Knock Knock Chapter 2 - The Stickman

I couldn't fall asleep. I've been trying for hours now but kept tossing and turning in my bed. It was raining cats and dogs outside. The pitter-patter on my window kept stealing my sleep. I got up from my bed and looked out my window. My bedroom had a big window that stretched from the floor to the ceiling overlooking the garden.

I was back in my 1bhk flat of a stand-alone apartment in a rather well-to-do locality. The pale moonlight flooded my bedroom. Nature's devastation was visible. The garden was overflowing. The plants were drowning. They did their best not to get washed away and stay sturdy in the downpours. The drains couldn't handle this much water and overflowed on the roads. Everything was underwater and the sky poured.

I looked at my mobile. It was 2:30. I yawned and stretched as I walked across the room to switch on the lights.

"Great," I rejoiced. "We won't be able to go anywhere tomorrow in these conditions."

It has been days since that incident at Tina's home; 3 weeks and 2 days to be exact. The strange part was that when we ran downstairs for help, her parents were sleeping soundly. They hadn't heard anything at all. But those events had happened! We had not imagined it.

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"It can't be!" Mr. Basu, Tina's father retorted, thinking we were playing some kind of mean joke on them. He was not happy to be woken from his reverie. "We have been living here for such a long time and nothing of that sort ever happened."Tina's mother hurriedly got up from the bed and hugged her daughter.

"Dad, we are telling the truth," tears welled in Tina's eyes and glided down her cheeks as she narrated the episode that had happened upstairs. Tina was usually a strong-headed girl but not when it came to anything unnatural.

"Why don't you go and check? They all look so terrified and shaken." Mrs. Basu, Tina's mother coaxed her husband. Her father looked at us inquiringly before going upstairs. I was sure he thought we were smoking illegal substances and had imagined or conjured up the whole scenario.

"Someone or something was inside the locked room. It broke free. The door is shattered. That thing is inside our house. It can harm us at times. Dad, please call the police!" Tina urged her father to take immediate action. Finally, her father agreed and a plan of action was in place. Before going upstairs, Tina's father informed the police of a possible thief or unwanted person in their house.

"You will all stay downstairs and lock the room from inside. The intruder or the thief could be armed. I will go upstairs and check". He decided on a wooden ladle from the kitchen for his protection.

"Don't open the door until I say so," he warned. We sat huddled downstairs trying to calm ourselves and process what had happened. Tina and her mother were praying for her father's safety.

"I'm informing my parents and asking them to come and pick me up." Daisy declared. "I can't stand this anymore."

"You all should do the same." Tina's mother replied with a heavy sigh.

Time came to a still as long as Tina's father was gone. We were distracted and too unnerved to calm down and the sudden knock on the door had us all screaming.

"Tina, open the door. It's me, "came a voice from the other side of the door.

Tina's mother slowly and cautiously opened the door and was relieved to see that Tina's father was back and okay. But he was tensed. He had a grave expression on his face. His brows were knitted together. Tina locked the door quickly. We gathered around him. He explained the aftermath.

The door was smashed to bits. The wooden pieces strewn about were the proof of it. Mr Basu also checked inside the room, but there was no sign of anyone ever living in the room. Inside that room, were bare walls covered in dirt and cobwebs. He had checked the other rooms upstairs as well, under the beds, outside the windows, in the toilet, on the terrace; there was no one to be found.

We were relieved as well as tensed at this news; relieved that Mr. Basu, Tina's father was not hurt. But tensed because the intruder was still on the loose, somewhere in that house. A swirl of emotions was rising inside us.

"There was nothing in the room?" Erina enquired.

"More importantly why would that person break from the hiding smashing and thrashing?"I was confused.

"He is still inside the house!" Daisy quivered.

"All we can do now is wait for the police to come," Tina's father sighed.

Finally, the wait was over and the police arrived. The house was searched thoroughly. Every nook and corner of the house was combed. Even the school next door was investigated but nothing suspicious was found. The police repeated the details that Tina's father had said about that suspicious room.

"The inside of the room was deserted, home only for cobwebs. There was no evidence of someone living there, ever. It didn't seem to be disturbed at all. There was also no sign of forced entry on the lock."

The police inspector Mr. Debasish Nath, in charge of the inquiry, turned to us. Inspector Debasish Nath was a large man with a wide face and stern expression.

"Did anyone get a look at this person who was inside?" he questioned us.

Everyone shook their head.

"I got only a glimpse of him from far away. I saw a slender tall silhouette with peculiarly long arms and legs."

"We fled as soon as the knockings turned into a thrashing," Tina added.

"Knockings?" the inspector raised his eyebrows. We narrated the whole incident. How it started from a fun game to strange knocking from random places and lastly the thrashings at the door.

"Are you sure, none of you did this?" the police inspector raised his eyebrow.

"Why would we do that?" Tina was aghast.

