Locked Door - 3. A Descent into Fear

Emily could feel her heart pounding in her chest, each beat reverberating through her entire body. The footsteps outside the door had finally faded, but the sense of impending danger lingered, thick and suffocating. She and Hannah sat in the dark, their bodies rigid with fear, their ears straining for any sound that might signal the return of whoever—or whatever—had been stalking the hallway.

Emily’s phone buzzed softly, the screen casting a faint light that illuminated her anxious expression. She glanced down, hoping for some reassurance from Sarah. The message, however, only deepened her unease.

Sarah:

"I think I saw Lila with someone in the hallway a few minutes ago. I couldn’t see who it was, but they were both moving quietly, like they didn’t want to be noticed. Something’s not right. Please be careful, Emily."

Emily’s stomach dropped. Lila? Hannah’s girlfriend? Why would Lila be sneaking around the dormitory with someone else in the middle of the night? And why hadn’t she contacted Hannah directly?

“Hannah,” Emily whispered, her voice trembling. “Sarah just saw Lila in the hallway… with someone else. She didn’t know who it was, but they were trying to stay out of sight.”

Hannah’s eyes widened in shock. “Lila? Are you sure?”

Emily handed over her phone so Hannah could read the message herself. As she did, Emily could see the confusion and fear etching itself onto Hannah’s face. She could tell that Hannah was struggling to make sense of it all.

“But why… why wouldn’t she tell me?” Hannah asked, her voice barely above a whisper. “Why would she be out there with someone else, sneaking around?”

Emily shook her head, at a loss for words. She could see the anguish in Hannah’s eyes, the dawning realization that something was terribly wrong. Hannah’s hands began to tremble, and she pressed her lips together, trying to suppress the rising panic.

“I don’t know,” Emily said softly, “but we have to be careful. We don’t know who’s out there, and we don’t know who we can trust.”

Hannah’s shoulders slumped as she absorbed Emily’s words. “What if… what if Lila’s in trouble? What if she’s being forced to do something?”

Emily’s mind raced, trying to piece together what little information they had. Was Lila in danger, or was she somehow involved in whatever was happening in the dormitory? The uncertainty gnawed at Emily, feeding the fear that had taken root deep inside her.

Suddenly, the silence of the dorm was shattered by a loud bang, followed by a series of rapid, frantic footsteps echoing down the hallway. Emily and Hannah both jumped, their eyes snapping to the door. The sounds seemed to be coming from the far end of the hallway, growing louder as they approached their room.

“Do you think it’s Lila?” Hannah whispered, a flicker of hope in her voice.

“I don’t know,” Emily replied, her voice barely audible. She instinctively backed away from the door, pulling Hannah with her. “But we can’t risk it. Not until we know for sure.”

The footsteps stopped abruptly, and for a moment, there was only silence. Then, to their horror, the doorknob rattled, as if someone was trying to open it. Emily’s breath caught in her throat as she watched the door, her mind racing with panic.

“Hannah, Emily, are you in there?” A voice called out, barely more than a whisper. It was Lila’s voice, but it was tinged with an unfamiliar urgency. “Please, let me in. I need to talk to you.”

Hannah’s eyes filled with tears as she looked at Emily, silently begging her to open the door. But Emily hesitated, her mind still reeling from Sarah’s warning. She needed to be absolutely certain.

“Lila?” Hannah called out softly. “Why are you out there? Who was with you in the hallway?”

There was a pause, and when Lila responded, her voice was shaky. “It was… no one. Just one of the girls from downstairs. I don’t know her that well. Please, just let me in. I’m scared.”

Emily’s heart ached as she watched Hannah struggle with the decision. She could see how much Hannah wanted to believe Lila, to open the door and let her in. But she also knew that the situation was far too dangerous to take any chances.

“Ask her something only Lila would know,” Emily whispered to Hannah, hoping that a simple test might give them the answer they needed.

Hannah nodded, her voice trembling as she asked, “Lila, what’s the name of our cat back home? The one I’m always talking about?”

Another pause. This one stretched on for a few seconds too long. When Lila finally answered, her voice was hesitant. “Uh… It’s… um… Pumpkin, right?”

Hannah’s face crumpled. “No, it’s not,” she whispered, her voice breaking. The cat’s name was Gizmo, a detail Lila would have known if it were really her. Emily reached out and grabbed Hannah’s hand, squeezing it tightly as they both realized what this meant.

“That’s not Lila,” Emily whispered urgently. “We can’t open the door.”

Tears welled up in Hannah’s eyes, but she nodded, biting her lip to keep from crying out. The two girls backed away from the door, moving as quietly as they could, not daring to make a sound.

“Please, just let me in,” the voice outside pleaded again, this time more insistent, almost desperate. But Emily and Hannah remained silent, knowing that whoever—or whatever—was out there wasn’t Lila.

