THE APARTMENT WITHOUT A NUMBER

The door began to open.

Slowly.

The darkness upstairs seemed to move with it.

Nobody spoke.

I could hear my own breathing, fast and uneven, while Lateefah's fingers remained locked around my wrist.

"Don't move," Adeife whispered.

The door stopped.

Only a few inches had opened.

A thin line of darkness appeared between the door and its frame.

Then something came through.

A hand.

I almost screamed.

The hand was pale, but not frightening because of its colour. It was the way the fingers moved.

They curled around the edge of the door.

Slowly.

As if whoever was behind it was trying to pull themselves outside.

"Close it!" Patience shouted.

"How?" Emmanuel replied.

Nobody was near it.

Then a face appeared.

I couldn't make out the person's features.

The hallway was too dark.

The face remained half-hidden behind the door.

"Who are you?" Amos called.

No answer.

"Can you hear me?"

The figure stepped forward.

The light from someone's phone finally reached the person's face.

It was a young man.

Maybe in his early twenties.

He looked exhausted.

His clothes were dirty, and his face was covered with scratches.

"Help me," he whispered.

Emmanuel immediately moved toward the staircase.

I grabbed his shirt.

"Wait."

The young man looked directly at me.

His eyes widened.

"Aliyah?"

I froze.

"How do you know my name?"

He didn't answer.

Instead, he looked behind us.

"How many of you are there?"

"Fifteen," Emmanuel replied.

The young man's face changed.

"Fifteen?"

"Yes."

He took a step backward.

"No."

"What?" I asked.

He shook his head.

"That isn't possible."

"What isn't possible?"

He looked frightened now.

"You came with fifteen?"

"Yes."

He stared at us as if we had just told him something impossible.

Then he whispered:

"The mountain doesn't usually take that many at once."

A cold feeling travelled through my body.

"What does that mean?"

He didn't answer.

He turned around and hurried into the apartment.

"Wait!"

I started toward the staircase.

Lateefah pulled me back.

"Aliyah, no."

"But he knows something."

"That's exactly why we shouldn't follow him."

The young man stopped at the apartment entrance.

He looked over his shoulder.

"You shouldn't be here."

"Neither should you," I replied.

He smiled sadly.

"You still have a chance."

Then the door slammed shut.

We rushed upstairs.

Emmanuel reached the apartment first.

He tried the handle.

Locked.

Again.

Nothing.

"Open it!" he shouted.

No response.

He banged on the door.

"Hey!"

Silence.

I looked at the door.

There was no number.

No name.

Nothing.

Only a small symbol carved into the wood.

It looked like a circle with lines spreading outward.

Adeife touched my arm.

"Aliyah."

"What?"

"Look."

She pointed to the floor.

There were footprints.

Bare feet.

They started at the apartment door and continued down the corridor.

I followed them with my eyes.

They stopped directly in front of us.

There were no footprints leading away.

I stared at them.

"How did he get in?"

Nobody answered.

Then Lateefah whispered:

"Maybe he didn't."

We all looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

She swallowed.

"Maybe he was already inside."

The lights suddenly returned.

The apartment door was closed.

Completely.

No gap.

No hand.

Nothing.

Emmanuel tried the handle again.

Locked.

"We're leaving," Amos said.

Nobody argued.

We hurried downstairs.

I kept looking behind me.

The corridor seemed longer than before.

Much longer.

We reached the sitting room.

Everyone gathered together.

"Nobody goes upstairs," I said.

"Agreed," Sarah replied immediately.

Patience sat down.

"I don't understand what is happening."

"Neither do I," I said.

Charles tried to lighten the mood.

"Maybe the mountain just doesn't like visitors."

Nobody laughed.

Then we heard the front door open.

Everyone turned.

Mosun walked inside.

She was carrying two bags.

Behind her were two coordinators.

For a moment, I felt such relief that I nearly cried.

"Mosun!"

She looked at us.

"Why do you all look like you've seen a ghost?"

I rushed toward her.

"Where have you been?"