Inspector Debasish Nath was suspicious that we had consumed something illegal and committed this act under the influence and were now trying to misguide everyone by weaving up this story.

"We didn't find any proof of someone hiding in that room and none of you got any look at that person as well. We have no lead for this case." Inspector Debasish Nath concluded. There was nothing more the police could do. "Two policemen will be stationed outside for your security for today," said Inspector Debasish Nath and took his leave.

Concerned parents and keen neighbours had gathered outside when the search was going on. Worry for their child's safety was painted on their faces. And why won't they be after the incident? We were allowed to meet with our parents after the investigation was over. Words of condolences and safety were shared among the parents and soon they left one by one. I stayed back because I knew Tina and her parents needed mental support.

"What is it ma? You look troubled?" Tina's worries mirrored her mom's.

"Your father and I have decided to call a priest tomorrow. Get our house cleansed and put a new door and locks in that room." We listened in silence. The next day a priest, famous for his craft was called to purify the house and protect us all.

"The entity has left the house forever and will no longer disturb you," the priest summarised after walking around the house.

A small ceremony was performed to silence the entity petrifying us. Then, he sprayed the holy water in every nook and corner of the room. A new door was installed and secured properly. The priest chanted some mantras and placed a seal on the new lock and covered it with a red cloth. The priest then went into every room one by one, chanted some mantras, and cleansed them with the holy water. Before taking his leave, the priest called me. He looked at me for a minute. The priest proceeded to place his hands on my head, closed his eyes, murmured a small prayer, and then sprayed the holy water on me.

"It's going to be alright now."

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Words travel fast, faster than the waves or the wildfires or other forces of nature. There was no sign of any living being. This is what the police had concluded.

Then who could have broken the door to pieces?

It was a monster, some unearthly being.

Doubts of evil, ghosts and so on coated with misinformation about the incidents travelled from one mouth to another ear transforming into a new version each time.

But there was some truth in their thinking. It could not be a person. How could a person come out of a room without ever occupying it? It didn't make any sense. Apart from logical reasoning, I had got a glimpse of that creature. It had me hypnotized. I had stood staring at the door as the creature broke free. It was shrouded in darkness and extremely thin. It had long legs and hands that appeared as sticks attached to a body.

A stickman!

I looked out the window again.

"I need to do something. I am bored."

It was almost 2:30 in the morning. I decided to watch something on my laptop. The internet was doing fine even in this weather. Finally, I settled on a show. A group of people decided to go on a trip but ended up getting lost in an enchanted jungle. It was raining hard so I decided to play the show on full volume.

Soon, I got engrossed in the show and didn't realize when the rain stopped. The characters were lost in the enchanted forest. They were screaming and running away from something. The high volume masked all the other background sounds. I didn't realize that someone was at the door. I lowered the volume and strained my ears.

"Yes, there is someone at the door." All this time, I thought the noise was coming from the laptop.

"Did I wake up the neighbours?" I was preparing an apology as I walked towards my door. "I hope they are not too pissed."

I opened the doors and stared at the emptiness outside. There was no one there.

"Did they leave?" I peered outside again. "Lucky!" I thought. Then closed the door and resumed my show. But this time, I decided to play it on my headphones.

"What now?" I was again distracted by the knocks at the door. "Why are they back?" I was eager to complete the show. It had reached its climax. I opened the door and again met with silence in the corridor.

"Who is doing this?" I walked up and down the corridor, and checked the stairs. But there was no soul to be seen. And then it hit me.

"Has the knockings followed me here?"

I locked the door.

It can't be.

It was happening again. These knockings concerned me. I stood at the door, listening intently for the knocking.

Where is it coming from? Is there any pattern to it? When will it come next and from where?

Then it came again. But I couldn't make out the origin.

"Where is it coming from?" I checked the corridor and the staircase again. This time I checked outside my window, under my bed, and even inside the cupboards, just to be sure. There was no sign of anyone anywhere.

"It is so frustrating." I was irritated and tired. "I give up! I am not going to play your stupid game anymore!" I screamed in the air, put on my headphones, and resumed the show.

The clock said 5:30. It was morning when the show finally ended. It was a good show with a satisfying ending. I was happy and completely forgot about the knockings. I switched off the lights and climbed into my bed. The sun was peeking from the horizon. It entered my room softly and chased away the shadows. I pulled up my quilt and curled inside.

"Good morning," I said to myself and closed my eyes. But the peace was short-lived. The knockings started once again. I opened my eyes and concentrated on the direction of the source.

There is it! I found it.

Hanging on the top right corner of my window was the tall slender figure, knocking and smiling at me as if telling me, Found You! Its features were obscured in the black pitch but I could sense his malicious smile. I stared at it as it hung on my window knocking.

Knock knock! knock knock knock!

knock knock knock knock! knock!

Knock knock! Knock knock!