The Knock at the Door

The saying goes, "When you stare into the abyss long enough, then the abyss will stare back at you." What happens if the abyss decides that it likes you? Deep within the woods of Seagull's Crest lies an ominous lake so crystal black that it could pass for your everyday, average mirror. Only this lake never held a reflection like most bodies of water. Many legends bring visitors from all over the world to experience the chilling thrill that horror and true crime lovers crave.

Legend has it that the lake gets its mirror-like appearance from being a body of water that houses the lost souls of those who died there. When you gaze upon the water, it stares back as if reading your soul to determine if it wants you or not. According to the legend, the lake is alive, and it likes those who are alive, too. Most people around here never step foot in the water for fear that the water will enjoy tickling their soul just a little too much for comfort.

Seagull's Crest Lake isn't like any other in the world. We have a saying around here: "There are many who enter, but few who return." That's true, considering the number of missing persons in just the last decade. Witnesses have claimed to see the faces of the missing, staring back at them from deep within the crystal water. Some dare to state that arms reached through the water and grabbed them if they looked too closely at the faces at the bottom.

However, as many believers as there are, there are also skeptics. You can spot them from a mile away. They go in the water and treat their stay like visiting a beach or pool at a resort. The skeptics are better gone before nightfall, though, because Seagull's Crest Lake does not tolerate disrespect.

See, there are times when the lake wants your soul, but then there are times when it decides your soul isn't good enough, and that's the scariest part of the legend. Not only does the water take you, but then your soul might disappear to never be seen or heard of again. Where does it go, I wonder?

As for me, I don't think I can afford to be a skeptic. Especially since I live right next to the lake. My house sits about twenty or so feet from it. In fact, Seagull's Crest Lake is on my property. That doesn't stop anyone from coming to visit, though, and I let them. It's a deal the lake made with me. If I allow souls to go to it and turn the other way when they go missing, the lake will enable me to live. I can never leave, nor can I come out at night. Not even to sit on my porch and drink my evening tea.

I also can't step foot outside, nor can I answer the door on All Hallow's Eve, as that is the one night of the year that the dead can return to the earth. I'd be lying if I said the lake didn't release them from the depths of its heart. I'm sure everyone is familiar with the term "Heart of the ocean." Oceans aren't the only water with a heart, and Seagull's Crest Lake is no exception. This lake has feelings and thoughts. It has an eerie aura about it as if it's listening to everything happening around it. Tonight happens to be All Hallow's Eve, and I'll spend it like I do every year. In my house watching scary movies until I fall asleep.

Grabbing my evening tea and a snuggly blanket, I make my way toward the living room, passing the expansive window with an open curtain. I pause to view the lake from a safe distance. The full moon brightens the entire wooded area. However, no reflection of light on the water itself. Even though I know the legend to be accurate, it still puzzles me to this day. How does it just choose not to have a reflection? It's as if it's a vampire. I giggle to myself before slipping away and finding my place on the couch.

Hours went by before I knew it, and I could feel my eyes becoming heavier and heavier by the minute. Lowering the volume on the remote, I reclined back. I began resting my eyes while listening to Jason slaughter a bunch of teens. You would think that Friday the 13th would be off my list of movies to watch, considering my property doesn't look too much different than Camp Crystal Lake itself.

I felt myself drifting off and my mind slowing. My scattered thoughts became numb, and the sounds of the TV were distant and barely noticeable. The last thing I remember hearing is the clock on the wall chiming.

Knock. Knock. My eyes shot open at the sound. No one ever knocked on my door, especially on All Hallow's Eve. Sitting up slowly, I peered over the back of my couch at the door. There didn't seem to be any other noises except for the knock. A few minutes went by, and nothing else happened. Maybe I imagined it? I slowly leaned back down the way I was and closed my eyes again. Knock. Knock.

This time my body jolted up as if being pulled by a magnetic field. Who could possibly be knocking on my door this late at night? I glanced at the clock on the wall. It said one A.M. I gulped as another knock sounded at the door. They were getting more persistent now.

