Chapter 2: The Girl Behind the Door
For three seconds, nobody moved.
Marcus stared at the staircase.
Denise stared at Maya.
Jordan stared at his father.
The voice had sounded so much like Maya that Denise instinctively pulled her daughter closer.
But Maya's mouth had never opened.
“Dad?”” she whispered.
Marcus slowly lowered his phone.
“Everybody stay right here.””
Jordan shook his head.
“No. No way. I'm not staying here while something is pretending to be my sister.””
“Jordan,” Marcus warned.
“Did you hear that? It sounded like Maya!””
“I heard it.””
“Then why are we standing here?””
Marcus looked toward the dark landing.
“Because I don't know what we're dealing with.””
Denise took a step toward him.
“Marcus, we need to leave this house.””
He glanced at her.
“We don't even know if there's someone upstairs.””
“Then why is that door open?””
Nobody answered.
The bedroom door remained slightly ajar.
A thin line of light had returned beneath it, although the bulb in the hallway was still dark.
Maya pressed her face against her mother's shoulder.
“Mom?””
“Yes, baby?””
“That's not the first time it has sounded like me.””
Denise looked down.
“What?””
Maya hesitated.
“Yesterday afternoon, I heard myself talking upstairs.””
Jordan frowned.
“What do you mean?””
“I was downstairs eating cereal. I heard my voice coming from my bedroom.””
“Maybe you left the television on,” Jordan suggested.
“I wasn't watching TV.””
“What did it say?”” Marcus asked.
Maya looked at the staircase.
“It was laughing.””
Denise's expression tightened.
“Laughing?””
Maya nodded.
“Like when I'm on the phone with my friends.””
Jordan rubbed the back of his neck.
“Okay. That's weird.””
Then he looked toward the upper floor.
“Actually...””
Marcus turned.
“What?””
Jordan hesitated.
“Something happened to me last week.””
Denise frowned.
“Why are we hearing this now?””
“Because I didn't want everyone thinking I was crazy.””
Marcus stepped closer.
“Tell us.””
Jordan glanced at Maya.
“Tuesday night, I came upstairs to get my headphones. Your bedroom door was closed. I heard somebody inside.””
Maya shook her head.
“I wasn't home Tuesday night.””
“I know that now.””
Jordan continued.
“I thought you had come back early. So I knocked.””
Maya's fingers tightened around her mother's sleeve.
“What happened?””
Jordan swallowed.
“Somebody knocked back.””
Denise looked at him.
“From inside the room?””
“Yeah.””
“Did you open the door?””
“No. I asked if you were okay.””
“And?””
Jordan stared at the staircase.
“The voice said, ‘I'm waiting for you.’”
A cold silence settled over the living room.
Marcus rubbed his forehead.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
Jordan shrugged helplessly.
“Because it sounded like Maya, Dad.””
Maya looked up.
“What did it sound like?””
Jordan's eyes moved to her face.
“Exactly like you.””
A soft creak came from upstairs.
Everyone turned.
The bedroom door had moved.
It was opening wider.
Slowly.
Not enough to reveal the room.
Just enough to expose a larger strip of darkness.
Marcus took a step toward the staircase.
“That's it. I'm checking the room.””
Denise grabbed his wrist.
“Marcus, please.””
“I won't leave you down here.””
“Then we all leave.””
He looked at her.
“If somebody is inside that room, I need to know.””
Jordan raised his phone.
“I'm calling 911.””
He unlocked the screen.
Before he could dial, his phone vibrated.
A notification appeared.
Jordan looked down.
His eyebrows pulled together.
“What is it?”” Denise asked.
“It's a message.””
“From who?””
Jordan didn't answer.
He stared at the screen.
Maya leaned slightly to see it.
The message was from an unknown number.
It contained only four words.
*STOP STANDING OUTSIDE HER DOOR.*
Jordan's face drained of color.
“Dad...””
Marcus took the phone.
“Who sent this?””
“I don't know.””
“Have you received anything like this before?””
Jordan shook his head.
Then another message arrived.
*SHE KNOWS YOU'RE HERE.*
The living room seemed to shrink around them.
Marcus looked at Maya.
“Do you know who sent this?””
Maya shook her head.
“No.””
Denise took Jordan's phone and examined the number.
“Maybe someone is playing a prank.””
Jordan looked at her.
“Mom, nobody knows what happened upstairs except us.””
The phone vibrated again.
This time, a photograph appeared.
Jordan stared at it.
His breathing changed.
“What's that?”” Marcus asked.
Jordan turned the screen toward him.
The photograph showed the upstairs hallway.
It had been taken from the top of the staircase.
Maya's bedroom door was visible.
And standing in front of it was a girl wearing a black hoodie.
Maya.
Her face was turned toward the camera.
Her expression was completely blank.
Denise made a strangled sound.
“That's impossible.””
Maya looked at the picture.
Then she shook her head.
“That's not me.””
Jordan zoomed in.
“It's your hoodie.””
“I know.””
“Your hair, too.””
“I know!””
Marcus studied the image.
“When was this taken?””
Jordan checked the details.
“Just now.””
“That's impossible,” Denise whispered.
Marcus looked up at the staircase.
“Everyone stay together.””
But Maya wasn't looking at the photograph anymore.
She was looking at the hallway.
Her eyes had narrowed.
“Mom?””
“What, sweetheart?””
“Look at her hands.””
Denise examined the photograph again.
The girl standing outside Maya's bedroom had both hands resting against the wooden door.
But her fingers were wrong.
They were stretched too long.
Much too long.
And the fingertips seemed to disappear into the wood.
Jordan dropped the phone onto the couch.
“Nope. We're leaving.””
Marcus grabbed his keys from the side table.
“Everybody to the front door.””
He moved quickly.
Denise guided Maya forward.
Jordan followed, constantly glancing over his shoulder.
Marcus unlocked the front door and pulled it open.
Cold night air swept into the living room.
For a moment, relief crossed Denise's face.
Then Marcus stopped.
The front porch light was on.
The driveway was empty.
But the front door opened onto a reflection.
Not the yard.
Not the driveway.
A reflection of the living room.
The same couch.
The same fireplace.
The same staircase.
And four people standing inside.
Marcus slowly turned around.
Behind him, Denise was holding Maya.
Jordan was standing near the couch.
And Marcus himself was still holding the front door open.
He looked back toward the doorway.
The reflection had moved.
The other Marcus was now standing closer to the staircase.
His reflected face was tilted slightly upward.
And his lips were moving.
Marcus couldn't hear the words.
Then the reflected version of him raised one finger and pointed upstairs.
The real Marcus stepped backward.
“Close the door,” he whispered.
Denise stared at him.
“What?””
“Close it.””
She reached for the handle.
But before she could touch it, a voice came from the upstairs hallway.
“Daddy?””
It was Maya again.
This time, the voice sounded frightened.
Almost desperate.
“Daddy, please come get me.””
Denise looked down at the girl beside her.
Maya was crying.
“I'm right here,” Maya whispered.
The voice upstairs continued.
“Please, Daddy. I'm scared.””
Jordan covered his ears.
“Stop it!””
Marcus slammed the front door shut.
The room shook.
For a second, the house went completely silent.
Then something knocked.
Three times.
From the other side of the front door.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Marcus stared at the handle.
A familiar voice spoke through the wood.
“Marcus?””
Denise grabbed his arm.
“Don't answer.””
The voice came again.
“It's me. Open the door.””
Marcus closed his eyes.
Because he recognized the voice.
It was his own.
May you like
And then the person outside whispered something that made his blood run cold.
“Don't let them upstairs. They're not your family.””
