Secret Knock

Rap. Tap. Rappity-tappity-tap. Rap. Tap.

Caleb freezes at the all too familiar sound. He knows that knock. That is no knock of a stranger or a friendly neighbor popping by to introduce themselves. That knock does not belong here on his new door, in this new town, or in this world. That knock should have died that night along with everything else.

He stares at the door, a lump clinging to the back of his throat. Did he imagine it? It couldn't be, could it?

Rap. Tap. Rappity-tappity-tap. Rap. Tap.

Caleb searches his surroundings, looking for something to be used as a weapon, but everything is still boxed up. He inches toward the door, heart pounding wildly, and peers through the peephole.

Nothing. No one. The yellow glow of the dim porch light pools over the nearby bushes and across the front walk revealing a yawning black emptiness. It had to be his imagination.

With a sigh of relief, he turns back to unpacking the boxes piled in the living room. No sooner had he bent back over than he heard the back door.

Rap. Tap. Rappity-tappity-tap. Rap. Tap.

Louder this time, more sure and urgent. Caleb breaths deeply, commanding his heart to sink back into his chest, but he can feel every pounding beat straining in his neck making it impossible to swallow the bile rippling beneath the surface.

Rap. Tap. Rappity-tappity-tap. Rap. Tap.

He inches toward the back door, crouching low to conceal his approach through the window. Careful to make no sound, he eases himself to the edge of the window sill, then peaks through the glass.

The back garden is tiny, barely room for two lawn chairs and a rose bush. It is also barren, lifeless in the faint light from the kitchen window. There's no one at this door. But Caleb releases no sigh and feels no relief. He clearly heard the knock. Their knock. He may have a vivid imagination but this was something more. He was either being haunted or he was losing his mind. Both possibilities left him feeling equally unsettled.

He double checked the lock on the back door and then slid a stack of unpacked boxes in front of the door for good measure. He repeated the action at the front door. Determined to drown out any haunting noises, he slid the tv against a wall, propped on the floor, and plugged it in. Grateful he'd taken the time this afternoon to set up his internet, he grabbed the remote and, with a shaking hand, punched his password in three times before getting it correct. None too soon the sound of music, action, and adventure swallowed up the quiet of the falling night. The show distracted him just enough that his heart slipped back into its place, slowing to the steady rhythm. But he was aware that his shoulders still tensed and his ears twitched at every unknown rustle from outside.

Hours passed without any more disturbance and Caleb allowed himself to relax. Finally, sleep overwhelmed him and he drifted off, the television still on.

Rap. Tap. Rappity-tappity-tap. Rap. Tap.

Caleb woke with a start at the noise. Groggy, he peered around trying to figure out where he found himself. Darkness engulfed the room and the shape of haphazardly stacked boxes loomed in every corner. A soft light buzzed against the wall as a red square asked somewhat accusatorially, Are you still watching?

Rap. Tap. Rappity-tappity-tap. Rap. Tap.

The sound brought him back to his senses, remembering now he'd moved to a whole new state and why. His heart clawed angrily at his chest, begging him to run far away but every other muscle in his body froze in terrified rebellion.

Reality fragmented, pulling Caleb's mind back to another time, another place.

Rap. Tap. Rappity-tappity-tap. Rap. Tap.

Caleb’s fist beat rhythmically on the rough wooden door, concealed in the crevice of the hill behind a twisted snaggle of vines and branches. From the other side he heard excited whooping before the heavy clunk of an iron bolt sliding. The door flew open and the grinning freckled faces of two red haired boys greeted him.

“You found it!” Eric exclaimed. “Come on in!”

Caleb expected a dank, dark cave, but this felt like stepping into another world. Electric lights glowed brightly in ornate sconces along the walls of the large globe shaped room. Bookshelves full of adventures, puzzles, and board games stood guard between the sconces, watching over the pool table, giant bean bags, television set, and kitchenette.

“Welcome to our clubhouse! Pretty cool, right?” Jonah beamed as he watched Caleb, mouth agape, take in his surroundings.

“This place is bigger than my whole house!” Caleb whispered.

Rap. Tap. Rappity-tappity-tap. Rap. Tap.

Caleb.

The voice sounded almost friendly, almost human, almost real.

Caaaaaaaleeeeebbbbb.

The moan seeped under the front door, amplified by the silence surrounding it.

Tears dripped down his face, one drop shaking from its perch at the tip of his nose. Again, his mind spun backward, back to their old haunt. Back to that fateful day. It had been their refuge from the world for years, but the last time Caleb felt like an outsider for the first time.

"How long have you known?" Caleb shook in anger, crushing the paper that changed everything in his hand. "Were you ever really my friends or did HE make you spend time with his poor bastard son?"

Jonah shook his head searching for answers but his mouth moved without saying anything.

But Eric glared angrily back at Caleb, "How dare you? We never had to show you that letter. We could have kept it to ourselves but we wanted to share everything with you. We've always shared it all with you. But we don't have to anymore. You're not in the will. Get out."

Caleb tried to pull himself away from the memory. He didn't want to relive that moment, but there was no escape. He watched helplessly as Eric's temper got the best of him. Jonah, always the gentler twin, tried to intervene only to fall awkwardly backward into the pool table, smacking his head with sickening crunch, before crumpling into a lifeless heap on the floor.

Rap. Tap. Rappity-tappity-tap. Rap. Tap.

Now coming from the back door he heard another wail, not the least bit friendly or human, shrieking in unending pain, louder, higher, more monstrous.

The rest was a haze. Caleb remembered roaring in rage as he lunged at Eric, but he had no idea where the knife came from. It wasn't until he was covered in blood, some his, some Eric's, that Caleb noticed the fire engulfing the bean bag chairs. He barely remembered rushing out the door. In a panic, he tried to conceal the scene by blocking the door with a fallen tree and some rocks. Smoke began to billow out and then Caleb heard the most terrifying sound of all.

Rap. Tap. Rappity-tappity-tap. Rap. Tap.

The final knock faint, barely more than a brush against the wood before being swallowed up by the hauntingly pain-filled shriek.

RAP! TAP! The whole house shook with each pound.

RAPPITY! Crash! The mirror on the far wall tumbled to the ground, splintering into a million jagged shards.

TAPPITY! The red glow from the television intensified, engulfing the room in an eerie blood red glow.

TAP! Sweat dripped down Caleb's back as the temperature in the room climbed higher and higher.

RAP! The sound not only surrounded him, it came from within, sending a shockwave through his bones.

TAP! Caleb covered his ears and closed his eyes, shaking, sobbing, begging for mercy.

Caaaaaaaallllllleeeeeeeeebbbbbb!

With one final wail everything went quiet, the deafening silence clutched his chest angrily. And then it all ended.

Unearthly darkness wrapped its arms around Caleb. Eric and Jonah stood in a vivid red glow before him. They had always shared their abundance of possessions with Caleb, the bastard son of their childhood nanny. The bastard son their father never claimed until they found the letter after his death. Tonight they came to share the only thing they had left: eternal torment.