The Whispers in the Walls

It began with the scratching.

At first, Daniel thought it was just mice. The old countryside house creaked at night anyway, so a little rustling between the walls didn’t seem unusual. But this was different. The sound didn’t come in short bursts like rodents scurrying—it was slow, deliberate… almost like fingernails dragging along wood.

Daniel had inherited the house from his late uncle, who had died alone. The family never talked about him much, except to say that he’d become “strange” toward the end. But Daniel didn’t care; the house was free, and he needed a fresh start.

On the third night, the scratching turned into whispers.

They were faint, almost lost beneath the hum of the refrigerator. He couldn’t make out the words, but they seemed to be coming from behind his bedroom wall. Whenever he pressed his ear to the plaster, the whispers stopped, as if they knew he was listening.

By the end of the week, the voice—if it was a voice—had grown bolder. Sometimes it laughed, a low, rattling chuckle that made the hairs on Daniel’s neck rise.

He tried ignoring it. He turned the TV up loud, wore earplugs, even slept on the couch downstairs. But the sound followed him, drifting through vents and doorways, never letting him rest.

One night, at exactly 3:17 a.m., the whisper became clear enough to understand.

"Daniel… let me out."

The voice was wet, as though it came from a throat filled with thick fluid.

Daniel froze in bed. “Who are you?” he whispered back before he realized how insane it was to talk to a wall.

There was a pause. Then—"You know me."

He didn’t. He was sure of it. But the way it spoke, like they shared a secret, made his stomach twist.

The next day, he searched the attic. Dust clung to his hair, cobwebs brushed his face. In the far corner, he found something odd—two planks of the attic floor were newer than the rest, nailed down sloppily. Curiosity overpowered caution. He pried them up.

Inside the hollow space was a small box. Its wood was blackened, as though scorched, and it reeked of rot. Daniel’s skin prickled. He lifted the lid.

Inside were human teeth. Not in neat rows, but loose and rattling, some yellowed, some brown with dried blood. On top of them lay a folded note.

It read: "Never open the wall."

That night, the whisper was closer.

"You found my teeth, Daniel… Now find me."

He didn’t sleep. He couldn’t. The voice had moved from the wall to directly beside his bed. It breathed in his ear. Sometimes it hummed an unrecognizable lullaby.

By morning, Daniel was pale and shaking. He called a handyman, desperate to check inside the wall. The man arrived, took one look at Daniel’s sunken eyes, and hesitated.

“What exactly am I looking for?”

Daniel lied. “Maybe mold. Just… something in there.”

The handyman cut into the plaster. The smell hit them instantly—sweet, foul, unmistakable. Something had died in there.

But when the section of wall came down, there was no animal. No body. Just darkness, stretching far deeper than the physical dimensions of the house should allow.

The handyman swore and backed away. “I’m not touching this.” He left without even collecting payment.

Daniel stood before the opening, his breath shallow. The blackness seemed to pulse, like it was breathing. And then… something moved.

A pale hand, too long and too thin, slid from the darkness, resting on the edge of the wall. Its nails were cracked and bleeding.

The voice came again, clearer than ever: "Thank you for opening the door."

The hand gripped the plaster and another appeared, pulling the thing forward. Its head emerged—bald, skin stretched tight over bone, mouth split wide with missing teeth. Its eyes were pits of oozing black.

Daniel stumbled backward. “Stay away!”

It crawled out slowly, like it had all the time in the world. “I waited for you,” it rasped. “Your uncle kept me here, but you… you’re kinder.”

Daniel turned to run, but the thing was fast. It seized his ankle, cold fingers digging into flesh. He kicked, screaming, but its grip was unbreakable. It pulled him toward the hole in the wall.

“No! Please!” His nails scraped the floorboards, leaving desperate grooves. The blackness inside the wall seemed to swallow the light around it.

The creature’s mouth split into something like a smile. “Home.”

And then Daniel was gone.

The house was silent again.

For three weeks, nothing happened. The neighbors assumed Daniel had moved. The house sat empty, its windows dark.

Until one night, a new sound came from inside.

Scratching.

Followed by a whisper.

"Let me out."