Chapter 1: The Knocking
“Dad… open that wall!””
Lily’s scream reached me before I reached the storage room.
I dropped the box I was carrying and ran toward the sound. The old house seemed to swallow my footsteps as I crossed the upstairs hallway.
When I pushed through the doorway, my six-year-old daughter was struggling beside a massive oak wardrobe.
And Vanessa had both hands wrapped around Lily’s arm.
“Let go of me!”” Lily cried.
“Lily, stop!”” Vanessa snapped.
“There’s nothing there.””
I froze.
Vanessa was my wife.
Lily’s stepmother.
And I had never seen her touch my daughter like that.
“Vanessa.””
My voice came out colder than I expected.
She looked over her shoulder.
Her face changed immediately.
“Daniel, this isn’t what it looks like.””
I crossed the room and pulled Lily gently behind me.
“Don’t touch her.””
Vanessa released her.
Lily wrapped both arms around my waist, breathing hard.
“Dad,” she whispered.
“It’s behind there.””
I looked down.
“What is?””
“The knocking.””
Vanessa laughed.
Too quickly.
“She heard pipes.””
Lily shook her head violently.
“No! Someone knocked back!””
A strange silence settled over the room.
We had moved into the house three months earlier after my mother died. It had belonged to her side of the family for decades, though she had rarely spoken about it.
The place was enormous and badly neglected.
Twenty-two rooms.
Three staircases.
A basement Vanessa refused to enter because she claimed it smelled of mould.
The upstairs storage room was packed with old furniture we had been slowly sorting.
And against the far wall stood a wardrobe so enormous I had assumed it had been built inside the room.
Lily pointed at it.
“There.””
Vanessa stepped between us and the wardrobe.
“Daniel, please.””
That word stopped me.
Please.
Not don’t be ridiculous.
Not Lily imagined it.
Please.
I studied my wife.
Her hands were trembling.
“Why don’t you want me looking behind it?””
“I don’t care if you look.””
“Then move.””
She didn’t.
Lily tightened her grip around my waist.
“She told me never to come in here.””
I looked at Vanessa.
“You told her that?””
“It’s dangerous. Look at this junk.””
“Why were you dragging her away?””
“I wasn’t dragging her.””
“You were holding her hard enough to make her scream.””
Vanessa opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
I stepped around her.
The wardrobe was ridiculously heavy. I wedged my fingers against one side and pushed.
Nothing.
I pushed harder.
Wood scraped against the floor.
Vanessa suddenly grabbed my shoulder.
“Daniel, stop.””
I turned.
Now there was no mistaking it.
Fear.
Not annoyance.
Not frustration.
Fear.
“What’s behind this wardrobe?””
“I don’t know.””
“You’re lying.””
“I’m not.””
“Then why are you terrified?””
She stared at me.
Lily whispered, “Dad.””
I turned back.
The wardrobe had shifted perhaps twelve inches.
Enough to reveal part of the wall.
Except the plaster behind it didn’t match the rest of the room.
The surrounding wall was old, yellowed, cracked with age.
This section was smoother.
Newer.
I crouched.
There were faint rectangular lines beneath the paint.
Someone had plastered over an opening.
Recently.
My stomach tightened.
“Vanessa.””
No answer.
I stood.
“Who did this?””
“I don’t know.””
“You’ve been living here with me for three months.””
“So have you.””
“But apparently I’m the only one who didn’t know this existed.””
“I said I don’t know!””
Her voice cracked.
Lily flinched.
I glanced around and saw an old tool chest near the window.
Inside was a hammer.
Vanessa saw me pick it up.
“Daniel, don’t.””
I struck the wall.
BANG.
Plaster cracked.
Vanessa backed toward the door.
I struck again.
BANG.
A chunk fell away.
Dark metal appeared underneath.
My pulse accelerated.
One more strike opened a larger section.
I tore away loose plaster with my hands.
Within minutes, enough had fallen to reveal what had been hidden.
A narrow steel door.
No visible handle.
No hinges on our side.
And no reason for it to exist inside the wall of my childhood family home.
Lily stared at it.
“That’s where the sound came from.””
I turned slowly toward Vanessa.
“What is this?””
She looked at the steel door.
Then at me.
Her lips moved.
Nothing came out.
“Vanessa.””
“I…”
THUD.
All three of us froze.
The sound came from behind the metal.
Lily grabbed my hand.
THUD.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Then came the third knock.
THUD.
Slow.
Heavy.
Deliberate.
Someone was on the other side.
I stared at Vanessa.
Her face had lost all colour.
May you like
And then she whispered something that made the room feel suddenly colder.
“He wasn’t supposed to be awake.””