"Who's there?" I asked shakily. There was no reply, not even another knock. Then suddenly, I heard what sounded like scratching along the door, and a small voice saying, "Help me…." I gulped and stood, remembering the rule of not answering the door. "Help me…" The voice spoke again.

I approached my window and peered outside. There was no one on the porch. Standing back, confused, I wondered if I had imagined the entire thing. A girl screamed on the TV, and the sound of a chainsaw reared its ugly head. I peered out again, and still, no one was there. As I turned away to head back to the living room, it happened again. Knock. Knock. I felt my feet stop in their tracks, and my racing heart became so quiet I clutched my chest thinking it might have stopped beating altogether.

Once I knew my heart was beating, I took a deep breath and turned back toward the window. Knock. Knock. There it was again. Someone had to be on the porch. I took a step forward and peered out the glass, now being overrun by dense condensation. My eyes darted to the left toward my porch, but no one was there. Within a few seconds, the entire window succumbed to the creeping fog. Still, before my view of the porch was wholly gone, a body appeared through the white of the window.

It was a girl with dark hair and a white sundress. Her skin was so shockingly similar to the moon that my breath caught in my throat. She looks like the moon. As if knowing I was watching her, she turned toward my window and began approaching. But it didn't look like she was walking, more like floating toward me.

She brought her face so close to the glass that I could almost see it clearly. Her voice sounded muffled as she asked, "Will you help me?"

"What do you need help with?" I asked in return.

"Open your door." She replied, sounding kind and innocent. "I need your help."

"I'm not supposed to answer the door tonight," I stated, holding onto what little ground I had left.

"Why not?" The girl asked, now becoming persistent.

"I'm just not supposed to," I answered. What was I supposed to say? Was I going to tell this total stranger that the lake told me not to open the door on all Hallow's Eve? Who would believe that? Even believers were a little skeptical when I'd said that to some of them.

"Come on. I won't bite." She stated, her voice almost musical. "I just need a little help." I put my face closer to the window, but as I did, the girl pulled hers farther away. There was something off about her that I couldn't quite pinpoint. She seemed not normal. Well, as far as not normal can go. I put my sweatered wrist to the window and began wiping the condensation away. She wasn't there.

I blinked. Where did the girl go? I looked at the front door and toward the back of the porch, but she was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she got the hint? I sighed and turned to get back to the movies. As I took my first step, it happened. A chill crawled up my back as I listened. Knock. Knock.

It was different this time. The knock was louder and more forceful but still slow and creepy. I looked out the window again to find no one there. Then I made my way to the door and leaned against it. My hand rested near the knob, but I didn't dare touch it. Who knew how much the lake paid attention, and I didn't need the temptation. Knock. Knock.

I closed my eyes hard. Fear enveloped me. She wasn't going to leave me alone. "Please go away," I said through the door. "There should be another house not too far from here. Maybe they can help you, but I can't." There was silence for a moment. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock…

I stood there listening to the persistent knocks for I don't know how long. I just knew it was long enough for my clock to chime and signal that it was now two a.m. I had slid down the door and was now seated on the floor, clutching my ears trying to block it out. How long would the girl keep knocking like that before she got tired? Weren't her hands and arms starting to hurt?

The knocks became even more persistent and loud, echoing off the walls of my mind until I just couldn't take it anymore. I stood suddenly and put my hand on the doorknob. As soon as I did, the knocking stopped. "Please help me," the girl said quietly from the other side of the door. I released the knob and went back to the window. Peering out through the clear spot on the glass, I saw that she wasn't there once again. I went back to the door. "Are you okay?" I asked and then added, "What are you doing out here so late at night?" There was silence for a moment.

"I was just visiting," she said. "But someone is after me. I think he wants to hurt me." I gulped hard and thought about her words. Someone is after this girl, and she just needs a place to hide. If I send her away, even if it's to another house, he may catch up with her. Could I live with myself if this girl ended up in the papers tomorrow?