After a few more moments of silence, the voice turned angry. “Fine, stay in there! But you’re making a mistake. You can’t stay locked up in there forever!”

The doorknob rattled again, harder this time, as if the person outside was considering forcing their way in. Emily’s heart pounded in her chest, her pulse thundering in her ears. She tightened her grip on Hannah’s hand, silently praying that the lock would hold.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the rattling stopped, and the footsteps retreated down the hallway. Emily and Hannah remained frozen, hardly daring to breathe until the sounds had faded completely.

When the silence finally returned, Emily let out a shaky breath. She felt as if she had been holding it in for hours. She turned to Hannah, who was trembling, her face pale and drawn.

“Emily… I think Lila might be involved in this,” Hannah whispered, her voice barely audible. “That didn’t sound like her… but it was her voice, I swear.”

Emily’s heart ached for her friend. She wanted to comfort her, to tell her that everything would be okay, but she knew that nothing about this situation was okay. She couldn’t even be sure if the real Lila was still alive, or if whoever had impersonated her had done something terrible.

“I don’t know, Hannah,” Emily replied, her voice cracking with emotion. “But we need to stay strong. We can’t let our guard down now.”

Hannah nodded, wiping away the tears that had spilled down her cheeks. The two girls sat back down on Emily’s bed, their backs against the wall as they tried to calm their racing hearts.

The minutes ticked by, each one dragging on longer than the last. Emily checked her phone repeatedly, but there were no new messages from Sarah. The absence of communication only deepened her anxiety.

Suddenly, Emily’s phone buzzed in her hand, making her jump. She glanced at the screen, her heart leaping when she saw that it was another message from Sarah.

Sarah:

"I heard someone outside my door again, but they’re gone now. I’m too scared to leave the storage room. Are you okay? Did anyone come to your door?"

Emily quickly typed a response, her fingers shaking as she did.

Emily:

"Someone pretending to be Lila came to our door. We didn’t open it. I think Lila might be involved in this. Please be careful, Sarah. Don’t come out until you’re sure it’s safe."

She sent the message and waited, her heart pounding in her chest. Every second felt like an eternity as she waited for Sarah’s reply.

Finally, the phone buzzed again.

Sarah:

"I’m so scared, Emily. I don’t know who to trust anymore. I don’t know what to do."

Emily’s heart broke for her friend. She felt the same fear, the same uncertainty. But she knew they had to stay strong, had to keep fighting if they were going to survive this nightmare.

Emily:

"Stay where you are, Sarah. We’ll get through this together. Just hold on a little longer."

The message felt hollow, even as she sent it. Emily didn’t know how much longer they could hold out. The fear was becoming too much to bear, the darkness too overwhelming.

And then, as if the situation couldn’t get any worse, the room was plunged into total darkness as the last of the battery power in their phones died, leaving them alone in the pitch-black room.

Emily let out a small gasp, her heart racing as she was enveloped by the darkness. She could hear Hannah breathing next to her, each breath ragged with fear.

“What do we do now?” Hannah whispered, her voice trembling.

Emily’s mind raced, but she had no answers. They were trapped, blind and helpless in the dark, with no way to communicate with Sarah or anyone else. The terror she felt was all-consuming, a suffocating blanket of dread that made it hard to think, hard to breathe.

And then, in the pitch-black room, they heard it again—the slow, deliberate footsteps returning down the hallway, closer and closer to their door.

The sound was louder this time, more menacing, each step sending a jolt of fear through Emily’s body. She could hear Hannah start to cry softly, the sound breaking her heart even further.

The footsteps stopped right outside their door, and Emily held her breath, waiting for whatever would come next. The silence was suffocating, the darkness pressing in on them from all sides.

And then, with a soft click, the doorknob began to turn.

Emily’s breath caught in her throat as she realized that whoever was outside had somehow unlocked the door. She grabbed Hannah’s hand, squeezing it tightly as she prepared for the worst.

The door slowly creaked open, the sound sending chills down Emily’s spine. She could feel the presence of someone standing in the doorway, the oppressive darkness making it impossible to see who—or what—it was.

For a moment, there was only silence. And then, a voice spoke, low and menacing.

“You can’t hide forever,” it said, the words dripping with malice. “I’m going to find you.”

Emily’s heart pounded in her chest, the fear so intense that she thought she might faint. She clung to Hannah, both of them frozen in terror, as the footsteps slowly retreated down the hallway once more.

When the door finally clicked shut, plunging them back into darkness, Emily let out a shaky breath. The room was silent again, but the fear remained, a constant, gnawing presence that refused to let go.

Emily and Hannah sat in the dark, their backs pressed against the wall, their hands clasped tightly together. They had survived this encounter, but they knew that the night was far from over. The terror was only beginning.

And as the minutes dragged on, Emily couldn’t shake the feeling that something even worse was coming for them. Something that they might not be able to escape.

They were trapped, alone in the dark, with no way out.

And the nightmare was just beginning.