah's voice.

"Aliyah, don't trust Adeife."

Lateefah immediately stepped away from me.

"What?"

Adeife stared at her.

"Why would I say that?"

"I didn't say anything!"

The voice behind the door laughed.

It wasn't any of ours anymore.

It was deep.

Distorted.

Almost human.

Then it whispered:

"We know all of you."

The lights went off again.

And somewhere upstairs, the locked apartment door began to open.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***