3:00 am
A sudden, jarring bang reverberates through the stillness of the night, jolting me awake from a deep slumber. My heart races as the sound echoes down the hallway, a sharp, thunderous noise that shatters the silence like glass. For a moment, I lie frozen in bed, the remnants of sleep clinging to my mind, struggling to comprehend what just happened.
The darkness of my room feels thicker now, almost suffocating, as I strain to listen for any further sounds. The air is heavy with tension, and the familiar creaks of the house seem amplified in the wake of the disturbance. I can feel the pulse of adrenaline quickening in my veins, urging me to either flee or investigate.
With a hesitant breath, I swung my legs over the side of the bed, the cool floor sending a shiver up my spine. The shadows in the corners of the room seem to loom larger, and every creak of the floorboards beneath my feet feels like a declaration of my presence in the stillness. I inched toward the door, my heart pounding in my chest, each step echoing in the quiet. The walls, cloaked in a deep, oppressive darkness, are lined with peeling wallpaper that whispers of forgotten stories and long-lost memories. My footsteps echo softly against the worn floorboards, each creak amplifying the silence around me. Dim light filters in from a distant source, casting elongated shadows that dance and flicker, creating the illusion of movement just beyond my line of sight. The hallway stretches endlessly before me, its end obscured by darkness, as if it leads to another world entirely.
As I ventured further, the temperature dropped, and a shiver ran through me, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I can almost hear the faint rustle of fabric or the soft sigh of a breeze, but when I pause to listen, the silence swallows the sound. The walls seem to close in, and I can't shake the feeling that unseen eyes are watching, lurking just beyond the veil of darkness.
The shadows seem to deepen, and for a fleeting moment, I catch a glimpse of something, a flicker of movement, a whisper of a presence before it vanishes into the gloom.
With each step, the hallway feels more alive, as if it holds secrets waiting to be uncovered. I press on, my heart racing, drawn deeper into the unknown, where the darkness wraps around me like a shroud, and the mysteries of the past beckon from the shadows. I dug my fingernails into my palm as I made my way towards the end of the corridor stopping at no other than the red door. With a deep breath, I grasp the cold, tarnished door knob, its surface smooth yet unyielding. I gave it a gentle twist, half-expecting it to resist as it always has. But to my surprise, it turns with a soft click, a sound that echoes in the stillness around me. My heart races as I push against the door, feeling the familiar resistance give way, as if the very air around it has shifted.