However, if I open the door, I'm breaking my deal with the lake, and the lake was never specific on what would happen if I didn't adhere to the rules. My heart raced as I weighed my two options. "Please help me…." Her voice came again.

I stayed there, leaning against the door. The cold against my forehead felt good and seemed to calm down my racing heart. My hand remained on the knob as if taunting me to break the rule. I couldn't remove it even if I wanted to. There seemed to be a force preventing me from doing so. As if the universe wanted me to open the door.

It was silent for a while, and then I heard it. A piercing scream from outside that one would describe as sounding like bloody murder. It did sound like murder. A murder that would involve a lot of blood. Did he get her? Did I wait too long to decide if I wanted to help or not?

Forgetting all about rules and the lake, I turned the doorknob and rushed outside. I saw the girl standing in my yard staring up at the sky and screaming. There was no man, no blood, nothing except the girl in the white sundress with the moonlight skin. I rushed to her, calling for her to stop and asking if she was okay. But as soon as I grabbed her arms, she was gone. I couldn't believe it. One second, she was there real and needing help. Then I blinked, and she was gone. I stared at my hands, which seemed to reflect the light of the full moon off the palms.

They still felt cold from where I'd touched her. I did touch her, I said to myself. Then my thoughts came into focus, and I realized where I was. I looked at the dark and eerie scene around me. There wasn't a single ripple of water in the lake where I stood frozen and thinking it was far too quiet. Not sure what I should do or what would happen to me, I decided to get back inside before I caused any more trouble.

I turned toward my house and heard it again. A soft voice says, "Help me…." I slowly turned, scared of what I would see. As the lake came into my view, I saw the girl, but it wasn't all of her. She was in the water, and only the top of her head and eyes were visible. She was looking straight at me.

"What are you doing in there?" I asked and then added, "It's dangerous!" She didn't say anything in return. Not that she could, since her nose and mouth were underwater. How is she not needing to breathe, and why isn't the water moving around her? Isn't she swimming to keep herself from going under?

Exasperated, I began making my way to the lake to help her get out before something terrible happened. As I looked down at the mirror-like surface, my breath caught. There were faces down there. I had heard the stories but never experienced them myself. It really is true that not a single thing reflects itself to the world, but there are faces down there. It's as if they were all standing on the floor of the lake looking up at me, curious like they'd never seen a person before. I kneeled and kept watching them.

For a moment, I was caught in a trance. Not wanting to move from that spot until I could see every single face. How many of them were down there? "Help me…" I heard the voice say again, and it snapped me away from the moonlight faces underneath the veil of water. I looked up and saw the girl unmoved from her spot. Her nose and mouth are still under the water.

"Come on," I said. "You need to get out of the water before you get hurt." I reached my hand toward her, but she just stared at me. Her eyes were like the lake. Black crystal mirror that held no reflection. Then her whole head came out of the water, and she said in a cold voice, "All you had to do was follow the rules." My eyes widened in horror. Before I could pull my hand back, she grabbed it and pulled me under.

Cold pierced my skin all over my body, shocking me to my senses. I looked around to see nothing but darkness. I rushed to get back to the surface, but no matter how much I swam, it seemed like I couldn't get there. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked to my right. The girl was there with cold eyes. "Please," I tried to say. "Please let me go. I won't break the rules again." I couldn't get the words out correctly, but she seemed to understand me anyway.

As she lifted her hand, I began swimming again. This time, I reached the surface, but as I went to break through, I was stopped by force. The lake seemed to have an invisible lid over it, preventing me from getting out. I beat against the water, trying to break through but didn't have any luck.

Slowly I could feel my lungs fill with water and begin to give out. It burned and hurt as I desperately tried to receive air, but no matter how much I hit the barrier, it wouldn't budge. Weakness and fatigue overwhelmed me, and I slowly came to a stop. My vision blurred, and cracks formed almost like I was looking through a crystal. My skin brightened until it looked too much like moonlight. Before I died, the last thing I remembered was a thousand hands pulling me to the bottom and the distant sound of a clock chiming three a.m.