When Mara moved into Apartment 317, the rent was suspiciously cheap.
The landlord barely asked questions. He only handed her the key and said one strange thing before leaving:
"Don't open the last door after midnight."
Mara laughed it off. Every old building had rumors. Besides, she was a college student with limited money — cheap rent mattered more than ghost stories.
The apartment looked normal enough.
Small kitchen. Narrow hallway. One bedroom. One bathroom.
And at the very end of the hallway…
An extra door.
Painted white.
No handle.
Just smooth wood with faint scratches like fingernails dragged across it.
She assumed it was sealed storage.
Still, she felt uneasy walking past it.
Night One
At exactly 12:03 AM, Mara woke up.
Not because of noise.
Because of silence.
The kind of silence that feels wrong — like the world stopped breathing.
Then she heard it.
Knock.
A soft tap came from the hallway.
She sat up.
Knock. Knock.
It came from the extra door.
Her phone screen lit up: 12:04 AM.
"Probably pipes," she whispered.
But the knocking changed.
Slow.
Patient.
Like someone knew she was awake.