Knock Knock Knock
Sliding under the covers, Vanessa smiled contentedly. Her day had been a long one, with going to the laundromat and the store, getting her driving license renewed and having her hair redone… but it was all over! Tomorrow was Saturday and she would just sleep in and ignore anything coming from the outside world, barring the apocalypse occurred.
If that happened she’d just go back to bed.
As she snuggled beneath her comforter, she became aware of a new noise. Her house was hardly new, and it had its fair share of creaks and groans, but this was something like a rhythmic tapping. Sitting up in bed, she strained her ears (as best one can do) and listened to the house. A low moan issued forth as the wind buffeted against the walls, causing her to relax a little; maybe it was just an errant branch tapping the side of the house?
Knock-Knock-Knock!
“Okay, what is that…?” She grumbled, stepping out of bed. She wrapped a robe around herself and walked downstairs, trying to locate where the noise was coming from.
After another series of knocks, these ones much heavier in tone, she could tell where they were coming from.
Her hall closet.
Right next to the front door, the hall closet was where she kept her shoes and coats, along with various gift wraps and other knick-knacks that she never really needed. What could be making the noise?
Walking up to the door, she hesitantly reached out a hand, and gently rapped her knuckles against the lacquered wood.
SLAM! SLAM! SLAM!
It was as if something was hurling itself against the door from the other side, using it’s whole body to shake the door in it’s very frame. Vanessa let out a small shriek and backed up, not sure what to do… what could be doing this?
She went to the kitchen and, while ignoring the jarring slams echoing throughout the house, grabbed her phone to dial the police.
“Nine-one-one, what is your emergency?” A bored voice answered on the second ring.
“Yeah, there’s something here in my house, trying to get me!” Vanessa whispered into the phone.
“Okay, stay calm ma’am. May I have your address so I can dispatch someone right away?”
“It’s nine-three-two Charleston Lane,” Vanessa answered as another series of slams rocked through the house. It sounded as if the wood was beginning to break. “Please hurry!”
“Just stay on the line with me, I’ll stay with you until they arrive. There should be a unit at your address in five minutes. Can you hide somewhere?”
“No,” Vanessa cried, screaming out loud when she heard a loud crack followed by wood clattering to the ground.
“Ma’am? Ma’am?” The operator said, trying to keep Vanessa’s attention.
But she was gone.
+++
Officer Mayberry kicked in the front door, having called out to the owner multiple times. Jessica from the precinct had said the woman had screamed and could no longer be reached, so time was of the essence.
Walking inside with his partner Judson, both with pistols drawn, they nearly vomited at the sight before them.
Mutilated beyond measure, the lower half of a person lay on the ground, a coil of intestines traveling into the closet. Scrawled on the wall next to the closet, in scarlet letters, was a message. Shining his flashlight on the message, Mayberry felt a shiver go down his spine.
I knocked and she didn’t answer, so I let myself in
The last letter trailed off to a smear leading to the cracked frame of the closet. Shaking his head, Mayberry pulled his radio from his shoulder.
“Call the morgue, we didn’t make it in time… it happened again.” Mayberry said, cursing the street. How many times were they going to be called out to Charleston Lane to clean up a body from some mystery killer?