She frowned.

"I told you. We went down to get some things."

"You were gone for hours!"

She looked at her phone.

"What?"

"How long have you been gone?"

"Maybe forty minutes."

I stared at her.

"Forty minutes?"

She nodded.

I looked at Lateefah.

She looked equally confused.

"We've been here for hours," I said.

Mosun laughed nervously.

"Aliyah, we left less than an hour ago."

"No."

I took out my phone.

The time showed 8:26 p.m.

I remembered checking it earlier.

It had been 7:42.

That made sense.

But it didn't feel like forty minutes.

It felt like hours.

Mosun's expression changed.

"What happened?"

We told her everything.

The footsteps.

The woman outside.

The voices.

The young man.

The apartment.

When we mentioned the locked apartment, she became completely silent.

"What?" I asked.

She looked toward the staircase.

"Which apartment?"

"The one without a number."

Her face went pale.

"My father told me never to open that door."

I stared at her.

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"You must know something."

"I don't!"

Her voice cracked.

"My father never explained it. He just said that apartment had been sealed for years."

"Then why did we hear someone inside?"

Mosun shook her head.

"I don't know."

One of the coordinators stepped forward.

"Everyone should calm down."

Nobody seemed interested in calming down.

"Can you open it?" I asked Mosun.

She looked at me.

"What?"

"The apartment."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I don't have the key."

"You said your father owns the house."

"That doesn't mean I have keys to every room."

"Then call him."

Mosun pulled out her phone.

She dialled.

We waited.

No answer.

She called again.

Nothing.

Then her phone rang.

Everyone jumped.

Mosun looked at the screen.

Her father's name appeared.

She answered immediately.

"Dad?"

There was silence.

Mosun's expression changed.

"Hello?"

I moved closer.

She put the phone on speaker.

A man's breathing came through.

Heavy.

Uneven.

"Dad?"

Finally, a voice spoke.

But it wasn't what I expected.

"Leave the house."

Mosun froze.

"What?"

"Leave the house immediately."

"Dad, what happened?"

"Do not open the apartment."

Everyone looked at me.

The voice continued.

"Don't let anyone go upstairs."

"Dad, you're frightening me."

Then he said something that made the room completely silent.

"How many of you are there?"

Mosun answered.

"Fifteen."

Her father went quiet.

Then he whispered:

"That many?"

I felt a chill.

"Why does everyone keep reacting to that number?" I asked.

Her father suddenly spoke louder.

"Who is this?"

"Aliyah."

There was another silence.

Then he said:

"Aliyah, listen carefully."

I leaned closer.

"Yes?"

"Where is your brother?"

My heart stopped.

I stared at the phone.

"My brother?"

"Malik."

Nobody in the room knew why that name had suddenly become important.

I swallowed.

"He's at home."

Mosun's father breathed heavily.

"No."

"What do you mean?"

"He isn't."

My heart began beating faster.

"What are you talking about?"

He whispered:

"Malik came to Lumi Mountain three days ago."

I couldn't speak.

Mosun stared at me.

Lateefah grabbed my hand.

Then a sound came from upstairs.

A door opened.

Everyone looked toward the staircase.

Mosun's father was still on the phone.

His voice suddenly became urgent.

"Aliyah?"

"Yes?"

"Whatever you do..."

He paused.

"...don't let Malik find you."

The call ended.

For several seconds, nobody moved.

Then we heard footsteps upstairs.

Slow.

Measured.

Someone was coming down the staircase.

One step.

Then another.

Then another.

Mosun's face had gone completely white.

"Who is Malik?" Charles asked.

I couldn't answer.

Because I knew my brother.

And I knew something else.

There was no way Malik could have been on Lumi Mountain for three days.

At least, there shouldn't have been.

Then the footsteps stopped.

A figure appeared at the top of the stairs.

My heart stopped.

I knew the face.

I knew the eyes.

I knew the voice that spoke my name.

"Aliyah."

Lateefah screamed.

Because standing at the top of the staircase was my brother.

Malik.

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