The Door In The Wall

Chapter 1: The Door In The Wall

"A door handle? In the wall? Are you sure?" His dad asked.

"Yes." Billy said. "Only at night though, it's gone by morning."

"How odd!"

"That's what I said."

"But it's gone now?"

"Yes, it's just there at night. Not before I go to sleep, and not after I wake up in the morning, only when I wake up through the night."

"Huh." Said his dad. "I'll tell you what, next time, come wake me up. I don't mind what hour, if it's there I want to see it." His dad then smiled at Billy, and no more was said on the matter.

That night Billy had trouble sleeping. He kept opening his eyes and looking at the wall, waiting for the handle to appear, but it wouldn't. At about one in the morning he finally slept, but was woken a short time later by a noise. The handle was back again, and the cut to the left of it now reached to Billy's waist.

He went into his parents bedroom to wake his dad. It didn't take long, but it took a few minutes for his father to realise what was going on, though eventually he remembered the days conversation and followed Billy to his room.

His father looked at the wall, then looked at Billy, and back again to the wall.

"There's nothing there." His dad said.

"There was a few minutes ago! You took too long!"

"Billy," his father began, "it's a new house, to us at least, and you need sometime to settle in. To adjust. In a day or two you'll be fine, sleeping through the night and without these dreams."

"It's not a dream!" Billy said. "There was a handle!"

"Shush Billy, time to get back into bed and go back to sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

He left the room, and Billy got back into bed. There was no point arguing, because Billy's evidence had vanished back into the wall so it'd do him no good.

The next night was similar to the last. He awoke, saw the handle, saw that the cut was now as tall as Billy himself, and so went to wake his father. They came back, the wall was bare. His father told him that he was not allowed to wake him anymore for dreams about handles, and then went back to bed.

The following night, Billy noticed that the cut had now got to about six foot upwards and had changed direction; starting to go horizontally across the wall. He realised that it was starting to resemble the outline of a door, with the handle right in the centre. A few nights later he confirmed this with himself when the line had reached about six foot upwards, then two foot across the wall, and was now going back down the other side.

He began to get a little scared.

Every time he brought up the subject with his father, he was told the same thing. that he needed time to settle in, that his dreams would stop, and that he wasn't allowed to wake his dad in the night.

A few more night went by, the cut in the wall getting closer to the floor each time, until Billy woke one more suddenly than any other night. He'd heard a bang but couldn't place where it had come from. He looked at the handle, and at the outline of the door, because it was indeed now a full outline of a door, and went to get his dad. His dad told him, when he finally woke up, that he wasn't coming to look at a blank wall again and that if it's there now, it'll be gone when Billy goes back to his bedroom because it's always gone. With this, he turned his back and went to sleep.

'Yeah, it'll be gone.' Billy thought to himself. He went into his bedroom and looked at the wall. The handle, and the outline of the door, were still there. He stood in front of the wall and looked it up and down. There was a slight tap-tap-tap sound which was getting gradually louder, as though someone was walking up the stairs. He looked out of his room, but the stairs were empty of life. Besides, the staircase was carpeted and this sounded more like footsteps on stone.

Back again into his bedroom, back again to staring at the outline. Back again to hearing the tap-tap-tap of footsteps. Slightly louder this time, and then louder still. It was as though... No. Wait, getting louder again. It's as though someones coming towards the door, he thought, but from the other side!

Slightly louder and louder they became, each tap louder than the last.

Louder... Louder... LOUDER...LOUDER!

Then, nothing. Silence.

Until:

Knock-Knock-Knock.

Someone knocking from the other side of the door.

Someone knocking on a door that shouldn't be there.

Knock-Knock-KNOCK!

Billy stepped slowly towards the door. He lifted his arm towards it, then rested his hand on the handle. He knew that it couldn't be turned, however, so wasn't overly worried just yet.

KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK

'There couldn't be anyone there, because it's just a dream.' Billy thought. 'Besides, the handle's stuck.' Taking a deep breath, he put some pressure on the handle, which was enough to turn it until it clicked. The door frame cracked away from the wall as Billy took a step backwards, then it stopped where it was. Seconds passed before the door started to open more, opening, Billy realised, because it's being pushed open from the other side!

He closed his eyes tight, but could hear something coming through the doorway. He almost screamed, but didn't get the chance.

The next morning Billy's father came into his bedroom to wake him up for school. He noticed that Billy's bed was unmade, and that there was what looked like a blood stain on the floor near the wall.

There was no door though.

There certainly wasn't a handle.

There was no Billy either.